Day 3 at the Under 18 National Championships
Played Wednesday 1st October 2014 The final sectional day of the Under 18 National Championships
took place at the Nightcliff Bowls Club in Darwin today. With all states,
in all disciplines, jockeying for final positions, every game had good and bad
consequences. Western Australia was up against the all conquering Victorian
team after they had a great day against defending champions NSW
Elizabeth Allan was playing for a place in the gold medal game
and a chance to defend the girls singles title she won last year at Sorrento.
After an even start against Victorian Amelia Bruggy, Allan held a slender lead
of 7-4 thirty minutes into the match. Allan is known for her consistency and this
was a highlight of her play in the middle parts of this game. Continually out
numbering her opponent with bowls in the head, Allan stretched out to a match
winning lead 15-6. Bruggy was still playing a very good game but at that stage
could not match her opponent on the scoreboard. Allan looked to be cruising to
another win as the players exchanged winning ends. First Allan and then Bruggy
would win an end until the score reached 20-11 and Allan only requiring 1 for
victory. With nothing to lose, Bruggy threw caution to the wind and to her
credit changed her style and played slightly more aggressive. This had
immediate results and she started to string some ends together. Three ends in a
row Bruggy scored two shots and then a single to bring the score back to 18-20
and the pressure was on Allan to produce. As the next end progressed, Bruggy
again put the pressure on with an early bowl on the jack, with Allan’s third
bowl she was able to produce something special by playing two metres of weight,
Allan sat the shot and replaced it with her own sitting on the front of the
jack. With only one bowl remaining and very few options, Amelia Bruggy could
not come up with shot required and Elizabeth Allan took the win and her place
in the gold medal game 21-18.
The WA boy’s pair’s team of Ryan Philpott and Josh Hamilton went
into their game against Jayden Christie and Joshua Corless needing to not only
win but win well to play in the medal games. The Victorian team were undefeated
and had a big lead in shots up and with NSW likely to get a shots up boost from
their game against NT, the WA boys were going to need to produce something
special and get some luck as well. A
great start saw them lead 5-1 after 4 ends but midway through the game Victoria
had answered the challenge and the
scores were level at 8 all. After 12
ends the WA boys had again opened up a small 13-10 lead and looked the likely
winners but needed to step it up to gain some shots. Again they threatened to
do just that but could not get the big result they needed as their opponents,
knowing they were also playing for a medal game would not let them get away. By
the end of the game Philpott and Hamilton had produced something special to win
19-13 but did not get the luck that is needed when you need a big win against quality
opponents. The WA boys were equal first with two wins in their section but
finished third on shots up and will play for 5th and 6th
position.
The boys triples team of William Hyatt, Dan Nicholls and David
Downey had a similar scenario to the pairs, beat an undefeated Victorian team
and win by as many as you can to make up the shots up difference. The Victorian
team of Curtis Hanley, Ben Cotter & Jay Bye-Norris had taken all before
them with a big win over NT and a close win over the formidable NSW team. WA
got off to a great start and led 5-0 after 4 ends and held that lead for the
next 5 ends. Unfortunately although they always looked the winners, the boys
could not break beyond 5 shots in front. An 11-7 score after 12 ends, 13-8
after 14 ends and 14-9 after 16 ends was the shots in front boundary they could
not seem to break. Finally with one end to play they got to 6 in front and then
required a 6 on the last end to get to the magical 12 shots in front they needed
to get past Victorian. Knowing they had NSW covered for 2nd spot,
they gave themselves a chance on the last end but were finally shut down by the
consistent Victorians who covered all the possibilities. A final end 2 gave them
a 17-9 win and 2nd position in the section for a shot at the bronze
medal.
David Downey in the boy’s singles wasn’t having the tournament
he had hoped for but was looking forward to upsetting Victorians, Jay
Bye-Norris, who like the other Victorian boys teams was undefeated. Downey
jumped out of the blocks for the first time this week and looked to have
regained some of his old consistency. Leading 8-4 early and stretching it to
10-5 a couple of ends later, all looked good for Downey. However the Victorian
was not undefeated for nothing and he slowly found his line and length and
began to make up some ground. At 13-11, Downey was trying to hold on but
Bye-Norris was looking stronger as the game continued. The scores were level at
14 all when Bye-Norris got a 3 and then a 2 to put him in sight of the gold
medal game. A spirited fight saw Downey pick up a single but it wasn’t enough
and he went down 15-21. A 4th place finish in the section and a 7th
and 8th place final game is in store for David Downey.
The WA girls’ pairs team of Meghan Philpott and Elizabeth Allan
had gained some confidence in their previous game of pairs with a fighting win
over NT. The Victorian team of Tiffany Brodie & Tayla Morison were in the
same boat as the WA girls where a win would ensure a chance at a medal. A good
start from the girls saw a very even contest up until the halfway point of the
game but then the Victorian pair began to take over. An 8-6 lead after 10 ends
quickly turned into a 8-11 deficit after 12 ends and finally a 10-21 loss. The
WA girls finished 3rd in their section and will play off for 5th
and 6th position.
The girls’ triples team of Kellie Ainsworth, Amelia Axford and
Dayna Cant had played together very well with a narrow loss to NSW and a comfortable
win over NT. The Victorian team of Amelia Bruggy, Cody Sylvester
& Elise Rigoni had a similar record so it seemed this would be an even
contest. An even first 4 ends, with the score being 3 all didn’t indicate what
was about the happen. The Victorian girls from lead to skip started to play an
outstanding brand of bowls and never gave the WA girls a look in. The score had
ballooned out to 4-12 at the half way mark and continued to grow. While the
score continued to grow the WA girls stuck in there and won the last couple of
ends to finish with a 7-26 score. The WA girls will play for 5th and
6th on the final day.
After the earlier triples and pairs losses, the WA team of Kellie
Ainsworth, Meghan Philpott, Amelia Axford and Dayna Cant were looking to make a
better fist of it against Victoria’s Tiffany Brodie, Cody Sylvester, Elise
Rigoni & Tayla Morison. A slow start didn’t give the girls a lot of
confidence and they could not get enough bowls close enough often enough to put
the pressure on. Again the Victorian girls were outstanding in all positions
and jumped out to a 11-4 lead at the halfway mark of the game. At 5-15 with
three ends to go, the WA girls dropped a 5 which put down any chance of a late
challenge. The final score of 6-21 meant they will be playing for 5th
and 6th on the final day.
Two undefeated boys fours teams came together to sort out the
final sectional places. William Hyatt, Ryan Philpott, Dan Nicholls and Josh
Hamilton were very good in the morning session and were looking to build on
that up against Jayde Christie, Curtis Hanley, Ben Cotter & Joshua Corless.
A very even game at the halfway mark, it was waiting for a team to take
control. Unfortunately for WA, it was the Victorians who stepped up and made
the break of 9-5 after 12 ends. Still in the hunt with 3 ends to play, an
ordinary 6 dropped on the 13th end put an end to the WA boys chances
of playing for gold. With a final score of 5-19 meaning the boys will play for
a bronze medal on the final day.
Western Australia’s Playoff Games
Boys’
singles play-offs
7th/8th: David Downey (WA) v Brendan Spaven (ACT)
Girls’
singles play-offs
Gold/silver medal match: Elizabeth Allan (WA) v Connie-Leigh
Rixon (QLD)
Boys’
pairs play-offs
5th/6th: Ryan Philpott & Joshua Hamilton (WA) v Joshua
Studham & Isaac Trenorden (SA)
Girls’
pairs play-offs
5th/6th: Meghan Philpott & Elizabeth Allan (WA) v Jessica
Hogan & Jaime Locke (ACT)
Boys’
triples play-offs
Bronze/4th: William Hyatt, Dan Nicholls & David Downey (WA)
v Jake Rynne, Jesse Turnbull & Hayden Vogler (QLD)
Girls’
triples play-offs
5th/6th: Kellie Ainsworth, Amelia Axford & Danya Cant (WA) v
Chloe Morrison, Jessica Blunden & Tracey Swift (ACT)
Boys’
fours play-offs
Bronze/4th: William Hyatt, Ryan Philpott, Dan Nicholls &
Josh Hamilton (WA) v Josh Walker-Davis, Josh Appleyard, Lachlan Sims & Jack
Ellis (TAS)
Girls’
fours play-offs
5th/6th: Kellie Ainsworth, Meghan Philpott, Amelia Axford &
Dayna Cant (WA) v Chloe Morrison, Jessica Blunden, Tracey Swift & Jaime
Locke (ACT)
