---------------------------------------------Martin Downey---------------------------------------------------------

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November 22, 2007


REPORT ON ‘ONE WHITE’ 2007 / 2008. PREVIEW - ROUND 4

The first clean sweep of 8 points saw Morley happy visitors over Thornlie who suffered their first loss for the season. Dalkeith-Nedlands remain undefeated and alone at top of the table. They really look the goods and on track for promotion to Premier Division even at this early stage.
Mosman Park broke through for their first win of the season with a crushing 67 shot win over Gosnells. Both Gosnells and Safety Bay remain the only two clubs not to have grabbed the aggregate points so far this season and must be getting a tad concerned. Having said that, Safety Bay were very competitive at home against Leeming last week where three of the four rinks were decided by a single shot.

A couple of the middle order match-ups this week should be interesting. Leeming host Thornlie:- both clubs have started the season pretty well and both currently stand a 2 – 1 winning ratio. Thornlie lost to Morley last week and won’t want the dose repeated by the other club that has come down from Premier Division.
The other interesting one for mine is Bassendean hosting Mosman Park: – both clubs were promoted last year from Blue and were really looking to make a statement in this Division. Currently they both stand a 1 – 2 winning ratio and both will be desperate not to let the top of the table get to far away even this early.

LAST WEEK:
Kardinya 96 (6) defeated Bassendean 62 (2).
Mosman Pk. 113 (7) defeated Gosnells 46 (1).
Leeming 77 (7) defeated Safety Bay 70 (1).
Morley 87 (8) defeated Thornlie 54 (0).
Dalkeith-Ned 80 (7½) defeated Yokine 65 (½).

LADDER:
Dalkeith-Nedlands 20½; Morley 16; Leeming 15; Kardinya 14; Yokine 13½; Thornlie 13; Bassendean 11; Mosman Park 10; Gosnells 4; Safety Bay 3. .

TEAMS:
I didn’t intend to list the teams each week and will just play it by ear. I have this week because a few clubs have advised me of significant changes.

‘My Predictions’:
‘My Predictions’: Last week 3 from 5. For the season (11 – 4) winning rate. ---

BASSENDEAN V’s MOSMAN PARK


BASSENDEAN
Gordon Gray (Sk) Phil Hutchinson Ian Robertson Ray Denton
John Lynch (Sk) Jamie Davies Nolan Hall Norm Kirkup
Marcel Heruer (Sk) Colin Hotker Neil Strachan Fred Early
Justin Opie (Sk) Craig Greenhalgh Wes Jones Steve Black

A report from a contact at Bassendean is as follows:

“Kardinya 96 (6) Bassendean 62 (2)

S Black, W Jones, C Greenhalg and J Opie
Had a great tussle with the Sweet lead rink, winning by 4 shots. The entire team played very steady bowls with Wes Jones and Justin Opie causing a lot of damage to the opposition. Steve Black lead well and Craig Greenhalg played some excellent shots. Bassendean by 4 shots.

F Early, C Irvine, P Hutchinson and G Gray
Had a very hard time of it against a raging hot Kardinya rink skippered by Gould. If the Basso boys were on kitty or in the head, they didn't stay there long, from the second position upwards the Kardinya team took bowls out or outdrew their opponents.
Gordon Gray was under intense pressure being down the majority of times he stood on the mat. A very tough game for the boys on a difficult surface, but one that will be useful in weeks to come when the lessons learned at Kardinya can be used to inspire greater effort. Kardinya by 29 shots.

N Kirkup, N Hall, J Davies and J Lynch
Had a very close game with the Kardinya team skippered by Ball. The game was up for grabs with only 3 ends to play but the Kardinya boys were too steady for Lynchies rink. The standout player of the game was the Kardinya skipper who played some telling shots (6 down to 3 up with his last bowl... 3 down to 4 up again with his final bowl). Kardinya by 10 shots.


I Robertson, N Strachan, C Hotker and M Hereur
Had a fantastic tussle with the Hastings lead rink, the game was in the balance up to the last bowl of the day with the lead changing 3 times with the final four bowls. Marcel and his team performed exceptionally well under intense pressure. Every player in this game contributed with Colin Hotker playing well and Marcel showing good touch through the day. Bassendean by 1 shot”.

THIS WEEK:
Ray Denton comes into the starting 16 for Colin Irvine and there are a couple of positional changes. Ray Denton will lead for Gordon Gray and Ian Robertson will now second for him. On Marcel (what have you done) Heruer’s rink Fred Early will lead and Neil Strachan will play second and Colin Hotker will now play third.


MOSMAN PARK
Steve Withers (Sk) Steve Novak Rad Anderson Tom Reid
Doug Rodgers (Sk) Lindsay Hicks Glenn Ellis Peter Freund
Lester Mortimer (Sk) Wyn Ferris Peter Cole David Teague
John Rainoldi (Sk) Jarrad Rainoldi Tom O’Neil John Deery

A report from a contact at Mosman Park is as follows:

The game between John Rainoldi V Brett Holland was tight all day with the Holland four getting up by one on the last end. The standout on this rink was young Jason Bryan closely followed by Brett Holland with the consistent John Rainoldi nearly pulling this one off for Mossies.

The game of Doug Rogers V Alan Corby was a one sided affair with the Roger’s quartet too strong. Very hard to pick out an outstanding player but if pushed Glen Ellis is starting to show top form with Lindsay Hicks having his best game of the season so far.

The match-up of Steve Withers V Kevin Bairstow was close up until about halfway through the match when the Withers team put the foot down and raced away for a comfortable win with Steve Withers the shining light on this rink.

The game of Lester Mortimer V Neville Mulcahy was one way traffic all day with Mossies lead Dave Teague having a blinder and Lester putting in his usual brilliant game.

THIS WEEK:
Mark Simpson is unavailable so Jarrad Rainoldi moves up to three, Tom O’Neil to two and John Deery comes in to lead.

Martin’s Prediction: MOSMAN PARK.


DALKEITH-NEDLANDS  V’s  SAFETY BAY 


DALKEITH-NEDLANDS
Marco Krajancic(Sk) John Morgan Norm Sutton Ross McKenzie
Tony Skoric (Sk) Ross Donald Steve Back Vaughan Colley
Peter Bacich (Sk) Mark Lindsay Alex Gryta Peter Gason
Tom Williams (Sk) John McKintosh Gordon Wilson John McCormack

------Tony Skoric Dalkeith (pictured) top line skip in good touch

-------------------------- Tony Skoric

A report from a contact at Dalkeith-Nedlands is as follows:

“With Yokine sitting on top of the ladder with two comfortable wins, and the home ground advantage, DN would have been apprehensive of their prospects of a win at the home of the Doggies. Although the scores indicate a comfortable win to the DN lads it does not reflect four very close and terrific games.
The unusual game of the day went to the Tony “the Wild Gypsy” Skoric / Scottie Edmonds encounter. At one stage the Gypsy was down 2/7, before scoring 17 shots on the trot to lead 19/7. Scott’s team then scored the next 10. With the Gypsy leading 19/17 on the last end, holding shot and with one bowl left in his mit, he managed, with a sense of occasion, to trail the jack to go two down and level the scores. Scottie was unable to get through traffic to secure the win for his rink. Ross Donald played beautifully at three and gets better every week. Some of his draw bowling early in the match was first class. Steve Back was again solid at two. The Gypsy played well but would have been disappointed at the result. Bragging rights at DN don’t come easy.

John McIntosh and Tommy Williams notched up their first win of the season and couldn’t have done it against tougher opposition. Rod Heaton who has brained all comers so far this year, was beaten by a combination that played extremely well all day. One day can be a long time in bowls. On Thursday John McCormack had a game he would rather forget and Big Macca had a rare off day but both managed to turn things around just when it was needed to be the outstanding players in a fine victory.
John McCormack had an exceptional day as leader, Gordon Wilson was solid, Big Macca was again in superb form at three and “Tom the Bomb” led his team brilliantly and played the big bowls when necessary. 23/19
Rod Heaton and Tom Williams are two gentlemen of the game and it was a credit to the two skippers the spirit in which the game was played.


Peter Bacich has been taking all before him this year and Saturday’s game was no exception. With Mark Lindsay dominating at three, Alex Gryta continuing his great form from the week before and Peter Gason winning the leaders duel Peter put the icing on the cake. 18/15

Contrary to the scoreboard the tightest game of the day was the Marco “Krackerjack”/ Adrian Durant match. With four ends to go, the Yokine boys looked the goods. They were two up on the scoreboard and on a roll having played great bowls for the previous four ends. On the 18th end they held two unbeatable touchers and the back three bowls. The Krackerjack had nothing, but he was able to play a bowl of breath taking audacity to kick the jack sideways to two otherwise useless bowls, level the scores, and break the hearts of the opposition. Down the last four ends with his tail up and all other games finished the Krackerjack was masterful in front of the crowd culminating in his last end drive of his own toucher into the ditch to again beat the Yokine ditch toucher.
The 8 shot victory did not reflect the closeness of the match, another that was played in great spirit. 20/12

------------The Krackerjack discusses shot selection with his third
-------------------------------



Ross McKenzie continues to play well and set the team up, Norm Sutton continues to impress at two and John Morgan played some big bowls when necessary to assist the Krackerjack. The Krackerjack was the Krackerjack.

This week -
At home DN are hard to beat. With an unchanged team that continues to combine well together, this should be enough to see them over the line”

SAFETY BAY
I haven’t heard from anyone at Safety Bay so can’t report their lineup or any news. Last week Ray Beard’s rink won by 1 shot, Graham Scott’s rink and Matt Massari’s rink both lost by 1 shot, while Paul Beaumont’s rink lost by 6 shots.

Martin’s Prediction: DALKEITH-NEDLANDS.

GOSNELLS vs YOKINE

Brett Holland (Sk) Jason Bryan Maurice Crabb David Downey
Neville Mulcahy (Sk) Bert Cruickshank Brian Creswell Mike Rickard
Alan Corby (Sk) Roy Sharp Gordon Bradford Peter Gale
Kevin Bairstow (Sk) Trevor Gibbs Peter Hodgson Trevor Simons

I picked Gosnells last week because I thought they were hungry, unfortunately Mosman Park were starving. Mike Jaworski was a Saturday morning withdrawal last week due to work commitments and was replaced in the side by Brian (Barney) Creswell.

Well, Mossies walloped three of our four rinks. I was still at the club having a few drinks helping to clean up when 1st Division arrived back and although disappointed with having lost they were full of praise for how well Mossies played.

A great effort again by Brett Holland’s rink to record a 1 shot win to make it 3 from 3 for the season. With 6 ends to play they were 5 shots down mainly courtesy of the skill of John Rainoldi. A quick rink meeting on the change over reiterated that if they could win the remaining ends - they win the game.

They proceeded to win those next 6 ends by one shot a piece to get up by a shot. All four rink members played well but Brett and Jason Bryan were the standouts. It was good to see a ‘still recovering’ Gordon Bradford back playing and congrats to Jason for being chosen to represent our State again in the Juniors TriState Series in NSW on 2-4 January 2008.

Alan Corby’s rink went down by 20 shots but considering they were down 14 to nil after the just 4 ends, they just about held their own from there. Alan Corby and Roy Sharp were identified by the opposition as playing well at the back end.

Kevin (the bear) Bairstow’s rink went down by 22 shots despite the best efforts of lead, Peter Gale, who played well up front only to see his good work undone time and time again by his opponents. Good bowling runs in the Gale family as Peter’s 14 year old daughter, Jamie-Lee, is a State Junior Team Representative who recently picked up the Bronze Medal at the National Junior Singles Championships in N.S.W. She’ll also be off to represent our State again in Juniors TriState Series in NSW in January – great stuff Jamie-Lee.

Neville Mulcahy’s rink went down by 26 (and yes I put the mocker on Neville with my wrap last week). I spoke with Neville after the game and tried to pin him down about who played the best on Lester Mortimer’s rink but he couldn’t split the four players saying that they all played brilliantly. (On the side:- Brett Holland was travelling direct last Saturday and was already running late when he got lost on route. Although his Mosman Park opponents were very understanding he arrived far too late for a rollup but proceeded to play an outstanding game. Team mates Maurice Crabb and Jason reckon they want him running late and missing a rollup every week. It also didn’t escape my attention that Jason Bryan picked up a share of the very tidy 3rd prize money at the Victoria Park Touch of Class earlier this week. I think that would make it your shout Jas).

NEXT WEEK:
Mike Jaworski is expected to miss the rest of the season due to work commitments so Brian (Barney) Creswell will retain his spot in the starting 16. Leads Trevor Simons and David ‘the kid’ Downey are both back available and will resume for Kevin ‘the bear’ Bairstow and Brett Holland respectively.

Gordon Bradford who filled in for ‘the kid’ last week will retain his place in the side and play second for Alan Corby. Peter Gale who led for ‘the bear’ will now lead for Alan Corby. Doug Weir and Andrew Hay-Hendry are out of the side at the minute.

YOKINE
Rod Heaton (Sk) Ian Cooper John Bills Bill Morrison
Tony Kay (Sk) Alan Davis Terry Fulcher Chris Busing
Scott Edmonds (Sk) Rob Bowron Juris Lorencs Ian Goghill
Adrian Durrant (Sk) Darren Kellond John McGrath Graham Dawson


A report from a contact at Yokine is as follows:

THE REAL DEAL -

Dalkeith - Nedlands showed that they are the real deal in their top of the table clash against Yokine at the doggies den on the weekend. Playing in tricky, windy conditions the Silver Tails won the aggregate by 15 shots.
The biggest margin was only 8 but the Silver Tails were always in control and came away with 7.5 points. Yokine's plan was to put the up front players under the pump but it was reversed against the doggies. The Silver Tails were in fine form in the engine room department and caused the doggies to re-think their game plan.

The standouts for the Silver Tails were Marko Krajancic, Mark Lindsay, John McIntosh and John Morgan. The Silver tails are the yard stick of the comp. and if they keep their heads will finish on top and have their chance on the big stage next year in Premier League. The Silver tails have a complete team from start to finish.

On the other side of the coin the doggies haven’t settled yet and are still to put their best team on the track. In 2-3 weeks the doggies will be at full strength but with the Christmas break just around the corner are keen to get points and stay in touch until the New Year.

Scott Edmonds’ rink: Came back from 9 down with 4 ends to play to grab a half point from no where. Scott knows how to finish the game.

Tony Kay’s rink: Unfortunately have been the chopping block for the season but Tony has kept his cool for the doggies and has limited the damage to the aggregate.

Rod Heaton’s rink: Had their chances to win the game but fell down at the vital stages. The Silver tails played a tighter game and proved that consistency should win most close encounters.

Adrian Durrant’s rink: Played a tight game all day and was in a tight encounter with Krajancic’s rink but at the business end of the game Marko had all the answers. The Durrant rink haven’t won a game this season but I’ll feel sorry for the team Durrant plays when things fall into place. Adrian Durrant can be a match winner for the DOGGIES and we look forward to when his team find their feet in One White.

THIS WEEK:
Wayne Coffey and John Gallop are out. Terry Fulcher and Alan Davis (a welcomed return) are in. For Tony Kay - Davis will play Third, Fulcher to 2nd and Busing to Lead. Graham Smokey Dawson to lead for Durrant.

Martin’s Prediction: YOKINE.

KARDINYA V’s MORLEY

KARDINYA
Terry Ball (Sk) John Smith Graeme Wake Ivan Botica
Ian Hastings (Sk) Dave Wood Shaun McCormack David Phillips
Rex Sweet (Sk) Rob Foy Mark Abonnel Steve Vinci
Geoff Gould (Sk) Tony Cocodis Darryl Radford Owen Sweetman

A report from a contact at Kardinya is as follows:

“We were pleased to win 6-2 against newcomers Bassendean, who we always thought were going to be tough opposition. Geoff Gould’s rink of Tony Cocodis (Third), Darryl Radford (Second) and Owen Sweetman (Lead) all bowled brilliantly to win comprehensively 32-5 and ensure that the aggregate was never going to be in doubt. It was the rink’s third consecutive win.

Terry Ball’s team of John Smith (Third), Kerry Eames (Second) and Les Phillips (Lead) all played well to win by 10 shots, with Terry pulling off some sensational conversions.

Rex Sweet’s rink of Rob Foy (Third), Mark Abonnel (Second) and Steve Vinci (Lead) did very well indeed to hold Justin Opie’s rink to a mere 4 shot loss.

Ian Hastings’ rink had a titanic struggle all day with Marcel Heruer’s rink going into the last end 18 all, with the Bassendean rink gaining the all-important last shot to win 19-18.

THIS WEEK
The Selectors were forced to make two changes to the Kardinya team for next week’s home fixture against Morley. Les Phillips and Kerry Eames are unavailable and have been replaced by Ivan Botica (Lead) and Graeme Wake (Second) in Terry Ball’s rink. Both deserve the opportunity to play in 1 White”.

MORLEY
John Armstrong (Sk) John Sheridan Graham White Travis Ingram
Peter Aungier (Sk) Allan Baron Alan Haley Rod Reval
Bruce Walter (Sk) Gavin Grieve Andy Elmer Glenn Britten
Robbie Urquhart (Sk) Joe Heiden Brad Moyle Denis Mullenger

“A great result for Morley this Saturday against an in form Thornlie. 8 points is always hard to get and helps make up for our tardy start to the season.

As usual Robbie Urquhart's rink is performing very well with another good tight hard fought win over Paul Pohe's rink. The win was only achieved with Robbie's tremendous last bowl that sat out the opposition's touching shot bowl for 3 shots. Brad Moyle continues to impress and is improving each week.

Peter Aungier's rink also has proved to be very consistent and competitive in all their games this year and again ground out a solid & workman like win against Glynn Vaughan's team.

Bruce Walter was the star player of the rink in his team's win over Jim McKenzie's team. Playing with his new orange Vectors Bruce played many exceptional bowls to greatly frustrate an in form opposition of which Allan Petchell was the pick.

John Armstrong's team were always in control on their rink. His charges of Travis Ingram, Graham White & John Sheridan all performed very well leaving JA most times with not a lot to do except to cover or add to the count ... a situation most skippers no doubt only dream about”.

THIS WEEK:
No reported changes.

Martin’s Prediction: KARDINYA .

LEEMING vs THORNLIE

LEEMING
Danny Comrie (Sk) Phil Dobie Peter Middleton Steve Harris
Don Munro (Sk) Bill West Nobby Bolton Tom Glendinning
Lindsay Strange (Sk) Alan Pryce Gary Pemberton Dennis Anderson
Peter Morris (Sk) Ian Ashworth Colin Webber Ray Morley

Cameron Kerr, Leeming (pictured) made his debut for Leeming last week. 

-----------------------------------Cameron Kerr

A report from a contact at Leeming is as follows:

DON MUNRO. After 7 ends the score was Leeming 6, Safety Bay 7, After 14 ends Leeming 13, Safety Bay 13. At 21 ends Leeming 19, Safety Bay 18. Another tight game for Don and the boys with Leeming getting out to a six shot lead by the 11th end. Again after the 11th end Leeming boys took the pressure off by only scoring six shots to Safety Bays eleven to win by the narrowest one shot margin. The two leads had a great battle but the Safety Bay lead certainly put the pressure on in the closing 5 ends.

Peter MORRIS. After 7 ends the score was Leeming 4, Safety Bay 8, After 14 ends Leeming 10, Safety Bay 17. At 21 ends Leeming 20, Safety Bay 19. Leeming's 10 shots to one over the closing 5 ends saw Pete's boys come from behind (there favourite style) for a very good win.

Lindsay STRANGE. After 7 ends the score was Leeming 7, Safety Bay 1, After 14 ends Leeming 17, Safety Bay 5. At 21 ends Leeming 20, Safety Bay 14. Lindsay's rink remains undefeated with another solid performance by all. The win may have been even bigger but Lindsay let fly a couple of pineapples (drives that wobble allot and miss everything) which almost killed innocent bystanders on the next rink!

Danny COMRIE. After 7 ends the score was Leeming 7, Safety Bay 5, After 14 ends Leeming 15, Safety Bay 11. At 21 ends Leeming 18, Safety Bay 19. Leeming dropped 8 shots over the closing 3 ends to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. In an unusual twist for a skipper Danny took full responsibility for the loss even fining himself on the trip back home.

THIS WEEK:
Changes. P DOBIE playing third for D COMRIE ,as G FORD unavailable. Nobby BOLTON in as second to Don MUNRO. This is Nobby's first appearance in division one on a Saturday but has played in DIV 1 Red on Thursdays. C KERR omitted as S HARRIS available. Cameron KERR. performed quite well considering the conditions and I am sure he will earn a more permanent spot in the near future.


THORNLIE
Paul Pohe (Sk) Mick Hansen Jim Stein Andy Lill
Jim McKenzie (Sk) Alan Petchell Rod Kimble Jake Halse
Glyn Vaughan (Sk) Ross McMillian Bruce Deters Ray Halse
Greg Reagan (Sk) Terry McCormack Ian Rewell Tony Churcher


A report from a contact at Thornlie is as follows:

The Ravens received a wake up call from Morley 8 zip was not the expected outcome from a home game. Well done Morley. In the first three outings The Ravens have managed 5 rink wins from a possible 12, less than 50% not a flash outcome, so the club has some work to do in balancing rinks which should lead to better outcomes on the score board.

Mick Hansen has been pushed up to play three for Paul Pohe, Mick deserves this opportunity and we all wish him well. Clubs need young blokes and although Mick is 40 he is considerably below the average age in this playing group.

We go to Leeming on Saturday and would expect a competitive day of bowls. The Ravens are confident that a win is available so the ball is very much in our court.

Terry McCormack has been moved to play three for Greg Reagan. This rink has not produced the form they are capable of and we know there will be improvement. It is still early days and our start this year mirrors the start from last year, 2 wins and a loss in the first three games. 11 or 12 wins will see you in the top four this year so we believe The Ravens are very much on track for a top four spot.

White has always been a tough assignment, however this year the competition is unusually tough. In years past you could look at the fixtures and pick three or four clubs that you would bank on beating, this year those clubs are very hard to find.

Dalkeith-Nedlands (on paper at least) are the major contenders, then you have everybody else in the mix somewhere. Gosnells and Safety Bay, although not off to a good start will give cheek before the season is over. With the bottom four dropping out this year, you better believe there will be plenty of excitement right up to the last game. My tip for Saturday is Thornlie 6/2 in a very tight tussle.

Martin’s Prediction: LEEMING.