Under 18 National Championships begin in Darwin
Day 1 Results 29th September 2014 The Under 18 National Championships began at the Nightcliff
Bowls Club, Darwin today under a blazing sun. For the Western Australian
team there would be no easing into the championships with WA’s first
opponent New South Wales, the 2013 Overall Under 18 Champion State.
The first round of disciplines saw Western Australia’s young
star, David Downey, take on New South Wales sensation Jono Davis. After a
couple of ends feeling out the green conditions and each other, it was Davis
who showed the consistency required and built a large lead. Downey rallied in
the later ends to put the pressure on and make Davis work harder but in the end
it wasn’t going to be enough. Jono Davis ran out the victor over David Downey
21-8.
On the rink next door it was the WA four of William Hyatt, Ryan
Philpott, Dan Nicholls and Josh Hamilton(skip) taking on NSW’s Jay Breust, Sam
Hatch-Caccamo, Isaac Rayner and Dylan Skinner(skip). For most of the game it
was the Western Australian team that looked to have some control of the situation
with all WA players playing their role and Hamilton finishing off their good
work. With one end to play, the team looked to have done enough with a four
shot lead but they then had to withstand a last gasp NSW effort. Showing
terrific poise the WA boy’s fours team held their nerve and claimed a 16-15
win.
The first girls to take to the green was the WA fours team of
Kellie Ainsworth, Meghan Philpott, Amelia Axford and Dayna Cant(skip) up
against the NSW’s team of Lauren Shaw, Molly Wilton, Ellen Ryan and Dawn
Hayman(skip). The WA girls started well and looked to have the early edge
against the girls from NSW. Unfortunately while they were able to string some
winning ends together, when they did give the opposition a small chance, they
were able to take it make some numbers to keep them in the game. With two ends
to play and scores level it was anybody’s game but it was NSW who took the
advantage and score a three to go into the last end with the advantage. As the
final end built, it was WA who had control of the head and with one bowl to be
played had the opportunity to draw a counter to force a draw or play a running
shot to win the game. After a discussion between skipper Cant, coach Laura Merz
and the rest of the team, it was decided they would go for the win. As the bowl
went agonisingly close but under the target, the WA girls had to settle for two
shots and a 15-16 defeat.
After a lunch break and respite from the Darwin heat, the players
took to the green for round 2. First to get underway was the boys pairs as the
WA combination of Ryan Philpott and Josh Hamilton looked to build on their
earlier win in the fours discipline as they took on the NSW team of Isaac
Rayner and Jono Davis. From early on in the game it was obvious the NSW boys
were on their game with both players drawing close and Davis converting when
required. With a 0-18 score line it was time for the WA boys to show some fighting
spirit and put some score on the board in the second half of the game. With
plenty of maturity they were able to dig deep and started to match their
opposition. While they were never going to win the game from the position they
were in, they did show that they would never give up and finally went down
8-27.
The WA girls pairing of Meghan Philpott and Elizabeth Allan were
having much the same problems as the boys in their game against Ellen Ryan and
Dawn Hayman. The NSW team was in double figures before the WA pair got on the
score board and it was obvious a special effort was required to turn things
around. A couple of special bowls from Allan got the girls moving and as
Philpott did her best to support Allan, they began to make the NSW girls work
harder to win the ends. Although they left far too much work to do in the
second half of the game, the girls showed the WA spirit right to the end and
never gave up in their 11-29 lose.
While the other two rinks were having their troubles, the WA girl’s
triples team of Kellie Ainsworth, Amelia Axford and Dayna Cant were putting a
great game together and led the NSW team of Lauren Shaw, Molly Wilton and
Jamie-Lee Worsnop 12-6 after 10 ends of their 18 end game. Still leading 15-11
with four ends to go the WA team looked to be going to the line strongly but
suddenly the momentum changed in favour of NSW. With a fast finishing NSW
playing some great shots under pressure, the WA girls couldn’t keep them at bay
and ended up going down 17-19.
At the end of the second round, NSW had taken the advantage of
five disciplines to one but WA had proved more than a handful to the defending
champions and were slightly unlucky with a couple of narrow loses. As the last
round of the day began, two disciplines were left to play and a chance for WA
to gain a couple of deserved wins.
The WA boys triples team of William Hyatt, Dan Nicholls and
David Downey started their game strongly up against NSW Jay Breust, Sam Hatch-Caccamo
and Dylan Skinner and led 12-6 after 8 ends. All the boys were playing strongly
with Hyatt leading from the front, Nicholls backing him up and Downey finishing
it off. At 16-11 after 12 ends, NSW were grimly hanging on and waiting for an
opportunity to get back in the game. Four ends later they had found that
opportunity and had taken advantage of a couple of loose ends and hit the front
19-18 with two ends left. A single to WA on the second last end put the game on
the edge with a last end winner take all. A Skinner draw shot put his team in
pole position and a Downey drive and narrow miss left NSW holding the necessary
shot to take another come from behind win 20-19.
The last match to finish was the star studded match up of
defending Under 18 National Champion, WA’s Elizabeth Allan and recently crowned
youngest ever winner of the Australian Indoor Singles, NSW’s Jamie-Lee Worsnop.
Allan showed she was very serious about defending her crown and jumped out to
an early 7-2 lead and continued to stretch it to an 11-3 lead. At 15-7, Worsnop
had shown some signs of making a challenge but Allan was continuing to match
her bowl for bowl. Slowly but surely Worsnop started to reel Allan in and was
putting all the pressure on the WA Champion. When the score reached 18-13,
Allan was within one final grasp of victory but Worsnop was using all her
recent experience to stay in the game. Allan would put a bowl on the jack and
Worsnop would draw inside it or trail the jack away. When Worsnop played a magnificent
trail shot to grab three shots and take the lead for the first time at 19-18,
it seemed she may have got the best of her opponent. However for those who have
seen Allan mature over her Under 18 career, they knew the pressure would not
get the better of her and Worsnop would have to continue playing great shots to
win. As the next end progressed Allan drew shot with her first bowl, and then
added a second and finally the third and ultimately winning bowl. Allan had
once again shown her ability under pressure and took a deserved victory 21-19.
Day 2 sees Western Australia take on the very competitive
Northern Territory team while New South Wales front up to Victoria.
WA day 2 scores,
as well as every day of the National Championships, will be updated all during
the day on the Bowls WA Facebook page.
