Cambridge Triumphant
Men’s State Fours Wrap
The Cambridge side of Clive Adams, Cameron Harris, Neil Bolton and Luke Bolton are the 2018 Dyenamic Men’s State Fours champions. The team cruised to victory yesterday at Manning Memorial with a win over the Osborne Park team of Steve O’Neill, Kevin Pickering, Pat Caffell (sub: Rob Lawrence) and Ian Lilburne 22-6.
The Cambridge team nearly didn’t even make the knockout rounds when after losing the second match of their section needed a four shot win over Busselton’s Matthew Pennington to progress. With the scores level and just three ends to go they dropped a four meaning they were in desperate trouble needing eight shots in only two ends. However Adams played a bomb on the next end to trail the jack a foot for five and they then combined for a four to escape through a tough section.
After that the Cambridge team were simply sensational with the front three players capturing their first major title with skip Clive Adams, who now joins illustrious company as a winner of all four state events.
On a great day for bowls with just a mild breeze and a great surface running around 15 seconds the Adams team defeated the South Perth combination of Neale Griffin, Mitch Biglin, Adrian Durrant and Farley Anderson 19-10 whilst O’Neill staved off the Composite side of Anthony Williams, Aj Heal, Billy Brandsma and Nathan Jones 19-14 in the semi-finals.
On paper the final looked to be a very close affair coming up against a previous winner in Steve O’Neill, who with his solid line-up definitely had the benefit of experience on their side. However his team had been dealt a blow as Pat Caffell who had started in the semi-final was seriously ill and had to sit out the rest of the day (they did have Rob Lawrence to fill in as a substitute) but there was no doubt they were distracted with thoughts for their fallen team mate as they struggle to play the bowls they can despite giving it their best in the match.
In summary it was pretty much the Cambridge team calling the shots through-out the match as they dominated winning 12 of the 16 ends played. Scores of 4-3-2-1 after the first end saw them race to a 10-1 lead and they always had the game under control before the Osborne Park team conceded defeat with two scheduled ends to play. Luke Bolton in just his third season of bowls often managed to get one right on the jack and if he didn’t his father Neil was always reliable cover. Youngster Cameron Harris (pictured) played brilliantly as third and on the rare occasions the team was down Clive Adams managed to convert along with drawing additional shots when needed – it really was a great team effort by Cambridge.
Accepting the trophy Clive Adams thanked his team mates and congratulated his opponents on making the final but made special mention to offer best wishes to Pat Caffell. In a touching tribute he then dedicated the trophy to his father Roger who had watched him at every one of his past major wins but couldn’t be at the venue as he is currently battling his own serious health issue.
