Men’s Metro v Country AllStars 2025 Rink Results

by Aaron Clark on February 28, 2025

All the rivalry and friendship we love was on display last night at the Osborne Park Bowling Club, where the Metropolitan team prevailed over the Country All-Stars 122-108.

For the Metro, the rinks skipped by David Downey 10-1 after seven ends and Anthony Wiliams 13-3 after seven ends jumped out of the blocks to establish a strong metro lead. While for the Country, Gary Keeps was the mainstay with a 14-1 lead after eight ends.

On rink 1 the matchup between Jack East and Gary Caffell was an excellent game led by a great leaders battle between Scott Walker and Phil Coxon. Both players were setting up their teams whether they were up or down after they completed their two bowls each. Slowly the Country rink pulled away and established a six-shot lead after the 12th end, which they would hold until the end. The Jack East rink threatened a number of times to pull closer but Country and Osborne Park favourite Gary Caffell played the bowls that mattered to guide his rink to a win.

Rink 2 was a close affair for the whole night, with the Kevin McKay rink keeping their nose in from the 6th end onwards. By the 16th end, McKay had a 15-9 lead and looked to be pulling away but the Country rink skipped by Brad King fought it out to the end to win four of the last five ends to close the final margin to a two-shot win to Metro.

The Anthony Williams team on rink 3 set up the Metro’s aggregate win with an all round team effort over the Matthew Mitchell led Country rink. The metro rink was all over their opponents for a majority of the night and kicked out to a 12-shot lead at the halfway mark of the game. A couple of large numbers to Mitchell in the second half allowed the margin to stay constant but the damage was done early, with Metro running out victors by 16 shots.

Rink 4 turned into a classic after both teams enjoying runs of superiority over the other. The David Downey rink raced to a 10-1 lead after 7 ends before the Country’s David Goddard team fought back and grabbed the lead 12-11 after 13 ends. Goddard continued his march to take a four-shot lead 5 ends to play and looked the likely winner. In a tense last three ends, including a dead end by Downey, the metro team hung on and clawed their way back to a draw 17-17 with singles on the last 2 ends.

Rink 5 was a great rink for the Country. after losing a single on the first end, Gary Keep’s rink went on a march to establish a 14-1 lead. Two fours to Clive Adams teams put the Metro back in touch but the Country team was not going to be denied. The Metro rink certainly put the pressure on in the second half and threw everything at the Country but kept coming up just short. The County rink withstood the pressure, with Gary Keep himself playing some telling the bowls in the last few ends to run out winners by 7 shots.

Rink 6 saw one of the Country’s favourite sons turning out for the Metro team for the first time. With mixed emotions, Warren Holt was instrumental in a Metro victory in the second half of this game. The game started evenly with Holts metro rink playing some great bowls only to be matched by, Kristian Carrs Country rink. A run of three winning ends saw Carr lead 3-6 after 8 ends but that was the last time the Country rink would be in front. A five to Metro on the 9th end gave them the lead they would not surrender. Three singles in a row to Metro saw them push out by 5 shots but a Carr 4 brought the margin back to 1. after 13 ends. Over the next six ends the Metro team put in the hard work to establish a quick 13-shot lead. Five shots to the Country on the last end reduced the margin to 8 shots but the damage had been done over the 5 ends before that.

It was another terrific night with a great crowd and a wonderful warm evening to officially start the 2025 Men’s Countryweek.

Congratulations to all the players competing and we wish the Country Players all the best over the next 8 days, with the Countryweek Singles beginning on Friday on their way to the Finals at the Sorrento Bowling Club on Friday 7th March

Rink 1:

Position	Metro vs	Country	Results
Skipper	J.East	G.Caffell	Country Win 14-19
Third	B.Leggett	G.Main
Second	C.Biddle	M.Schinzig
Lead	S.Walker	P.Coxon

Rink 2:

Position	Metro vs	Country	Results
Skipper	K.McKay	B.King	Metro Win 17-15
Third	B.Brandsma	J.Leeson
Second	C.Harris	S.Fewster
Lead	M.Kemp	G.Cripps

Rink 3:

Position	Metro vs	Country	Results
Skipper	A.Williams	M.Mitchell	Metro Win 33-17
Third	B.White	G.Prowse
Second	C.Alberti	S.Tuffley
Lead	M.Biglin	P.Garbellini

Rink 4:

Position	Metro vs	Country	Results
Skipper	D.Downey	D.Goddard	Draw 17-17
Third	N.Jones	M.Baker
Second	B.Gillingham	G.Rundle
Lead	B.Davis	D.Foster

Rink 5:

Position	Metro vs	Country	Results
Skipper	C.Adams	G.Keep	Country Win 17-24
Third	A.Drayton	M.Simpson
Second	C.Green	L.Mcilvenny
Lead	P.Davies	C.Hitchcock

Rink 6: