Manning do Cartwheels over their victory in the Mandurah APL Cup
Photo Courtesy of Perth Pennants Manning have been crowned the Premier Club Team in Western Australia after their victory over Cambridge in the final of the Mandurah APL Club held at the Mandurah Bowling and Recreation Club over the weekend of Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September.
The weekend started with 32 teams from across Western Australia lining up in four sections of eight teams with the top two teams from each section advancing to the quarter final stages.
Manning’s Laura Merz, Shane Knott, Helen Morss and Anthony Williams came through in second place section in section two with Tournament Sponsor Henselite’s Noelene Abe, Matthew Ellul, Corey Bessant and Lindsay Strange winning the section.
Section 1 was won by South Perth’s Nick Reagan, Ashley Sharp, Greg Reagan and Sally Wilke with Clive Adams, Jon Sharp, Ross Bolton and Toni Madigan (draft recruit) from Cambridge finishing section 1.
Bowlselite’s Kyle Mcilroy, John Slavich (sub Nathan Jones), Mike Browne and Kelly Brown came through on top of section two with Bassendean’s Justin Opie, Beau Manton, Blake Nairn and Elle Ariael (draft recruit) close behind in second position.
The final section was won by Mosman Park’s Lisa Featherby, Linda Warburton, Graeme Wishart and Jeff Adams finishing ahead of Dudley Park’s Mark Simpson, Ian Linford Keith Cannon and Vicki Spragg.
The Quarter Finalists put on incredible displays on the indoor surface at the Mandurah Bowling Club with Bassendean defeating South Perth 6/4 6/6, Manning defeating Mosman Park 5/6, 10/2, 1/0, Cambridge getting over Bowlselite 7/3, 9/3 and Henselite outlasting Dudley Park 10/1, 9/1.
When the Semi Finals started it was anybody’s guess who would be going through to the finals after the bowls played by all teams in the previous round. Manning started strongly against Bassendean taking the first set 7/4 and then had to hang on with Bassendean pushing to take the second set to force a tiebreak. With shot play of the highest quality it was Shane Knott that produce when required to hold of Bassendean’s Blake Nairn to allow Manning to draw the second set 5/5 and move into the final.
The second semi final was on a knifes edge all the way through. The Cambridge trio fighting strongly to stay in front of the powerful Henselite representative team. A one shot 6/5 first set win to Cambridge set up a great finish as Henselite continued to push forward. When the second set finished it was again Cambridge clinging to a one shot lead to go through to the final 4/3.
The final started with both Manning and Cambridge going bowl for bowl with all players putting on a great display for the crowd. First Manning would like likely before Cambridge turned the head around only to see Manning changed it back. It seemed like whoever had last bowl was capable of winning the end. And so it was no surprise when the end of the first set showed a drawn 4/4 score line. The second set saw Shane Knott take control of the game to drive manning towards victory with precision drawing. With Manning setting up a 6/0 score with only one end to play it was Cambridge looking for a miracle. Halfway through the end, a six looked possible but again Knott drew close to leave Cambridge with little hope. A desperation bowl looking to remove three Manning bowls saw Clive Adams close but not close enough while also removing some of his own bowls to go down one shot on the end.
While congratulations go to Manning for taking out the Mandurah APL Cup Title, all clubs are to be congratulated for their efforts and entertainment they provided for the sizable crowds over the weekend.
Finals Results
