PAKENHAM BOWLS
SATURDAY
Winners are grinners…and there were smiles all round and the mood was euphoric at Pakenham Bowls Club on Saturday evening as all three Pennant sides recorded wins with both the first and second sides taking things even further and collecting maximum Pennant points.
Pakenham One then backed it up with another excellent result on Sunday….in a fantastic double-header weekend.
DIVISION 1 – ROUNDS 11-12
Three Saturday/Sunday double headers have been included in the Division-1 draw this season, as a way of compensating for the Covid delayed start to the 2021/22 competition.
This initiative allows for a full fixture of 18 rounds to make up the season.
Pakenham One played the first of these on the weekend with two home games – on Saturday against Upwey Tecoma and on Sunday against Keysborough.
Pakenham One (eighth) was home in a must-win game against Upwey-Tecoma (sixth) on Saturday.
The Lions made a steady start to the game and with two rinks up held a lead of 18 shots to 12 after the first 20 ends.
From that point they really got on with the job, building the lead to 44 to 26 by half time, with three rinks in front and the fourth trailling by just two shots. By the start of the business ends that lead had blown out to 74 to 38 and the Lions had four rinks up.
The Tigers pushed hard in the run home outscoring the locals across the board – however the buffer established by the Lions was sufficiently large to ensure that they coasted to an 86 to 63 win and with four rinks up, collected maximum Pennant points.
Best rink with 24 to 12 was Glen ‘Google’ Bainbridge (S) our marque player Jack MacNab (just in from Scotland) at third, David Laird (2) and Gian Pianezzola at lead.
Fortunately, the Ones were home again for the second game of the double header on Sunday, their opponents being Keysborough, second on the ladder.
As expected (hoped) this game was tight from the outset and a high standard of bowls were on display from both sides.
After the first 20 ends, as both teams settled into their work, Pakenham had two up and one all square but held an overall lead of just one shot. Then as ‘Big Dev’s’ and ‘Voota’s’ rinks began to dominate, that lead grew…by 55 to 39 at half time and 76 to 57 by the start of the last 20 ends.
However, in contrast to their performance on Saturday, the Lions outscored their more fancied opponents in the home straight to record a hard earned 95 to 68 victory and collect 14 valuable Pennant points.
Best rink with 32/15 was Neil ‘Big Dev’ Devlin (S), Dave Wood (3), Keith ‘Golden Arm’ Archer (2) and David Saint at lead.
As a result of the weekend’s activity, the Ones have moved up to the sixth rung of the ladder.
Next weekend will be a ‘normal’ round with play on Saturday only, down the road at Berwick (second).
DIVISION 3 – ROUND 11
Sharing the shade of the Dome with the Ones on Saturday, Pakenham Two faced Chelsea, a side above it on the ladder (aren’t they all?) which had given it a bit of a touch up in the earlier rounds of the season. The Two’s have shown real spirit recently and they set about their task with renewed purpose.
After the first 20 ends they had three rinks up and led 22/15 and by half way, at 54/27, they had doubled their opponents score.
After the break there was no let up – the foot was again pressed to the floor and only lifted off after the final end when they won with 105 shots to 52 and collected maximum points – where has this side been all season?
Best rink with 34/13 was Peter Bott (S), Jen Bainbridge (3), John Ewe (2) and Ian ‘Lefty’ Anderson (L). Despite the win, the Twos are still in eighth position but are now within striking distance of Chelsea and Cardinia Waters. They will be away at Cranbourne RSL (third) next round.
DIVISION 5 – ROUND 11
Pakenham Three (fifth) took a scenic drive up into the hills to tackle Monbulk 2 (second) a side which is always hard to knock off on their home turf.
Lindsay Stevenson’s rink got away to a great start and was up 10 to zip after its first five ends and was a major contributor to the Lions overall score of 21 to 14 at that stage.
The locals then commenced something of a fight back and by the half way mark had reduced the deficit to just four shots with two up and one all square.
As the game entered its business ends, Pakenham had only one rink in front and at 55/57 had lost the lead by two shots. In the run home however, they outscored the locals by 19 shots to 12 to snatch victory by five shots overall.
The Lions only winning rink, which had been on top all day and had won 15 of the 21 ends for a final score of 28 to 14, was Lindsay Stevenson (S), David Moore (3), Bill Bosch (2) and Kevin Holley (L). Despite the win, the Threes remain in fifth spot but are now more than two full rounds clear of Upwey-Tecoma in sixth and only nine points short of Willow Lodge in fourth.
They have a home game next Saturday against Mulgrave Country Club (seventh) while Willow Lodge is away to Hampton Park (second) – there is a very real chance therefore that they could take fourth spot.
MIDWEEK – ROUND 10
DIVISION 2
Bowls can be a cruel sport – Pakenham’s top side were beaten by clear ladder leaders, The Dandenong Club, by just one shot last Tuesday but only collected two of the available 16 Pennant points. Fortunately, the loss did not affect their position on the ladder – they are still fourth and a full round clear of Edithvale in fifth.
Despite having two rinks in front at varying stages of the game, the Lions were forced to play catch up bowls for the entire match, although the deficit was never insurmountable.
Unfortunately a spirited attack over the last 15 ends was not quite enough and at 53 to 54 they lost the contest by that single shot.
Pakenham’s only winning rink with a handy 27/13 was Max Mannic (S), Terry ‘Tmac’ McRedmond (3), David Laird (2) and Sandra ‘Wild-woman’ Wilde (L).
The Ones retain fourth position, still a full round clear of Edithvale in fifth. They will be away at Cranbourne (third) next round.
DIVISION 3
I wrote last week that although sitting on the eighth rung of the ladder, Pakenham Two were only one win away from the three teams holding positions five through seven – well, they got that win last Tuesday with a good result at Hampton Park (fifth) while the teams in sixth and seventh spots both lost.
As a consequence, Pakenham leapfrogged them all to grab fifth spot.
The job ahead of them now is to put a few more wins together to consolidate that position and although they are still a full round behind Berwick (fourth) there is a real chance of making the four.
This was a hard fought game all day and there was never much in it – however by the start of the business ends Pakenham finally hit the front with a slim margin of five shots and with each side scoring 11 shots over the last 15 ends and the final score at 53 to 48, the Lions collected the chocolates.
Best rink with 18 to 14 was Peter Wilson (S), Eric Peterson (3), Ken Clifton (2) and Luis Aguilar (L)
-Des Leigh-
