State team defeat a spirited Country Allstars
On Thursday night Men’s Country Week was opened in it its traditional style at Osborne Park Bowling Club with the Country All Stars playing against an extended State Side. A highlight of the open ceremony was a presentation by Bowls WA President Graham Leeks on behalf of the many clubs and bowlers who donated to the Yarloop bushfire appeal with a cheque for $15,000 to Yarloop Bowling Club representative Bob Wellington who gladly accepted the donation to large applause from the many spectators present.
The Country All Stars named a fairly inexperienced side with twelve new caps being presented in the opening ceremony. The State Side included debutants Bill Brandsma and Corey Bessant as well as multiple players from the WA Academy and National Training Centre squad. Despite the inexperience on show most sides handled the occasion well and the large crowd saw some excellent bowls. The crowd created a positive atmosphere all night, none more so than the Boulder boys watching rink four who cheered for their side all night.
The state side were never in trouble on the big board thanks to a couple of big wins at each end of the green. The other four rinks were all tightly contested. None were over until the last end with three rinks being separated by less than two shots going into the decider.
Rink one was one of the State Side’s big wins. Matt Ellul, Kyle McIlroy, Bill Brandsma and Lewis Grigg controlled the first half of the game, losing just two of the first thirteen ends to lead 22-3. The last eight ends belonged to the country side of Neville Woods, Ross White, David Cliff and Gordon Twist as they fought back to win six of the last eight ends. Unfortunately for the All Stars there wasn’t enough time to get back in the game as the State Side won 26-12.
On rink two the match was much tighter. Mark Szczecinski, John Currie, Aaron Smith and Ross Bycroft started strongly for the All Stars against Pieter Harris, Tom Mitchell, Dan Patterson and Corey Bessant. A three on the first end followed by a consolidating single was a good sign that the country boys would be right in the game. The state side regrouped very quickly, scoring six shots over the next four ends only to give them all away in the next two. Two ends later they had still failed to cut into the deficit with the score standing at 12-8 against them. Then the State team took control picking up three twos in a row to grab the lead. Over the next seven ends the state side won five ends to two but the game was much closer with every one of those seven ends yielding a single shot. The All Stars went into the last needing five to level the game and would have had confidence in doing so having already picked up a three and a four. However they couldn’t get there picking up another single to close the game at 19-15 to the State Side.
Rink three saw the last of the rinks bound for the ACT, Scott Edmonds, Clive Adams, Matt Mitchell and Cody Packer, take on Glen Jones, Warren Holt, Barry Coote and Phil Manning. The State Side jumped out to a 7-2 lead after the first five ends and then got out to 10-4 four ends later. Then the All Stars mounted a charge, taking seven shots from the three ends, including the games highest count of three, to take the lead for the first time all night at 11-10. The state side then went on a run of their own to take back the lead and build it back out to 16-11 with five ends to play. The All Stars won three of the next four ends and trailed by just two shots going into a tense final end. The end was killed multiple times as the two sides vied for supremacy on the final end of the evening. Finally the sides managed to complete an end with All Stars picking up just one of the shots they needed with the score finishing at 18-17.
Rink four was the by far the most noticeable with a band of bowlers from Boulder get right behind their side of Gary Walker, Max Lancaster, Ray Griffiths and Greg Vaughan in their match against Blake Nairn, Scott Walker Jarred O’Donohoe and Miles Kemp. The State Side hit the ground running winning the first four ends to hold a 6-0 lead. The All Stars got started with a three on the fifth end and by the ninth end had brought the margin back to two shots at 8-6. The State Side got back on the job to turn up the heat, winning four of the next five ends to give themselves a comfortable 17-7 lead with seven ends to play. Although the game looked over the All Stars showed their spirit over the next six ends. Back to back twos were followed by a four to get them back within two shots. A single on the next end brought them within one shot with a double on the nineteenth giving them an 18-17 lead. A single on the twentieth increased their buffer going into the last end of the contest. Having not conceded for six ends it looked like the country boys were about to pull off a stunning comeback but their joy soon turned to misery as the State Side picked up four shots to reclaim the lead and win 21-19.
On rink five Ron Treasure, Gary Keep, Nick Hosking and Wayne Maher represented the All Stars against Shane Knott, Anthony Williams, Matthew France and Cameron Harris in another contest that went down to the wire. The All Stars opened the scoring with one on the first end but the State boys responded with a massive five on the second. From there the State Side opened up an early break and lead 8-2 after four ends. After surviving a run from the All Stars they opened again to lead 14-7 after the tenth end. Then the country team started getting some reward for their effort and within the next four ends picked up two threes and a four to take the lead 17-16 heading into the last seven ends. Their advantage although hard won was short lived as their opponents steadied, taking the lead back with a two on the next end and repeating on the next end. The country scored replied with a single before the State side picked another two to lead 22-18. On the nineteenth end the All Stars did what they had done whenever they were challenged by responding with a number. A big four levelled the scores with just two ends left in the game. The State Side earned a hard fought one to give them the lead going into the final end but conceding last bowl to Treasure. The State side controlled the end until the last bowl when Treasure, trying to kill the end sprang the jack forward and unluckily an opposition bowl was the closest giving the State Side a 24-22 win.
The final game on rink six saw the side of Seann Mawdsley, David Farley, Nathan Jones and Mark Ellis play the All Stars rink of Robert Tate, Robert Tiller, Mark Wunnenberg and Garry Jansen. The State Side got started quickly with six in the first two ends but the country hit back to be 9-7 down after six ends. From there the State Side really hit their straps only conceding four shots for the rest of the game. Ten shots in the next three ends set the scene before the All Stars tried to with a two. The last eleven ends yielded fifteen shots for the State Side to just two for the All Stars for a final score of 34-11.
