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

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To read Martin's previous previews or Premiership tables , click on the above buttons

December 20, 2007
REPORT ON ‘ONE WHITE’ 2007 / 2008. PREVIEW - ROUND EIGHT

To one and all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Unfortunately I’ve had to attend a few funerals of late, a couple untimely, which has been a reminder to me to cherish these very special times with our loved ones. Be extra careful in your travels whether local or extended and God Bless.

On The Side:
Late news I just received is that two ‘One White’ players have won the inaugural Senior State Pairs. The two players from the Thornlie Ravens are both absolute gentleman of the game in Jim McKenzie and Glyn Vaughan. Congratulations to you both on a fantastic achievement against very strong opposition.

On the side number two
Mosman Park skipper Peter Cole and his 13 year old daughter Rechelle, who is a State Junior Squad member from last season and a very promising talent. Peter and Rechelle recently won the club's AER Mixed Pairs Competition beating some very experienced teams along the way. They will now represent Mosman Park at the finals against the other club representatives.

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---------A very proud dad, Peter Cole pictured with daughter Rechelle

Last Week:
As below.

This Week:
Next round to be discussed in the New Year.

LADDER:

Dalkeith-Nedlands 41; Yokine 39½; Morley 32½; Thornlie 30½; Kardinya 30; Bassendean 29; Mosman Park 26; Leeming 24; Safety Bay 20; Gosnells 7½.

‘My Predictions’:
Back to some respectability last week with 4 from 5. For the season a (22 – 13) winning rate.

DALK-NEDS 96 (7) def LEEMING 68 (1

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


A report from a contact at Leeming is as follows:

Dannie Comrie’s rink:
After 7 ends the scores were Leeming 6 - Dalkeith Nedlands 12: 14 ends Leeming  11 - Dalkeith Nedlands 17; final Leeming 18 - Dalkeith Nedlands 27.
Got off to a bad start with 0/10 after three ends to get back to one down with two ends to play. We dropped three on the second last end and dropped a five going for the win (improbable).
Not the best game played by all members of the team but Danny was under the pump for most of the day. Fordy still thinks he is the best third but just playing without luck at the moment. He will fight back just like the rest of the Leeming Lions.

Lindsay Strange’s rink:
After 7 ends the scores were Leeming 2 - Dalkeith Nedlands 7; 14 ends Leeming 13 - Dalkeith Nedlands 12; final Leeming 19 - Dalkeith Nedlands 16.

Lindsay (Casual) Strange said; “The clouds were dark and heavy, the wind blew fiercely and Leeming only managed one point, not a good day at the office for the Leeming Bowling Club.One good thing about the day was, the rain stayed away until the end of our game (We were last off) and the team played great bowls under pressure, grinding out another solid three point win against Peter Bacich and his team.

We've had two great wins against top opposition in the last two games of 2007, the team of Denis (Shaky) Anderson, Gary (Pembo) Pemberton, Alan (Pryceless) Pryce and myself have played it tough in gaining the only points for our One White Division. I could not ask for anything more from my team.

To all in One White Division from the Lindsay Strange team we wish you a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. Have no fear Leeming will be back in 2008 fighting and grinding it out till the end. GO YOU LIONS.

Don Monro’s rink:
After 7 ends the scores were Leeming 2 - Dalkeith Nedlands 11; 14 ends Leeming 7 - Dalkeith Nedlands 16; final Leeming 13 - Dalkeith Nedlands 28.

Ouch again!! Once again the Leeming home ground disadvantage took effect. In our defence 2 big bowls by the Dalkeith Nedlands skipper had a major impact on the outcome of this rink. On end 18 we were holding 6 shots when the opposing skip drove at the head. He hit the shot bowl, squirted the kitty into the ditch to go 3 up, a handy 9 shot conversion.
If that wasn’t bad enough the next end we are holding 3 and he plays a yard on shot and trails the kitty into the ditch and goes 4 up. A 17 shot turn around in two ends…aaaaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhh.

Having said that dropping two fours and a five earlier in the match didn’t help our cause.


Peter Morris’s rink:
After 7 ends the scores were Leeming 9 - Dalkeith Nedlands 3, 14 ends Leeming 14 - Dalkeith Nedlands 19; final Leeming 18 - Dalkeith Nedlands 25.

We started off well but the turning point for this game was dropping a six on the 11th end when we were 14 to 7 up. After that we only scored 4 singles for the rest of the match which against this type of opposition was never going to be enough.




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

A report from a contact at Dalkeith is as follows:

The Silvertails travelled to Leeming on an overcast and windy Saturday to try to take points off a Leeming outfit that, in the conditions, were always going to be dangerous and hard to beat. The Silvertails again got the points 7/1 but the result was a lot closer than it looked with the aggregate in the balance until the last few ends

Gypsy 28/13
The Gypsy warmed up for the weekend’s clash with Leeming with a very solid win in the pairs at the Melville Super Sevens on Wednesday evening and then, just for good measure, immediately gelded $50 off the Stallion and chopped a further $50 off the Meat Cleaver as they kicked on after in a friendly game of pairs.
Unfortunately he lost three games on the trot in Friday afternoon practice and so handed it all, along with a bit of interest, over to the Mad Dog, which did nothing for the Gypsy’s stress levels.

After the first of the three Friday arvo losses the Gypsy was concerned that he may be losing balance, principally falling away to the right at delivery and so experimented, over the next two matches, with a new counter weight to prevent this from happening. When asked how he felt the counter balance had worked the Gypsy said, that in his considered opinion, it had not gone as well as expected.
If that’s what “%$##@ off” means.

But Friday was just an aberration as the Gypsy and family had the big win.


The Gypsy was a star, the highlight being the 17 shot turn around in two ends toward the end of the match. On the 18th end, with the game seemingly under control, the Shopping Trolley, the Bee Keeper and Rowdy, in an attempt to breathe life back into the game, decided to go up on the Leeming club room balcony and throw the bowls from the balcony rather than bowl them in the customary fashion.

Somewhat surprisingly the Gypsy found himself six down. After the tirade of filth and abuse had subsided, the Gypsy hit the bare jack into the ditch and then drew to make four. On the next end the Gypsy was down four and, same deal, made three.

As a result the Gypsy and his boys got the points 28/13 but you don’t have to be a genius to work out that 28 minus 7 equals 21, and 13 plus 10 equals 23. Cometh the moment “caymeth” the Gypsy.

The Shopping Trolley played well, but the next day was found abandoned on a verge after being taken apart by a thirteen year old girl at the Christmas Fours at Bassendean.

The Bee Keeper kept his good form from last week going and, when not playing from the balcony, played some telling bowls. Rowdy simply loves the Gypsy.
-----------------------------Meat Cleaver and the sopping trolley
Mark "the Meat Cleaver" Lindsay and Vaughan "The Shopping Trolley" Colley

Krackerjack 25/18
The Krackerjack sent a shock wave around the rinks when, not for the first time in recent weeks, he was down big after not very long. At one stage he was down 1/10 and then 13/3.

The KJ dropped a five early after a breakdown in communication with the third. The breakdown, according to all reports, went something like this:

Krackerjack: What’s the story?
Third: We are two down but…
Krackerjack : I’m gunna drive
Third: Yes, OK but if you take out …..
Krackerjack : Shut up
Third: Yes but we only have one ….
Krackerjack : Shut the #!!*^* up.

The Krackerjack blasted at the head and the only bowl without a Burswood sticker disappeared. “Have we got shot?” enquired the Krackerjack optimistically. Third: I think we’re five down.
The Krackerjack stormed to the head and confronted the third.

Krackerjack “How the #!!*^* can we be down five down, why didn’t you tell me we only had one in the #!!*^*ing head, tell me the #!!*^*ing truth now cause if you hold back, any #!!*^*ing thing, I'll kill you. If you bend the truth or I think you’re bending the truth, I'll #!!*^*ing kill you. If you forget anything I'll kill you. In fact, you're gonna have to work very #!!*^*ing hard to stay alive until the 21st end. Now - do you understand everything I've said, because if you haven’t, I'll #!!*^*ing kill you.

The third said he must have made a mistake. The Krackerjack left the head fuming, muttering “#!!*^*ing ex South Perth monkey”

The KJ was recently explaining to his third that there are only two ways that he can lose a game – “Either I’ve had bad luck or the opposition has had good luck. After some consideration and assessment of his statement he confirmed “ Yep, that just about it”.

When the third tentatively enquired, “But what about if the other person is just a better player or …..”, the pork sausage finger prised its way between two ribs and bruised a lung. “There are no other options” reaffirmed the KJ menacingly.

Teddy Alden was apparently “very %%$#@ing lucky” on Wednesday at the Super Sevens when he accidentally drew eight touchers in his first 12 bowls and the other four just missed by the thickness of the Gypsy’s wallet. His luck continued unabated as he lead 14/1 after five ends before running out the extremely lucky winner.

Anyway back to the game.
Not with standing the early breakdown in communication, at a pivotal point in the game the third played two good shots to help get a six. As he was waking up the green with “No Nickname” explaining how he thought he was a bit lucky with the second shot because the wind had held it up a lot more than expected, he accidentally bumped into the Krackerjack who had deliberately diverted directly into his path and was braced for the impending collision with hands on hips. As the third came to the Krackerjack was standing over him and said “I suppose ya fishing for compliments now are ya? Well piss off".

As Rule Book Ross McKenzie was heard to mention “They must have been two pretty good bowls to get high praise like that” With “Rule Book” having a great tussle with his immediate opponent up front and “No Nickname” Norm Sutton playing some really great bowls when needed this, the six, was the impetus that the Krackerjack needed, as he oversaw the icing of the cake, winning 25 of the last 30 shots. When the Krackerjack’s tail is up, and the Gods of good fortune are not bestowing all their gifts on the opposition, he is marginally more brutal on the opposition as he can be on his own players.

One of the members recently looked in a Croatian to English dictionary and noted that there is no Croatian word equivalent for the word forgiveness. When it was mentioned to the Krackerjack he simply looked at the author and said, “What the #!!*^* is a dictionary?

The Bomb 27/18
For the third week in a row the proud owners, the Bomb, the Saint and Gentleman John McCormack were able to proudly lead the Stallion back to the winner’s circle, keeping the Stallions unbeaten record over this distance in tack.
The Saint has been on fire all year but the first ten ends were something else again. The Saint said that recently he’s been doing some motivational reading on the Bedford website that seems to be helping his game.
The Stallion ran a measured race but showed an impressive change of pace when asked the question.
Gentlemen John McCormack again played very well.
The Bomb is hissing and fizzing along without being his destructive self from last year, but a first up appearance at the Super Sevens this Wednesday should assist to re-prime him.
The Bomb has been telling his girlfriend about how good a player he is and how he has been playing bloody well but has been carrying a pretty heavy load with a team that has not been supporting him.
The lovely Allison was at the game this week and at the end was asked what she thought. “He’s a lying bastard” was all she said.

The Duck 16/19
The Duck got airborne very quickly from Losers Pond in his duel with “Shotgun” Laurie Strange, and had the bill 8/2 in front after 8 ends as he attempted to return to the winner’s list at the breeding grounds at Lake Duke. He was all but there and ready to resume the mantle of the Duke when, on the third last end, the shot gun blast, in the form of a dropped four echoed around the rink. When last seen the Leeming retriever dogs were paddling into Lake Duke to retrieve the Ducks carcass while the “Shotgun” was seen on the shore blowing the smoke from the barrel. For the Duck, so close and yet….”

The dropped four was not through any fault of the Duck or the ducklings because the Duck with his first bowl trailed the jack for two after being down. The Leeming Skipper then trailed for a number and the Duck held his nerve to again touch the “monkey” and get the shot back. The running shot by the Leeming skipper put the indicator on late to put the jack in the well. It was a good game that someone was, unfortunately, going to lose.
To the Ducks credit his boys won 11 of the ends but the Leeming boys were able to limit the damage on those ends to ones and the occasional two.
The Meat Cleaver again played well and played many big bowls when needed. He partnered the Stallion when they copped a 1/17 hiding against the Gypsy on Wednesday but was clearly blunt. He rarely plays a bad game on Saturdays though.
Snake Hips Gordon Wilson returned to the side replacing Alex “the Big Banana Fritter” Gryta, who was getting the banana battered up in Singapore over the weekend.
Perfect Peter Gason was not at his absolute perfect best but worked hard to cover the good work done by the Leeeming lead .

The Silvertails finish the pre Christmas run on top of the ladder having lost only one game to the not to be underestimated Morley. The teams are very settled and all things being equal will require only mild tweaking for the rest of the season.
The Saint leads the voting at this point in the season with what is clearly career best form. He is currently playing bowls like Walter Lindrum played billiards.
The Gypsy is currently in second spot following a series of great performances over the last seven games, the only aberration being a shock first game loss at Bassendean and his generous disposition in Friday night practice matches.

The Krackerjack is currently in third position in the voting by virtue of his positive attitude and man management skills.

Honourable mentions go to Normy Sutton who has been a beauty all year and Rule Book Ross McKenzie who has been as good a leader as there is in the competition, The Stallion is undefeated in three runs with the Bomb, a fact that the Stallion likes to mention from time to time and the Meat Cleaver has been a great pick up for the Silvertails.

Heading into the Christmas break, The Silvertails not only lead the table in One White but also lead the Thursday Premier League making it one of the most successful beginnings to a year in a long time. This is a clear indication that there haven’t been many passengers and confirming previous observations that all rinks are combining well and team harmony is great.
On behalf of all the players at the Silvertails our thanks to all our opposition so far this year for some great games, all of which have been played in wonderful spirit. When we are all having a post match drink at the bar we always enjoy hearing the compliments about our very, very, very efficient bar staff. A little Christmas bonus for you all. Happy Christmas and New Year

Morley 87 (7) defeated Gosnells 67 (1)

MORLEY
John Armstrong (Sk) John Sheridan Graham White Travis Ingram
Peter Aungier (Sk) Allan Barron Neville Gannaway Andy Elmer
Bruce Walter (Sk) Gavin Grieve Denis Mullenger Glenn Britten
Robbie Urquhart (Sk) Wayne Neilson Joe Heiden Brad Moyle

A report from a contact at Morley is as follows:
Morley got 7 points against Gosnells, but certainly didn't get things all their own way. Gosnells got off to a good start in 3 rinks and had a reasonable lead at the half way mark. With some light rain beginning to fall at about the half way mark the Morley rinks slowly but surely started to get back into the game and began to gain the ascendancy. In the end it was quite a comfortable win but early on there were quite a few worrying moments on 3 rinks.

Robbie Urquhart's rink,
was in control throughout in their game against the strong Kevin Bairstow led rink. Robbie and his third (Wayne Neilson) again played excellent games. They have played 3 games together now (one game last season, 2 this season) and have won very comfortably on all occasions.

Bruce Walter's rink
won well enough in the end but for the first 10 ends were out-bowled by their Gosnells' counterparts. At one stage his rink was down 10-2 and lucky not to be quite a bit further down. At this stage it would have been fair to say that Bruce would have been very unhappy with his team-mates' efforts.
The Gosnells lead (Mike Rickard) and their third (Bert Cruickshank) in particular were playing very well, causing Bruce many headaches. The second half of the game saw a much improved effort by the Morley rink who went on to win by 11 shots..

Peter Aungier's rink
had a tough battle all day against the Gosnells rink skippered by Brett Holland. The very young lead for Gosnells (David Downey) only 11 years old played well and looks to have a very bright bowls future ahead of him, while the third (Jason Bryan) who is only 17 years old, also played many very nice bowls and looks to be a skilled bowler.
In the wash-up the Morley rink, well led by Peter and Alan Barron, proved just a little bit too steady to win by 3 shots.

John Armstrong's rink
again had a difficult time of it on the green. Whatever they did, Alan Corby’s Gosnells rink had the answers for the first half of the game and led very comfortably by 16 shots to 2 shots. However the Morley rink fought back extremely well from this point on get beaten by only 2 shots (16-18). Graham White, the second for Morley, played very consistent bowls all day and is having a good year. .


GOSNELLS
Brett Holland (Sk), Jason Bryan, Andrew Hay-Hendry, David Downey.
Neville Mulcahy (Sk), Bert Cruickshank, Brian Creswell, Mike Rickard.
Alan Corby(Sk), Maurice Crabb, Roy Sharp, Peter Gale.
Kevin Bairstow (Sk), Trevor Gibbs, Peter Hodgson, Trevor Simons.

Congratulations to Morley who continue their march up the ladder and now sit in third place.

Alan Corby’s rink (18) V’s John Armstrong’s rink (16):
This rink of Alan, Maurice Crabb, Roy Sharp and Peter Gale (lead) jumped from the blocked and dashed away to lead by 16 shots to 2 after eleven ends before a reversal of roles came over the game. From that point on it was the Morley boys who took over and clawed their way back into the game before running out of ends and falling short by only to 2 shots to go down 18 shots to 16. Well down to this Gossy rink who brought home our only point.

Brett Holland’s rink (17) V’s Peter Aungier’s rink (20):
A very good battle early. 5 a piece after four ends; 9 a piece after eight ends; 12 a piece after twelve ends so it just doesn’t get any better than that. However, then the Morley boys put pedal to metal and skipped away to lead 20 to 13 after nineteen ends.
The Gossy boys won the last 2 ends but the game had already escaped by then. Peter Aungier played particularly well for the Morley side.

Kevin (the bear) Bairstow’s rink (17) V’s Robbie Urquhart’s rink (25):
The Bear’s boys were in the game early when it was 4 to 6 after five ends but the Morley boys skipped away to be 6 to 15 after ten ends. The Gossy boys then fought back well to be in reach at only 11 to 16 down after 14 ends. However the next two ends resulted in a 6 shots to Morley and then it was back to chasing down another big score with few ends remaining.
The final score of 17 to 25 to Morley was a fair indication of the game

Neville Mulcahy’s rink (15) V’s Bruce Walter’s rink (26):
Once again Neville and his Gossy boys were right in the game for a long way but it got away again. Whether it’s a case of the other side powering away because they’re to good or the Gossy boys losing concentration and/or confidence is hard to say?
5 a piece after six ends; a 14 to 13 lead after fourteen ends was all she wrote for the boys from the railway tracks. They then lost the next six ends in a row before picking up a single shot on the last end.
Final score 15 Gosnells to 26 Morley.

Bassendean 77 (6) def Thornlie 74 (2)

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

A report from a contact at Thornlie is as follows:

The Ravens V Bassendean
As soon as I retire from bowls (which may not be long) I intend to become a carpet salesman and find another market for carpet other than bowling clubs.

Quality shows through in most sports and generally prevails over mediocrity. Bassendean owned most of the quality at Thornlie on Saturday. Having said that, when the last bowl was played only three shots separated the two sides.

Congratulations to the Basso boys who took home the 6 points. The conditions were far from ideal, the game started with a blustery south easterly, which made precision bowling challenging to say the least. The carpet ran somewhere between 16 and 17 seconds however it never ran away, much to the disappointment of this writer.

Perhaps the home team requires a reevaluation on just where our home ground advantage is. The Ravens now have three losses under their belt, all at home, one on grass two on that other stuff. .

Paul Pohe, Jim Stein, Mick Hansen & Jim Irwine
Paul “ya gotta get it up” Pohe showed a strong liking for the conditions and recorded the home sides best performance with a 14 shot win over Marcel Heruer. All players made steady contributions during the game and the win was very welcome.

Glyn Vaughan, Ross McMillan, John Walker & Tony Churcher
Vaughan’s rink has been competitive all season with three wins, a draw and three small losses. Well done to all the boys on this rink, steady performances are not always easy to produce. Their two shot win over Justin Opie was a grand outcome for the club.
Justin apparently was putting on an exhibition for the first half of the game then came “The Vaughan’s” turn and that was that.

Jim McKenzie, Doc Kimble, Gerald Marson & Jake Halse,
John Lynch and his band of cut throats continued on their merry way. John’s rink has a 6/1 win record and the rinks performance on Saturday displayed why that is so. Given the tough conditions their whole rink made steady contributions all day. We were outplayed and the nine shot loss by McKenzie’s lads reflected just that.

Greg Reagan, Terry McCormack, Ian Rewell & Ray Halse
10 shots separated these two sides at the 21st end, with Mr. Gray and his lads taking home the point. Ray Halse, who had a very tidy game, was heard to mumble after the game, getting close as a leader does not help when your bowls are being continually shifted. Well Ray it does, as they do have to be shifted and that does not always happen.


The Final Scenario
With two ends to play, it was The Ravens two losing rinks that were still playing. With one end each to complete and only four shots down in the aggregate. It looked OK for the home side, McKenzie’s rink picked up a two and “The rink of Reagan” were holding four shots, all fairly close.

Then the bowl of the day was played by the visitors, it was a little quick, a little off line and guess what it hit another ordinary bowl and rolled and tumbled its way into our four counters, coming to rest as shot.
After a few expletives, Gucci tried in vein to remove the offending bowl, with the rink down by 1 shot in the last head, the three shot deficit had arrived.
All that was left to do was to enjoy Xmas drinks with the victors, which we all completed very well.

Merry Xmas everyone, see ya next year when pennants resume.


BASSENDEAN
Gordon Gray (Sk) P. 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) C. Greenhalgh Wes Jones Steve Black

A report from a contact at Bassendean is as follows:

Bassendean VS Thornlie
Bassendean travelled to Thornlie keen for a win, which would keep them in touch with the top half of the table and out of the relegation zone. We expected, given our previous efforts on non grass surfaces and the weather to be on their carpet, and we were not disappointed. With a stiff breeze and a surface that got faster as it got colder we knew we would be in for a very tough day at the office.

F Early, N Strachan, C Hotker and M Hereur V’s Irwine, Hansen, Stean and Pohe (2 - 4)

This was a tough game for the Basso boys who played good bowls and were neck and neck with the Pohe lead rink. At about the midway point of the game though, Bassendean faltered and dropped a 6 shortly followed by dropping a 4, putting them under the pump and forcing them to try and play catch up bowls.

As Marcel Hereur said "We bowled well, my guys applied themselves very well and matched their opponents most of the day, dropping the 10 shots hurts us and it was the difference at the end, as we were chasing all day after that.

I was not unhappy with my team’s efforts. "For the Thornlie side they all played some good bowls but the standout was their skipper who made some good conversions and saves that thwarted the Bassendean team’s efforts to fight back.
Thornlie by 14 shots

N Kirkup, N Hall, J Davies and J LynchV’s J Halse, Manson, Kimble and McKenzie (4 - 2).

This was going to be a tough game for the Basso boys who were taking on the McKenzie lead rink who were 4 wins and 2 losses for the season. The Lynch team shined in the rollup, with 3 of the first 4 bowls from the boys finding the ditch, Lynchy was heard to utter, "You are bowling downwind!" and "@#$*&!".

However once the game commenced the Basso boys were running hot, getting out to an early lead and holding it. Norm Kirkup and Nolan Hall were able to put bowls in the head and Jamie Davies and John Lynch played some solid bowls to consolidate the heads (fancy talk for keep shot!).

The Thornlie skipper McKenzie started to exert his influence, playing some last bowl "Bombs" and tightening the game up. Lynchy asked the question "Shall we give the mat away and stop them from having the last bowl?" Normie and Nolan both agreed that it was better to keep the mat and play our length, Jamie thought giving the mat away not a bad idea... but after some discussion it was agreed... KEEP THE MAT and play our length.

The game continued to be a struggle all the way through but as the Basso boys were able to set the length they tended to have more bowls in the head, though they did drift off for a few ends. In the end, through great bowls from Lynchy and the rest of the boys getting back on track Bassendean held on for a tough win.
Bassendean by 9 shots


S Black, W Jones, C Greenhalg and J OpieV’s Churcher, Walker, McMillan and Vaughan (2 - 3 - 1).

This was an encounter that a bowls lover would have really enjoyed, two top rinks going at it with their two skippers both class acts.
This was a game that was played in two halves, early the Basso boys swept to a good lead (about 8 shots) and looked to be in control. The team was playing good confident bowls against a Thornlie team that was also playing good bowls with their lead and skipper playing particularly well.
Glyn Vaughan played some telling conversions with his last bowl, and deciding that it would be better to take that 'last bowl' from him the Basso boys gave away the mat.

From about the 14th end the game started to turn, with Glyn Vaughan starting to (as Justin Opie put it), "Play some of the best skipper’s bowls he has ever seen”. The game became a real tussle with Basso holding multiple shots only to have Vaughan convert until it got to the final end with Bassendean leading by one shot. The Thornlie boys however were the steadier and picked up a 3 on the final end to win what was a fantastic match. Thornlie by 2 shots

R Denton, I Robertson, P Hutchinson and G Gray V’s R Halse, Rewell, McCormack and Reagan (4 - 2).

This was to be the last rink to finish in a game where there were only 3 shots in the aggregate.
Bassendean started well and worked their way to a lead with the Thornlie team working hard to keep nipping at their heels. In a game where all the players contributed there were many great shots played and countered. In difficult conditions the bowlers continued to create very tight heads and it was going to be a matter of whoever held their nerve would get the 'chocolates'.

On the final end there was little in the aggregate with Bassendean holding shot Thornlie needed to convert, with his last bowl online and looking good Reagan thought he had the shot however it just failed to hold its line and missed, giving Bassendean the shot.

Bassendean by 10 shots


As we take a break now to spend the festive season with our loved ones, we at Bassendean would like to wish all Bowlers a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! We look forward to continuing the competition on the greens followed by friendship and laughter after the games, in the New Year.

Take care and God Bless!

Yokine 92 (7) defeated Kardinya 58 (1)

YOKINE
Rod Heaton (Sk) Ian Cooper John Bills Bill Morrison
Tony Kay (Sk) Darren Kellond Terry Fulcher Chris Busing
Scott Edmonds (Sk) John Gallop Juris Lorencs Ian Goghill
Jamie O’Keefe (Sk) Adrian Durrant John McGrath Graham Dawson

A report from a contact at Yokine is as follows:

Yokine in a Heart Stopper!

Yokine completed the 1st part of their contract to regain Premier League for 2008. Don’t think for one second that the doggies have taken their eye off the ball, but if the team was told at the start of the season they would be 6 and 1 and in second place on the ladder they would have taken it in a heartbeat.

Speaking of heartbeats, on about the 14th end, the left handed John (Macca) McGrath, who was playing second for Jamie O’Keefe started feeling light headed and complained of a loss of feeling in his left arm.

As the game progressed his condition slowly deteriorated but anyone that knows Macca knows you couldn’t possibly get him to stop playing halfway through a game. He even said, “I’ll play to the end even if they have to carry me away in an ambulance”. At the end of the game he still wasn’t feeling flash so without even a festive drink a team member drove his car home for him.

Shortly thereafter an ambulance was called and he was rushed to hospital. The diagnosis was that he had suffered a minor heart attack. John was released on Wednesday night and is at home on strict light duties after getting the all clear. THE YOKINE BOWLING CLUB & MEMBERS WISH MACCA A SPEEDY RECOVERY and hopefully we’ll see him on Friday night for that Christmas drink.

Back to the game where Yokine played Kardinya at the kennel. The Dogs jumped out of the boxes with Scott Edmonds and Rod Heaton getting away well. Jamie O’Keefe was his usually self, working his way into the game. Tony Kay again drew the hard rink and had his hands full with the inform Jeff Gould and his team running hot.
Gould showed why he is one of the only unbeaten skips on Saturday and was playing all the shots in the book. Kay to his credit was minimizing the damage end after end.

The sky got darker as Edmonds was steering his rink into a commanding lead. John (Schnapper) Gallop and Alan (AD) Davis were playing standout games so it was left to Scott Edmonds to simply direct traffic and play the required shots at the right time. He did so beautifully. His team say that he was in the armchair with the dressing gown and slippers on, smoking his pipe.

Mid game, when it looked like the heavens were about to open up, saw a lot of doggies running to their bag to get a ruling on the minimum amount of ends that had to be played. At this stage the doggies had 3 rinks well up and the heavens irrupting looked to be Kardinya’s only saving grace.

The doggies were practically jogging between ends to keep up with the Duckworth / Lewis run rate system regarding ends completed. At one stage it got so dark that it looked like the doggies were destined for a call-off and a 4 all draw. Understandably some of the Kardinya players didn’t seem to want to accommodate the doggies and made them sweat a little with some slow play.

In the end, however, the only flood gates that opened were on Scott Edmonds rink. Edmonds played his best game for the season while Ian Coghill came to the party leading well on a green that kept changing right to the end. Edmonds score line of 37 – 6 was enough to keep Gould’s rink at bay. O’Keefe won by 9 and Heaton by 8 but as per last week, Tony Kay, kept their best rink under control to minimize the damage.

(Martin says:- That was a close call Macca and all the best for a full recovery.There is clearly a message there for us all not to ignore such signs for ourselves or with any of the people that we may be playing with on any given day.)


KARDINYA
Terry Ball (Sk)   John Smith,  Kerry Eames,   Les Phillips    
Ian Hastings (Sk),   Dave Wood,  Shaun McCormack,   David Phillips
Rex Sweet (Sk) ,  Rob Foy,   Marc Abonnel,    Steve Vinci
Geoff Gould (Sk) ,Tony Cocodis ,  Daryl Radford,    Owen Sweetman

A report from a contact at Kardinya is as follows:

We were brought down to earth with a thud against Yokine who proved to be quite superior on the day, winning 7-1. We should not be too despondent over this result as Yokine are by far the best outfit that we have met this year, and there were some positives to come out of the game.

Geoff Gould’s
rink continued its remarkable unbeaten run, winning its seventh consecutive game. Daryl Radford returned to his Second’s position and, together with Tony Cocodis (Third) and Owen Sweetman (Lead), all four players bowled superbly to win quite comfortably 23-9 against Tony Kay’s rink to give us our sole point.

Rex Sweet’s rink of Rob Foy (Third), Marc Abonnel (Second) and Steve Vinci (Lead) had “a hard day at the office”. Steve and Marc were steady up front but Alan Davies and Scott Edmonds broke the game apart, with Alan having an absolute blinder.

Ian Hastings’ of Dave Wood (Third), Shaun McCormack (Second) and David Phillips (Lead) lost 11-20 to the Jamie O’Keefe’s rink. David and Shaun held their own against Juris Lorencs and John McGrath respectively, while Ian found Jamie a tough customer to oppose.

However, it was in the Third position where Adrian Durrant had a blinder, too often denying us with conversion shots when we were holding multiple counts.


Terry Ball's rink: Terry returned to skipper his rink of John Smith (Third), Kerry Eames (Second) and Les Phillips (Lead). The Yokine Lead and Second were dominant early and, together with dropping a 7 mid-game, found themselves down 24-8 by the 13th end. To their credit, the boys dug deep to only go down 18-26, the 7-shot end proving the basic difference in the final analysis. Terry bowled very well especially considering that he had missed two games having minor surgery on his knee.

Mosman Park 82 (6) def Safety Bay 71 (2)

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

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


A very good day for Mossies going to Safety Bay and coming away with six points. If we can string a couple of wins together after the break it is still possible to scrape into the four.

Withers Simpson Reid Deery V Scott Wilkes Neale Goddard
This game was close all day with all four players from Safety Bay playing well and taking the game right up to the boys from Mossie. They dropped a couple of threes late in the game to go down by eight shots. Good players for the Mossies:
Withers continues his great form with Deery having a very solid game as lead.

Rainoldi Anderson Rainoldi jr Ellis V Beard Cunningham Lynch GandyMosman Park had control of this game for most of the day. With Ellis playing very well and Rainoldi jr continuing on his good form from last week Mossies slowly drew away from the Beard led team. John Rainoldi continues to show why Mosman Park need him to play most of the games this year with another outstanding game..

Mortimer Ferris Teague Freund V Holmes Greatwood Pugh Heydon
A great game that went right down to the wire with the Safety Bay team falling over the line to win by 3 shots thanks to a brilliant game from their skip Holmes.
For Mossies Freund and Teague played solid with Mortimer having a great game.

Hicks Novak Cole O'Neill V Beaumont Hall Powell Hallums
This match was looking decidedly sick for a long time for the Mosman Park four. The Safety Bay team skipped away to a 12 shot lead deep into the game with their skip playing fantastic conversion shots and the other three playing great bowls.
But they were reeled in late with good play from Novak and Hicks to only win by 4 shots.