New England Bowls By RICHIE CLUTTERBUCK
ONLY one match remains to be played to finish the district state events following the singles at the weekend. This match will be played at Uralla on a date to be advised by the district match committee chairman and will be between Guyra’s John McIlwain and City’s Lindsay McIntyre. John won his way through with wins over Dean Farrell, Steven Sole and Gavin Latham while Lindsay managed to oust Paul Bullen, Chris Kliendienst and Peter Doyle. These matches were played at Uralla while at Ex-Services the state reserve singles were played and the deserved winner was Walcha’s evergreen Brian Lockyer.
In the final Brian carried to many guns for Reg Battersby winning 31-13. On his way to the final Brian defeated, Frank LIpscombe, Peter Bool and Noel Goodwin while Reg defeated Peter Cutmore, Ian Pringle, and John Waters.
A reminder to players who nominate for these events that it is their duty to inform the host club and their opponent that they are forfeiting as this allows their opposition to make changes to their arrival time etc. In the final of the senior singles I was lucky enough to make up for the loss in the pairs to Dave Kliendienst when I defeated him 31-20. In earlier matches Dave won against John Andrews and I defeated Graeme Smith. All winners will travel to Quirindi for the zone finals.
Pennant rolls in
THE long-awaited start to the 2014 pennant season at district level starts on Saturday at 9am with matches in grade seven at Uralla.
In the first match Uralla will pay Ex-Services and in the afternoon match Guyra will take on Uralla. I do not have the players list available at present however if pre-season form is any guide then Ex- Services will prove hard to beat as they recently won a trial match against City. Guyra are always thereabouts and I am not sure how Uralla will fare but they be the surprise packet on their home green.
Matches continue on Sunday at Ex-Services with the morning match being vital when the host club plays Guyra. Both of these clubs are used to playing on the carpet and this match will have a big bearing on the final result. The afternoon match will see Ex-Services back up against Uralla. I wish all players good luck and remember that you are playing for your club and all should play as a team.
Round robin
I DO not have the district teams selected for the senior round robin at Inverell on 22-23 March however I think they may have been selected and each player will be advised through their club. We are the current holders of the trophy and I see no reason why our players cannot repeat the dose.
