Women’s Saturday Finals wrap
On a near perfect day for bowls the Blooms The Chemist Women’s Saturday Pennant came to a conclusion with the finals played on the 13th March at several metropolitan venues.
This was the 20th year of the Women’s Saturday Pennant competition and the first time in which there were five separate divisions.
Results of all competitions can be found on the Bowls WA Competition Portal
1st Red Division
Warnbro Bowling Club provided the upset of the day surprising their opposition and maybe even themselves as they took out the Women’s 1st Red flag. In a jam packed ladder they finished the regular season just half a point in front of Leeming who they needed to defeat on both rinks just to make the play-offs.
The finals were played at top of the table Manning Bowling Club where Warnbro created the first upset of the day beating the host team 40-34 with a good win by the Vera Meehan skipped rink 20-13 taking them through to the final. Their opposition was to be Sorrento who had defeated Osborne Park by 10 shots in the other semi final.
The final was a very close affair but at the conclusion of the scheduled 18 ends per rink it was Warnbro who got home by just 3 shots. This time the Nadia Meyer rink had gotten up by 7 shots winning 17-10 for an overall aggregate win 28-25.
This is the first Saturday 1st Red pennant win for Warnbro Bowling Club.
1st Blue North
The 1st Blue Competition was split into two this season in what turned out to be a popular move reducing travel for those teams involved.
The 1st Blue North competition was played at Mosman Park Bowling Club and the host club were red hot favorites having lost just one game all season which was a one shot loss to Wanneroo however as can be the case in sport finals aren’t always won by the team who finishes on top.
In the mornings semi-finals Mosman Park made the final with a thrilling two shot win over Osborne Park whilst Wanneroo had a convincing 10 shot win over Morley heading into the final.
In what was a great battle between the two sides Wanneroo overcame Mosman Park once again this time winning by two shots. Theresa O’Day had a 12-12 draw with Renata Coote whilst Liz Ritchie won 18-16 over Lisa Featherby.
1st Blue South
Bassendean Bowling Club hosted the 1st Blue South finals and became the first host club to raise the pennant flag. They did it in style on the day and should prove very competitive in the top grade next season.
In the semi-final Bassendean inflicted the biggest win of the finals with a 64-20 win over Mundaring. The 33-7 win of Sian Smith including an 8 scored on the 8th end which saw them leading 22-1 whilst their other rink was leading 17-0 after 8 ends before recording an equally strong 31-13 victory skipped by Julie Watson.
Bassendean’s final opponent was to be Manning who had recorded a solid 8 shot win over Manning in their semi final courtesy of an 18-10 win by Julie Martin.
In the final Manning put up a good showing and at the half way mark with both sides playing 9 ends the aggregate was just one shot in favor of Bassendean. The Bassendean side however slowly imposed themselves with the rink Shirley Johnston / Kylie Gibson / Caroline Soro / Sian Smith scoring back to back ends of 3 shots and also a 5 across ends 13 to 16 to give Bassendean a buffer on the overall board. In the finals stage Julie Watson and Kay Rush played out a 16-16 draw whilst Smith finish a great day for her rink winning 21-12 over Julie Martin.
2nd Division
The second division finals were played at South Perth Bowling Club. All four finalists had completed terrific home and away seasons with South Perth, Sorrento and Ellenbrook each losing just one game for the season and Gosnells just two across 14 weeks of competition.
The semi finals saw Sorrento record a nice 38-30 win over Ellenbrook. Pauline Marsden’s rink winning 27-17 to set up the win. The other semi final between South Perth and Gosnells saw the aggregate finish as a draw resulting on both rinks going out to play an extra end. Much to the delight of the home crowd South Perth got home by two shots.
In the final South Perth proved just a bit too good for their Sorrento opposition. Aided by the very experienced Helen Morss who guided her rink of Dianne Heath, Anne Bandy and Kerry Reagan to a 25-16 win over Pauline Marsden. The other rink skipped by Sandra Hemphill with Lily Djukich, Liz Petrich and Amanda Ladlow winning by 1 shot 16-15 over Charmain Harris.
Expect South Perth to be a real force next season in 1st division next year.
3rd Division
Last but not least the 3rd Division finals were played at Cockburn Bowling Club. The hosts received the bye straight through to the afternoon grand final whilst Bayswater and Yanchep did battle to see who would play them.
Bayswater played well in the semi final, in particular the side skipped by Judy Lee winning 20-10 to set up the overall 39-29 victory.
Bayswater probably always knew the final would be a tough one with Cockburn having lost just one game all season and they did themselves proud against the odds. However Cockburn on their undercover green held the aces and the rink of Leanne Ricci, Maxine Strother, Tillie Livingstone and skipper Judy Rowe were the stars on the day winning 24-9 over Judy Lee. The other rink played out a very competitive 14-14 draw with the rinks skipped by Tanya Perica and Janette Haskell.
Well done to all teams who made finals, a big congratulations to our champion clubs and a special thank you to every lady who participated in the Women’s Saturday Pennant Competition.
