PAKENHAM BOWLS
Division One teams played the final game of the first round of their home and away season last Saturday while the lower divisions are already well into the second half of their (shorter) season.
SATURDAY
DIVISION 1
Despite the deluge received last Friday night, the greens at Mulgrave ran surprisingly well on Saturday – however as expected, there was a noticeable lack of finish.
Mulgrave were up and about from the start, keen to exact revenge for their defeat by the Lions at last season’s Sectional Grand Final.
Nevertheless it was Pakenham which took the early lead and by the half way mark the Lions were five shots in front and had three rinks up – however the fourth was being badly mauled.
After the break, the locals managed to turn the game on its head and the wheels on the Lions’ wagon developed an alarming wobble. By the beginning of the business ends, with two rinks in front and one level pegging, Mulgrave had established a 13-shot lead and from that point forward the Lions experienced a total melt down and were heavilly outscored in the run home to an embarassing 59 to 94 shot thumping – Mulgrave certainly got their revenge.
The Ones have not lost their position on the seventh rung of the ladder but are now only seven points ahead of Mulgrave. They will be away again next round at Beaumaris (fourth) – time to start stringing some wins together!
DIVISION 3
Pakenham Two were just across town at Cardinia Waters where they played out a reasonably close contest to come home with four Pennant points after a 71 to 81 shot loss.
In the absence of all the score cards it was not possible to conduct an analysis of this game – however the better of the two winning rinks with 18/15 was Derek Spraggon (S), Reg ‘Wombat’ Mattingly (3), Richard Burns (2) and Ian Kitt (L).
The Twos hold a mortgage on the eighth rung of the ladder and now, unfortunately, are well out of touch with the four. They will be at home to Cranbourne (seventh) next round.
DIVISION 5
Pakenham Three played host to Narre Warren for the only home game of the day.
After the first 20 ends of this contest, Pakenham had two rinks up and one all square, yet were behind by one shot. By the half way mark two of the Lions’ rinks still had their noses well in front but with another copping a bit of a hiding, they remained one shot in arrears overall. From that point forward the game slowly drifted away from them to an eventual 68 to 84 shot loss, with two rinks up and two down.
The better of the winning rinks with 22/16 was David Moore (S), Bill Bosch (3), Kevin Holley (2) and Gail Wilcock (L). The Threes have kept their position at fourth spot but are now only seven points ahead of Willow Lodge in fifth. They will be away at Willow Lodge next round.
MIDWEEK
DIVISION 2
On paper it appeared that the Lions had fielded a strong side for their home ground encounter with Narre Warren but it was the visitors who prevailed.
The Panthers have become accustomed to playing under a roof and were quick to adapt to the Pakenham green – by the completion of the first fifteen ends they had all three rinks up and a lead of eight shots.
At the half way mark, although the Lions had clawed their way back to level pegging on one rink, they were still down on the other two and the deficit had grown slightly to 10 shots. Narre then outscored the locals in the second half to record a comfortable 69 to 43 shot win.
The loss saw the Ones drop from third to fourth on the ladder, now 10 points behind Cranbourne but only four ahead of Edithvale. They will be away at Edithvale next round – it goes without saying that this is a must win game.
DIVISION 3
Pakenham Two faced a tough assignment last Tuesday, away at Monbulk, a side above them on the ladder. However they were not daunted by the task and with two rinks up and 21 shots to 10 were looking strong after the first 15 ends.
In the middle stages of the game however, they did their best to throw it away and by the half way mark were six shots down, despite still holding the lead on two of the three rinks.
At the start of the business ends, thanks to a huge effort by Peter Wilson’s rink, the Lions were back in front by two shots and held on for an eventual 66 to 60 win.
Pakenham’s only winning rink with 28 shots to nine was Peter Wilson (S), Eric Peterson (3), Luis Aguilar (2) and Ken Clifton (L) – this team won 11 of the last 12 ends and 15 out of 21 in total!
Despite their win, the Twos are still seventh on the ladder but are now only four points behind both Monbulk and Cranbourne who are separated only by percentage. They are home to The Dandenong Club (third) next round.
-Des Leigh-
