By Jack Rollings
Saturday pennant section grand finals. The weather was dark and threatening. There were a couple of light showers but nothing big enough to stop the bowling.
Monbulk 1 played against Boronia 1 at a neutral ground in Heathmont.
Karen Rice’s team won nine ends but was in front for fourteen ends. Both sides dropped a couple of clangers. Boronia had a stronger final third, picking up five ends to Monbulk’s two and just pipping Monbulk on the final end. Monbulk lost the rink 18 shots to 20.
Jim Bras’ team won the first two-thirds comprehensively 26 shots to 3. In the final third Boronia started finding their range and picked up 15 shots over four ends to reduce the margin. Monbulk could only pick up one more single for the match, but they held onto the lead and won the rink 27 shots to 20.
Brian Smith’s team had a close contest in the first two-thirds. Both teams won seven ends each and the lead changed a few times. The final third belonged to Boronia absolutely. Monbulk did well to contain some of the losses to singles but still lost the rink 13 shots to 25.
Eric Markham’s team started slowly and was down 5 shots to 18 going into the tenth end. But on the tenth end, Monbulk grabbed a big 5 shotter and was suddenly back in the game. Both teams won a similar number of ends in the race to the finish, but Monbulk’s wins included some good multiples. They levelled by the fifteenth end and then hung on to win the rink 26 shots to 25.
On the composite board, Monbulk led for most of the day and was up by 20 shots at the break. But Boronia finished better. They caught up and were able to take the wins at a crucial time. Overall Monbulk lost the grand final 86 shots to 91. Yes, it was a painful loss, but at least they gained promotion to division 2 for next season.
Cockatoo/Monbulk played in the section grand final at Ringwood against Lilydale 4. They won on all four rinks to win the section grand final 101 shots to 65. That was a massive win against the second-placed side.
So, after winning the section grand final, it was the first round of the divisional finals on Sunday and the combined Cockatoo/Monbulk side played against Club Sunbury 5 at Bundoora RSL. The weather was perfect and the green was rolling well. It was a good sporting atmosphere on and off the green. Bundoora had a sausage sizzle on the go for spectators and the bar was open. The cheers going up for the combined side were “C’mon Cocky Monbulk”. There were some good tight heads and a few close measures, but it was the combined Cockatoo/Monbulk side that gradually built the margin and ran away with the victory.
Ken Earle’s team won 19 shots to 14. Graeme Godkin was Lead. Allan Brooke was Second. Mark Hoefer was Third.
Mark Coulter’s team lost 14 shots to 15. Phillip Thomson was Lead. Kylie Bailey was Second. Martin Cattanach was Third.
Anthony Young’s team won 19 shots to 15. Oscar McCurdy was Lead. Peter Dowsett was Second. Kevin Murray was Third.
Mark Blythman’s team won 25 shots to 11. Ken Cowling was Lead. Yvonne Cowling was Second. Martin Williams was Third.
Overall Cockatoo/Monbulk won 77 shots to 55. It was a solid win and should give all the bowlers some confidence going into next weekend when they play against Port Melbourne in the divisional semifinal. Great work so far bowlers, keep it going.
