National Over 60’s Championships Day 1 Wrap
Mixed fortunes for WA sides against Queensland on Day 1 of National Championships in Launceston, Tasmania.
It was a case of mixed fortunes for the WA sides at the Over 60’s National Championships in Launceston, Tasmania as the first match as completed on a cold and windy day. The wind made conditions difficult however the green was running a respectable 14 seconds which gave all players their chance to have an impact.
The WA Men had traditionally been slow starters at this championship in the past rarely winning the opening match however they produced a brilliant come from behind effort to defeat an always hard to beat Queensland. The rink of Gary Caffell (skip), Wayne Coyle, Ron Kuziela and Fred Holt were trailing 2-12 early but rallied to win the majority of the last dozen ends to storm home to a 22-17 win. A single by Caffell’s rink on the last end proved the difference as WA took the match 58-57 overall. Steve O’Neill’s side performed well all day and contributed strongly at the finish. O’Neill himself playing a match winner to take the opposition bowl out of the head to leave WA with a much needed three shots on the last end and a 23-20 win. WA’s other rink skippered by Graham Evans went down 13-20 in a good hard fought match.
The women will need to re-group if they wish to retain their title after a 55-60 defeat in a very good match. They could never recover from a poor start trailing 4-13 early. The gap was closed on several occasions but Queensland ladies always managed to steady the ship. New skip Elaine McDonald was well set up by her team with Linda Warburton playing an outstanding leads game, along with Vicki Spragg and Irene Leahy and McDonald herself all putting in some great bowls to be the only winners for WA. Their final score of 24-16 wasn’t enough with Kathy Gobbart 12-19 and Lee Poletti 19-25 both losing.
In tomorrow’s matches WA will play the ACT in the morning before tackling Victoria in the afternoon. Live updates will be posted on the Bowls WA Facebook page through out the day.
National Over 60’s Championships WA Results
