Pennant Report Round 8 Season 2020/2021
PAKENHAM BOWLS CLUB – PENNANT REPORT – ROUND 8
Last week saw the commencement of the reverse rounds of the home and away series of Saturday Pennant while the Midweek warriors played the final game of the first round.
SATURDAY
Despite playing on what was the slowest synthetic green that most Pakenham players had experienced, the Div 1 side somehow grabbed an early lead at Upwey-Tecoma on Saturday and after 20 ends, despite complaints of “sore shoulders,” had two rinks up and were in front by 10 shots overall. It was neck and neck from that point to the half way mark, although by then the lead had increased marginally to 11 shots and Pakenham was looking good with two up and one tied. In a departure from what has become the “Covid Norm,”a tea break was then taken and Pakenham was again in the winners’ circle with Jen Bainbridge collecting a nice meat tray! However, although the sandwiches provided by our hosts were delicious and very much appreciated, ASADA may well have wished to lab test the filling in order to find an explanation for the downturn in the Lions performance after the break – they were outscored across the board from the recommencement of play until the cessation of hostilities and somehow turned an 11 shot lead into a 14 shot loss!
In the end, with 25/16, Pakenham had only one winning rink: Brad Martin (S), Chris “Foxy” Fox (3), David Laird (2) and Ian “Lefty/Ando” Anderson (L). Despite the loss, the Ones retain fifth spot on the ladder but are now a full round behind Mulgrave (fourth). With three home games in a row coming up, they need to put together a few wins – starting with Parkdale (sixth) next Saturday.
Pakenham Two continued their disappointing year with a home loss to Hampton Park One. They made a steady start to their game and after twenty ends had two rinks up and a slender four shot lead. They hung onto that lead until the half way mark where they had three rinks in front but things were beginning to look very ugly on the fourth and that was unfortunately the pattern for the remainder of the game – the final outcome was a 10 shot loss (71/81) with two winning rinks, one losing by a single shot and one getting hammered. Best rink with 20/16 was “Stormin” Norm Box (S), Allister Stewart (3), Gary “Crow” Crowley (2) and Ken Clifton (L).
Still in seventh spot, the Twos will be away at Cardinia Waters (sixth) next round.
To continue the tale of woe, Pakenham Three (Div 4) had an absolute shocker at Carrum – “move on folks, nothing to see here.” Still with a firm grip on the bottom rung of the ladder, they will host Cockatoo (fourth) next round.
It is ironic that having won the Spring Series Grand Final, the Six-A-Side Fourths, as a consequence of collecting zero Pennant points due to a bye in the first round, have started the Summer Season without even a position on the BowlsVic ladder yet technically (and logically) they should be ahead of both Mulgrave and Warburton which are pointless after losses in round one and which have percentages of less than 100!
MIDWEEK
Pakenham One (Div 2) provided the highlight of the week with a convincing home win against Narre Warren. Things looked anything but convincing during the early stages of that game – after 15 ends overall the Lions were down on two rinks, all square on the third and trailed 10/17. By about lunch time they held a two shot lead on one rink but were down on the other two and the deficit had grown to 11 shots. After the break however, the home side came out with some real fire in the belly (no, not the type requiring Quick-Eze) and set about their task with real purpose. By the start of the business ends they had turned the game on its head and had two rinks in front and a narrow two shot lead. The Lions continued to push hard right to the finish and with two rinks up and one drawn, eventually won overall by 13 shots – a mighty effort. To achieve that result, every Pakenham rink outscored its opponent during the second half of the game by more than two to one (44/20) overall! Best rink was Keith “Golden Arm” Archer (S), Glenn “Google” Bainbridge (3), Peter “Hacksaw” Bott (2) and Sandra “Wildwoman” Wilde (L). That rink converted 3/10 down at seven ends into a 25/18 win at 21.
The Ones still hold fifth spot, three points behind Edithvale and twelve ahead of Keysborough. They will be home again in round eight against Hampton Park (eighth).
Pakenham Two also played Narre Warren but they were down the highway at Narre where they saw a close one slip from their grasp during the final ends. The Lions grabbed a slender early lead in that game and even though they were still in front at the half way mark it was only by two shots. With 15 ends to go, Pakenham had increased its lead to five shots and had two rinks up but the game was up for either side to win. In the end, it was the home side which wanted it most and they outscored the Lions in the run home to win by five shots, 58/53. Pakenham’s only winning rink with a healthy 24/14 was Ray Illing (S), Ray Leggett (3), Michael Hahn (2) and Luis Aguilar (L).
In common with a number of Pakenham sides, the Twos find themselves on the fifth rung of the ladder. They play Berwick (sixth) away next round.
Pakenham Three (Div 4) were home to cross town rivals, Cardinia Waters. The visitors caught the home side napping and jumped to a big lead over the first 15 ends and although they were pretty well matched from that point until the lunch break, significant damage had already been done. Two of the Lions’ rinks were then heavily outscored in the second half to allow Cardinia Waters to cruise to a 74/48 win. However the third rink of Richard Burns (S), Vince Bevilaqua (3), “Razor” Ray Pigdon (2) and Judith Ferrari (L) demonstrated a magnificent, “Never Say Die” attitude – after the first six ends they were down 10 shots to nil and even at the half way mark held less than half their opponent’s score but they managed to turn the game around to win by 10 shots, 25/15, including winning the last eight ends on the trot!
The Threes are on the eighth rung of the ladder. They will be away at Keysborough (second) next round.
HI-LO
The winner for round eight was Ray Illing with number 50.
Des Leigh