Pinjarra take the Pairs Title
The AFRGI Equipment Men’s Country Week Pair final decider was played at the Sorrento Bowling Club. The Finals were streamed live on Streamer, commentated by Bowls WA President Doug Kelly and Events & Talent Development Pieter Harris, later joined by Phil Manning and Regional Manager Troy Kinnane. You can watch the replay here or on Bowls WA Youtube.
Pinjarra’s Brad Ball and Dominic Milbourne faced off against Shackleton’s Trevor Cosgrove and Phillip Bradley with Pinjarra taking the win with a final score of 11-8.
Left to Right; Dominic Milbourne, Brad Ball, Phillip Bradley, Trevor Cosgrove.
Ball and Milbourne defeated the Composite team of Tom Cabassi and Jeremy Thomas by a comfortable 19-10 in the Semi-Finals to claim their position in the final. Cosgrove and Bradley defeated the Albany team of Johnathon Davidson and Craig Hitchcock with a reasonable 14-11 victory moving them into the slot to compete in the finals against Ball and Milbourne
In a 14-ends two by two by two by two format the finals started with Pinjarra getting on the board early claiming the first end with one shot after a tight spread of bowls and constant close draws. Pinjarra kept the momentum going, despite great draws from Shackleton, winning the end with a comfy three shots bringing the score to 4-0. Pinjarra held three in the next end but a fantastic draw on Bradley’s second-to-last bowl was perfect, landing it as if it was placed and eliminating the numbers and winning the end by one.
Pinjarra claimed the next two ends with a steady one on each end but Shackleton rebounded with a score of two on the 6th end.
The pressure was on for Shackleton on the 7th end as Pinjarra gathered two shots and was leading 8-3 despite a fair effort from both teams, the score not necessarily being a good representation of Cosgrove and Bradley’s Bowls. Pinjarra continued to lead as they slowly drew away, picking up three ones in a row leading 11-3 on the 10th end. With the advantage, the Pinjarra men looked comfortable with a solid lead with only 4 ends remaining and posing an uphill battle for Shackleton. The opportunities for Shackleton were still available as they continued to draw well, claiming the next end by one. The 12th end saw two brilliant draws by Cosgrove and Milbourne as they both touched the Jack. A drive from Ball wiped Cosgrove’s previous bowl out of the head as he made clean contact but in retaliation, Cosgrove trailed the jack into the ditch giving Shackleton a single shot. Bradley and Cosgrove continued to fight back with more consistent draw shots and putting Ball and Milbourne under pressure to go into the last end at 7-11.
Shackleton started the end well holding three shots after great draws from both of the Men. Ball showing his talent for driving rocked the head dispersing all the bowls and creating a clear jack for all players to draw to again. Bradley managed to draw with ideal weight but Ball understood they needed a minimum of four shots and chose to drive again to eliminate enough bowls to make it impossible for Pinjarra to lose. However, it was a clean miss that passed both the bowl and the Jack. Unfortunately, the Shackleton pairing were unable to add to their total on the green as they tried in vain to trail the jack to give them a chance.
After an entertaining show of bowls, Pinjarra’s Brad Ball and Dominic Milbourne took the AFGRI Men’s Country Week Pairs Title against Trevor Cosgrove and Phillip Bradley 11-8.
