York’s Justin Smith Storms Home For Singles Title

by Aaron Delaporte on March 9, 2018

Final Played 9th March 2018 York’s Justin Smith is the 2018 Sheridan’s Men’s Country Week Singles Champion to become the third and final of the Smith brothers to win a major title this season.
Brothers Nathan and Aaron won the Men’s State Pairs in December with both finals being won at Doubleview Bowling Club.
Justin had to defeat Aaron in the semi-final in a 21-20 nail biter to make the final.
He defeated 2012 champion Matt Pennington 21-19 in the final where he came from behind late to take the title.
Smith’s approach aided him in the tricky condition with his willingness to play bigger weight making his conversions very effective.
After a tight start Pennington took control through the middle part of the game thanks to consistent draw play in tough conditions to do so.
But Smith began to match Pennington on the draw and had a more effective game style when he was down, hitting a lot of jacks.
Slowly but surely the gap closed until the two combatants found themselves locked at 19-19.
Down two good shots Smith used the drive to get it down to one before nailing a front toucher with his last.
Pennington had to try to draw cold as any weight had a high chance of costing him game, but understandably couldn’t manage it.
Down to a close shot again on the next end Smith drove the jack into the ditch finishing about a metre and a half away.
Pennington’s next shot just rolled into the ditch as did Smith’s final bowl, showcasing the green’s immense finish past the tee.
Pennington’s final delivery was a touch wider and despite having perfect weight could not get back in bounds giving Justin Smith the title.
In his acceptance speech Smith was particularly grateful for the support shown by the sizeable York contingent.
He’s the first singles winner from York since the early days of the competition in 1931.