The first round of the 2021/22 pennant season saw a mixed bag of weather and results for Garfield.
On Tuesday 9 November, the Div-3 Midweek side played host at sunny Garfield to the side from Morwell. A close game on two rinks, but a runaway on the third, saw Garfield come out winners by 64 shots to 51.
The stand-out rink was that of Wes Goodman, Judy Pocklington, Gordon Moxey and first-time skip Lexi Taylor. They were down by five shots after the first end of play but pegged their way back to be down by two after seven ends; then they exploded, scoring nine shots on the next two ends, and they were on their way, winning in the end by 28 shots to 14.
The team of Damian Brick, Gillian Harper, Barry Johnson and skip Sue Stansfield fought out a ding-dong battle with their opponents, being one-all, four-all and eight-all at various stages of the game before completing the ‘quaddie’ by finishing with a 19-shots-all draw.
Maureen Lamport’s rink, consisting of Jan Johnson, Peter Stansfield and Bob Lamport, were on a see-saw with their opponents, one side winning a number of ends in a row, then the other doing so. This continued throughout the game, resulting in the narrowest possible loss to Garfield of 17 shots to 18.
A good beginning to the season sees them third on the first week ladder. Next week, they visit far-flung Yinnar.
On Saturday the Div-3 side played host to the far-away Boolarra club.
The long trip must have tired out the visitors with the home side winning by 123 shots to 74 overall.
The team of Barrie Smith, Gary Payne, Joe Lenders and skip Steve Bassed started out like a train, up by nine shots before their opponents scored; and the train kept rolling, only stopping now and again to allow them to score a shot or two, and going on to win by 31 shots to 15.
Nick Henwood’s rink, of Les Pumphrey, Ron Saunders and Tom Cleary were down by three shots before they got going, and by the break they were still down by one shot. After that, they took the reins and powered away to win by 29 shots to 18.
The men in “Whyte”, Alan Wilson, Ray Biffin, Gary Helmore and skip Steve Whyte were likewise down by three shots before they scored. However, they didn’t wait any longer to put the foot down, losing only five ends for the rest of the game, winning by 45 shots to 16.
The final team in the side did not have such a good day. Graeme Burton, Lexi Taylor, Alan White and skip Shane Oliver started well with three shots on the first end; after that, though, their opponents began to play, catching and passing the Garfield team, who then trailed for the rest of the day, going down by 18 shots to 25.
This good win puts the side on top of the ladder; a great way to start the season.
The Div-5 side visited Traralgon RSL to play on a wet, slow grass green, and lost overall by 65 shots to 79.
Lois King, Judy Pocklington, Gwen Fabris and skip Gordon Moxey were quick off the mark, with three shots in the first two ends, and were never headed; in what was a close-fought game after that, they won by 25 shots to 20.
By contrast, Bob Lamport’s team, comprised of Brian Fox, Maureen Lamport and Don Knight, were quickly behind by three shots; they worked their way back, however, caught their opponents and finished the day with a good 23 shots to 20 win.
The team of Len Preece, Damian Brick, Malcolm Newham and skip Barry Johnson, struggled all day with the conditions and strong opposition to lose by 17 shots to 39.
Not a good way to begin the campaign, however fifth on the ladder could have been worse. There is always next week.
-Damian Brick-
