Pennant Report Round 12 Season 2020/2021
PAKENHAM BOWLS CLUB – PENNANT REPORT ROUND 12 – SEASON 2020-21
SATURDAY
Last Saturday the weekend teams returned some excellent results for Pakenham.
Pakenham One (Div 1) were on the grass at Mulgrave which has not been a happy hunting ground for the Lions in recent years and the game did not begin well – after the first twenty ends, Mulgrave had three rinks in front and one Pakenham rink looked set for a hiding; fortunately however, at that stage the locals only held a three shot overall lead, as Geoff “Voota” Van Vugt’s rink was dominating with 13/1 on the score card. By the half way mark Pakenham still trailled on three rinks and were behind by nine shots on the big scoreboard. To quote an old cliche however, “it was a game of two halves.” Even without an afternoon tea break to shift the momentum, the Lions turned the game on its head, outscoring Mulgrave by 44/18 in the second half, winning by 17 shots overall and collecting 14 valuable Pennant points. With finals just around the corner, the spirit displayed by the Lions was very encouraging – even the rink which had been mauled all day came back hard, eventually losing by just four shots.
Best rink with 29/15 was Geoff “Voota” Van Vugt (S), Steve “Krusty” Bentley (3), Des “Grizzly” Leigh (2) and Graeme “Wildman” Wilde (L). The win elevated the Ones from fifth to third place on the ladder. They host clear ladder leaders Keysborough next round.
Pakenham Two (Div 3) also recorded a win against Mulgrave but that game was played under the Paky Dome and in contrast to the Ones’ performance, it was the Lions who grabbed an early break which was carried forward to the half way mark where they had three rinks up and an eight shot lead. Although marginally outscored in the second half (but only by two shots overall), the Lions maintained control of the game and with the final score at 74/68 won by six shots with two winning rinks. Best rink with a very healthy 27/12 was “Stormin” Norm Box (S), Allister Stewart (3), Peter Ellis (2) and Gary “Crow” Crowley (L).
Now in seventh spot, the Twos will play Chelsea, fifth, in the penultimate round.
In the battle of the cellar dwellers, Pakenham Three (Div 4) also played Mulgrave in a game where they struggled, being behind at all the major milestones. Nevertheless, with one rink in front, one all square and the score at a manageable 50/53, they were still well and truly in the hunt at the start of the business ends – however the home side heavily outscored them in the run home and despite finishing with two winning rinks they went down overall by 19 shots.
Best rink with 23/17 was Peter Wilson (S), “Razor” Ray Pigdon (3), Roger Platt (2) and Trent “Rowdy” Bedford (L). The Threes host ladder leaders Upwey-Tecoma next Saturday.
It was the final home and away round of the brief Summer Season for the Six-A-Side Pakenham Four and they finished with a bang, scoring a clean sweep against ladder leaders Monbulk at Monbulk. The Lions jumped clear from the commencement of hostilities to lead by 15/2 after the completion of the first 10 ends. From that point forward they were never troubled at any stage of the game, eventually winning by 35/16 in what became an absolute white wash. Best rink with an outstanding 20/5 was John Hickman (S), David Moore (2) and John Lindley (L).
Now on top of the ladder, the Fours will turn out for a semi-final next Saturday – assuming normal protocols are observed, that will be a home game and their opponent should be Willow Lodge (details not yet posted by BowlsVic at time of reporting). Turn up on Saturday morning and give them some support if you can.
MIDWEEK
The season started off so well for Pakenham One (Div 2) with three wins on the trot followed by a nail biting one shot, 53/54 loss to current ladder leaders, Cranbourne. However in the return bout they were never close – after the first 15 ends Cranbourne had doubled the Lions’score, they had advanced to a 20 shot lead at the half way mark, were 18 shots up at the start of the business ends and remained 18 clear at the completion of play. Pakenham’s only winning rink with 21/14 was Paul Currie (S), Ned Courtin (3), “Stormin” Norm Box (2) and Graeme “Wildman” Wilde (L).
As a result of the loss, the Ones have dropped to fifth spot, nine points behind Narre Warren and five clear of Cardinia Waters. They host Cardinia Waters next round.
Pakenham Two (Div 3), remained in touch but could never quite bridge the gap in their home game against Ferntree Gully, eventually losing by just eight shots. Their only successful rink was Richard Burns (S), Ken Clifton (3), Vince Bevilacqua (2) and David Saint (L) – after being behind for the first 12 ends, that rink staged a spirited fight back to secure a 23/18 win.
The Twos have dropped to fifth spot on the ladder. They will be away against Mulgrave, which took fourth spot from them, in round 12.
Unfortunately, Pakenham Three (Div 4) were never in the hunt in their game against ladder leaders Cranbourne and were badly mauled, coming home with just one Pennant point. However one rink did have their noses in front on a number of occasions and put up a spirited resistance to force an18-all draw – that was Alan Waterson (S), Peter McQueen (3), Luis Aguilar (2) and Helen Wright (L).
The Threes languish in eighth spot – they will be home to The Dandenong Club (third) next round.
HI-LO
The winner for round 12 was the “A-Train” with number 23.
Des Leigh
