Croweaters up-end titleholders
South Australia have caused a major boil over in the opening round of the Australian Sides Championships at Yokine Districts Bowling Club in Perth this morning.
The croweaters, who are gunning for the maiden Marj Morris Trophy in the women’s event and only their second ever Alley Shield win in the men’s competition, signalled their intentions with a comprehensive victory over perennial powerhouse Queensland to commence proceedings at the sport’s premier state versus state competition.
South Australia took the reigning titleholders to the sword in the men’s matches, despite an exasperating downpour at odds with Perth’s normal weather patterns, winning 60-54 collectively over the three rinks.
Max Kleinig’s rink took the honours 20-12 over Commonwealth Games gold medalist Mark Casey’s, Scott Thulborn edged out Brett Wilkie’s quartet 23-21, while Nathan Rice managed to salvage some pride for the Maroons, defeating his fellow Australian representative Wayne Ruediger 21-17.
It was a case of deja vu for the southern state, who also accounted for defending men’s and women’s champions NSW in their first round at Burnie, Tasmania 12 months ago.
“We don’t generally handle the wet conditions very well, so it was a good result to get over the line against a quality team like Queensland,” Scott Thulborn said after coming off the green.
“We knew it was going to be a tough task coming up against them in the first round.
“If you’re in it, you’ve got to believe that you can win it, and we believe, so we’ll just keep working away over the next few of days.
“There’s no such thing as an easy game here, particularly in these conditions, so we’ll be focused for our next session against the Northern Territory.”
The Reds’ women also produced an emphatic win, but their were some contrasting results among the rinks which meant that they only finished with a 9 shot buffer, 61-52.
Young-gun Breeana Dickson enjoyed a 36-9 victory, and former Australian representative Penny Landherr fought out a 19-14 win, but Renee McPharlin’s team were well and truly matched by Australian Jackaroos captain Lynsey Clarke’s outfit, 6-29.
In other results, NSW outshone Victoria in grisly conditions, with the women’s contingent still on track to claim a record fourth Marj Morris Trophy, defeating the Big V 83-42, while the Blues men also posted a comprehensive three-rink victory 73-47.
Home state heroes Western Australia recorded an opening round win in the men’s competition, 70-48, against the ACT, but it was a reversal of fortunes in the women’s event, with the ACT posting a 72-57 first-up win.
The Tasmanian Tigers team enter the winners’ circle in both genders, with men accounting for the Northern Territory 64-38 and the women prevailing 99-36.
In the second of the seven sessions, South Australia will face the Northern Territory, Tasmania will encounter Queensland, NSW are pitted against the ACT and the host state Western Australia will play Victoria from 1.30pm AWST.
Click here to view the full results from the opening morning of the 2015 Australian Sides Championships.
Caption: Scott Thulborn braved the elements to help lead South Australia to glory.
