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February 7, 2008
REPORT ON ‘ONE WHITE’ 2007 / 2008. PREVIEW - ROUND TWELVE

On the Side:
Last week I expressed an opinion about selections at my club for our top side which encompassed loyalty in general. I only raise it again because it’s been suggested that I disrespected the person chosen by the selectors to fill in last week. Absolutely wrong, I was the person selected and that was the main basis of what I had to say. I stand by what I said but it was only my opinion and that’s the end of it for my part.

With 7 rounds to go we still see the six teams sitting from 4th place to 9th place within 10½ points of each other. Once again that is the difference between one of them making the finals and three of them being relegated. These teams can’t leave it to the last couple of rounds to take control of their own destiny. Game on.

Last week's results:
Despite some significant changes to their rinks Dalkeith-Nedlands keep on keeping on powering away and last week fixed up the potential challenge thrown out by Mosman Park.
Yokine need to be swabbed after another week ‘on’ – week ‘off’ performance of the last four weeks and went down at home to Leeming who are quietly doing the business.
Morley took the long ride down to Safety Bay under a tad of pressure but were equal to the task.
Despite the aggregate being shared, Thornlie still managed to get the majority of the points against Kardinya at Kardinya which is never an easy task.
The Basso boys held on to pick up the majority of the points against a strong finishing Gosnells at Bassendean.   

Bassendean 88(6) defeated Gosnells 82(2)
Thornlie 70(5) defeated Kardinya 70(3)
Dalkeith-Nedlands 86(7) defeated Mosman Park 68(1)
Morley 91(7) defeated Safety Bay 71(1)
Leeming 77(6½) defeated Yokine 69(1½)


This Week’s – Picks of the Bunch:

Dalkeith-Nedlands (1st) v’s Yokine (2nd):
Yokine are due to have a week ‘on’ but run smack into the red hot competition leaders at the home of the silvertails. It would be a brave person to pick against the home side but the doggies on a good day would only need a couple of things to go there way to cause an upset. When all is said and done it’s the top of the table clash so buckle up.

Morley (3rd) v’s Thornlie (5th):
Only 7½ points separate these two sides with a hungry, if not desperate, pack right behind. Both clubs are coming off playing on a synthetic surface last week to play on grass this week so no real advantage for either side there. Morley got absolutely belted on their last appearance at home while Thornlie wouldn’t be over confident after a loss to Safety Bay at home and splitting the aggregate at their last start. Will the fact that Morley gave Thornlie their worst loss of the season have a psychological effect for or against? Anyone got a coin?

Bassendean (7th) v’s Kardinya (8th):
Here’s the situation – as it stands right now both these teams would be relegated if the competition was over now. Just in front of these two teams on the ladder is Mosman Park who play Gosnells this week and are odds on to win that game. So the winner can stay in touch with the middle bunch while the loser will find themselves with a gap in front of them that will become increasingly difficult to close. Who wants it the most?

LADDER: Dalkeith-Nedlands 68; Yokine 56½; Morley 53½; Leeming 46½; Thornlie 46; Mosman Park 42; Bassendean 38; Kardinya 37; Safety Bay 36; Gosnells 14½.

‘My Predictions’: Last week 3 from 5. For the season (33 – 22) winning rate.

BASSENDEAN V’s KARDINYA

1st Round – Bassendean 62(2) def by Kardinya 96(6)

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

A report from a contact at Bassendean is as follows:

Unfortunately my home suburb has lost its internet services for at least three weeks so I can only give Martin a brief verbal report.
Gordon Gray was a late withdrawal last week and may be out for several weeks. To lose such an experienced and solid player in the crucial run home is unfortunate but we remain hopeful that he’ll be back ASAP.

Justin Opie’s rink:
Was the furthest away from me so I didn’t see any of this game. They told me it was close early but that Justin’s rink of Wes Jones, Ian Robinson and Steve Black slowly but surely began to pull away. They then picked up a 7 on the 16th end and coasted to the line from there to win by 12 shots.

Marcel Heruer’s rink:
This rink of Colin Hotker, Neil Strachan & Fred Early did it fairly easily by getting away to a good lead early and then managed the challenges as they came up. Marcel was in good touch and put a stop to several attempts by the Gosnells players to get back into the game. Bassendean by 12 shots.

Colin Hoter Bassendean (pictured) top line third and consistent player for Bassendean over the years

Craig Greenhalgh’s rink:
The Gosnells rink were in control for the first half of the afternoon before Greenie’s rink of Phil Hutchinson, Colin Irvine and Ray Denton fought back well to find themselves at 19 points all after 19 ends. Unfortunately they ran out of legs and lost the last two ends to go down by 8 shots.

John Lynch’s rink:
This rink of Jamie Davies, Nolan Hall and Norm Kirkup had a fairly close match but in the wash-up the front end were fairly even, but our back end were slightly over shadowed by the Gosnells two. In particular, the Gosnells third Peter Hodgson, had a very good game and was the main difference on the day. Gosnells by 10 shots.

This Week:
No changes to the rinks. The message to our players is that we need to finish off our games.


VERSUS

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

A report from a contact at Kardinya is as follows:

We pulled off a remarkable drawn aggregate against Thornlie last week. There was high drama on the very last end of the game which was left in the hands of Rob Foy’s rink against Greg Reagan’s rink. With Rob down 7-21 having trailed for most of the day, and with Thornlie holding the aggregate by three shots, Greg killed the end with his last bowl when we were holding four shots, and the aggregate! On the next attempt our rink scored three shots to tie the aggregate and pick up a precious three points and keep the dream alive.

Tony Cocodis versus Jim McKenzie
Tony’ rink of John Smith (Third), Marc Abonnel (Second) and Les Phillips (Lead) had a comprehensive 26-9 win and did their very best to try and get us the aggregate. While all four bowled well, Les and Tony had superb games. There was some justice in this result as it was Jim’s rink that cost us the aggregate in the first round fixture at Thornlie.

Rick Flintoff versus Paul Pohe
Rick’s rink of Steve Vinci (Third), Shaun McCormack (Second) and David Phillips (Lead) lost narrowly 20-17. Having trailed by some 11 shots at the mid-way mark, we fought back strongly to only lose by three shots. Rick bowled very well in his first ever game in One White and was anything but overawed by the situation. Shaun played well as Second.

Geoff Gould versus Glyn Vaughan
Geoff’s rink of Daryl Radford (Third), Rex Sweet (Second) and Owen Sweetman (Lead) also lost narrowly 20-17. We led all day only to disappointingly falter on the last few ends.
Rob Foy versus Greg Reagan
As previously mentioned, Rob’s rink of Dave Wood (Third), Gordon Manuel (Second) and Scott Jaggs (Lead) lost 21-10. We only won about five ends all day, and this had a profound effect on the aggregate result.

This Week:
The Selectors changed one rink for the next away fixture at Bassendean. Ian Hastings returns to skipper a rink with Rob Foy moving to be his Third, Dave Wood to Second and Gordon Manuel to Lead. The other three rinks remain unchanged.

Martin’s Prediction: KARDINYA

DALKEITH-NEDLANDS V’s YOKINE

1st Round – Dalkeith-Nedlands 80(7½) def Yokine 65(½)

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

Click---Here--To Read the Dalkeith report


V’s

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

A report from a contact at Yokine is as follows:

DOGS MISS A CHANCE AT TOP SPOT

Yokine missed a chance at top spot on the weekend with a loss at home to Leeming. Knowing that this was a must win game to have a chance at finishing on top the dogs just couldn't get it right. Playing in perfect conditions on a quick green and a hot day the Doggies were waiting for the Fremantle Doctor to come in and cool off a scorching day and a red hot Danny Comrie. The home team struggled to find a line and were missing the bread and butter shot that they had been getting to date.

Alan Davis's return to skip has been what the dogs needed and had another comfortable win by 13 shots. With his up front players getting bowls in the head Lorence and Davis were able to move the jack into places that made it hard for the visiting to score. When in trouble the team had the draw power to minimize the damage or convert.


Danny Comrie Leeming (pictured below) A top flight skipper for many seasons plays a blinder against Yokine

Next door it was the same but reversed on the Yokine rink of Jamie O'Keefe. Danny Comrie had a blinder and was able to not only keep the aggregate close but to keep Leeming slightly ahead. Comrie had a run in the middle stage of the game where he converted 8 ends in a row. The Yokine team later saying he was putting both bowls on a ten cent piece. His draw shots was fantastic all day.

On Heaton's rink Lindsay Strange was doing a job on the home team as well. He played a perfect skips game and converted when his team needed him most. Strange also had a purple patch mid-game and strung some red hot ends together. His team played well and both leaders had a great duel. Heaton's team looked to have been shaded all day by the visitors but scrambled a draw on the last end to gain a very important half a point.

Scott Edmonds had his hands full all day with Don Munro. Munro played one of his best games for the year. Edmonds played some big shots to keep the doggies in the game but couldn't come up with a match winning shot on the death knock.

At the end of the day it was one that got away. Knowing that they had to be right on the Silvertails hammer to give them a chance to take top spot on the weekend. The Dogs know that you can't hope that the sides above you fail you must win and take your chance when you play them.

This Week:
One change - Brad Morrison out - Darren Kellond in. Gallop back to second in Edmonds rink Kellond into third
The dogs know it's their last roll of the dice for the year. Win and you have are only 1 game behind the leaders, lose and the Dogs go into the lucky dip over the finals weekend (if they finish in the top four).

Martin’s Prediction: DALKEITH-NEDLANDS.

GOSNELLS V’s MOSMAN PARK

1st Round – Gosnells 46(1) def by Mosman Park 113(7)

GOSNELLS
Brett Holland (Sk) Jason Bryan Martin Downey David Downey
Bert Cruickshank (Sk) Trevor Gibbs Bob Clark Peter Gale
Neville Mulcahy (Sk) Colin Watters Roy Sharp Mike Rickard
Kevin Bairstow (Sk) Peter Hodgson Brian Creswell Trevor Simons

A great game where two of our rinks won and two lost but the fact is that we lost what counts by 6 shots.
If my math is still any good at all there is a minimum of 84 ends involved in deciding who gets the all important aggregate and we all know you can look back at any number of ends and find that conversion, glide, wick, trail or absolute pearler that made the difference. Six shots is any one of those ends – 2 up to 4 down or vica versa.

To be honest we were chasing the aggregate the whole day and although we closed right up towards the end the day so full credit to the Basso boys. We need to get on the job from the first bowl on every rink and learn to maintain the focus throughout the afternoon.

Kevin Bairstow’s rink V’s John Lynch’s rink:
This game was closer than the final score indicates and was played in fantastic spirit. To me it was what Saturday afternoon sport is all about – totally competitive with the utmost respect for each other and enjoyment abound.
Well down again Kevin (the bear) Bairstow and rink, Peter Hodgson (3rd), Barney Creswell (2nd) and Trevor Simons (Lead) who all contributed well to the win. Peter Hodgson in particular had a great day. It was tight early - 6 to 4 after seven ends; 11 to 10 after thirteen ends; but our boys powered home to win by 22 to 12 in the end.

Brett Holland’s rink V’s Craig Greenhalgh rink:
Another game played in very competitive but friendly spirit. There were definitely some momentum swings during the afternoon. We jumped out pretty well to be leading 9 to 2 after five ends; but they came back at us to be only 10 to 7 after eight ends; us away again to lead 17 to 9 after thirteen ends but after that things hotted up. 17 to 17 after sixteen ends and 19 to 19 after nineteen ends; however we managed to grab the last two ends to get home by 8 shots.
It was very interesting to watch the contrasting styles of the two skips. In the main I’d describe Brett Holland as a ‘solid’ skip and Craig Greenhalgh as an ‘innovative’ skip. ‘Solid’ just got the day this time but it was great to witness the battle.
The two leads, David Downey and Ray Denton (with an age difference of only about sixty something years) shared the honours. It was great of Ray to share some advice on leading after the game, part of which was that it’s not about whether you get the better of the other lead, it’s only ever about getting them close - getting bowls in the head. Good on ya Rayzor.

Neville Mulcahy’s rink V’s Marcel Heruer’s rink:
Our boys were under the pump from very early in the day and it’s simply a fact that a couple of our blokes didn’t have the best of days. That in turn put heaps of pressure on our skip, Neville, who did pretty well under the circumstances. Having said that, on several occasions when we were holding shots their skip, Marcel Heruer, pulled out some magic.
On one end that I witnessed the kitty had been moved to the side post and we were holding 2 being one just in front and one at 45 degrees. With his last bowl Marcel played a deliberate shot to take both bowls out and did so with the precision of a brain surgeon.
The Basso lead, Fred Early, also had a good day while for us Neville and Colin Watters played well. Down 1 to 13 early; 10 to 19 after twelve ends; to eventually lose 17 to 29.

Bert Cruickshank’s rink V’s Justin Opie’s rink:
Our boys were right in this game early on. 4 to 4 after six ends; and 8 to 12 after eleven. Unfortunately for us Justin Opie turned up the heat as the day wore on and in the blink of an eye it was 9 to 18 after fifteen ends and then they picked up a 7 on the next to be 9 to 25 after sixteen.
Now some sides would have dropped their heads at this stage but these blokes didn’t and to their credit they came back after that end and won four of the next five. Final score being 16 to 28. All our blokes tried hard with lead Peter Gale being the pick, while Justin Opie was the difference.

This Week:
Unfortunately Trevor Close has had a re-occurrence of the back injury that saw him miss about the first eight games and will probably miss the rest of the season. Andrew Hay-Hendry and Daniel Newton are also unavailable for this week so Martin Downey will retain his place as second in Brett Holland’s rink and Bob Clark will also come into the side and play second for Bert Cruickshank.
Colin Watters and Roy Sharp will swap places on the Mulcahy rink.

VERSUS

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 Hawke
Lindsay Hicks (Sk) Steve Novak Tom O’Neill Trent Teague

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

Mosman Park took on competition pacesetters Dalkeith Nedlands at home knowing that a victory would cement their top four assault with a loss continuing their yoyo in and out of the four.
For a good 70 off the 84 ends the aggregate was neck and neck and it was probably only the extra hunger shown by Dalkeith which saw them dominate the last 10 or so ends and get them over the line.
Doug Rogers was an omission from the Mossie 16 and John Rainoldi was once again a late withdrawal due to work commitments. This paved the way for youngster Trent Teague to maintain his spot with club stalwart Ron Trowbridge also given an opportunity in the top side.

After a heavy loss the previous week the Mossie four of Anderson, Ellis, Rainoldi and Trowbridge controlled the Skoric lead Dalkeith rink to run out easy 28 – 11 victors. All four Mosman Park players played well but it was the efforts of Ron Trowbridge in his first game which well and truly laid the foundations.

This was where the joy finished for the home side however with the always reliably Lester Mortimer led rink copping a hiding from Peter Bacich’s four eventually losing 25 - 7.

The remaining two clashes were tight affairs for the majority of the day with some late Krajancic magic over the penultimate ends getting his rink up against Lindsey Hick’s four and William’s rink running out 7 shot victors over Steve Withers and Co.

This Week:
Mosman Park take on cellar dwellers Gosnells this week desperate for at least 7 points, however as all bowlers know the trip to Gosnells is never an easy one. The next fortnight or so will be season defining for Mossies and after much pre – season and early season hype the club must start to stand up and be counted otherwise relegation is a distinct possibility.

The composition of the side for this week is yet to be decided.

Martin’s Prediction: MOSMAN PARK.

LEEMING V’s SAFETY BAY

1st Round – Leeming 77(7) def Safety Bay 70(1)

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

Unfortunately the Leeming contact is away on holidays - slack bugger.
This Week: The team as listed above is last week’s team.

VERSUS

SAFETY BAY

Martin’s Prediction: LEEMING.

MORLEY V’s THORNLIE

1st Round – Morley 87(8) def Thornlie 54(0)

MORLEY
Peter Aungier (Sk) John Armstrong Corrin John Sheridan
Allan Barron (Sk) M Robinson Rod Revell Andy Elmer
Bruce Walter (Sk) Gavin Grieve Bob Giekie Glenn Britten
Robbie Urquhart (Sk) Joe Heiden Graham White Brad Moyle

No report from the Morley contact this week.

VERSUS

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

A report from a contact at Thornlie is as follows:

Kardinya V's Thornlie
It is always fun to visit Kardinya. Their greens are really something else. When we got there the sprinklers were on and it really looked great, the problem was they turned them off as a few of us could have done with some cooling down, especially with the heat applied on McKenzie's rink.

Glyn Vaughan set the pace and with good support from Ynot, Buddah and Rosco took the honours over Geoff Gould and his bunch of stars. Three shots up on one of the best performed rinks in 1st White was a great result.

Paul Pohe, Alan Petchell, Mick Hansen & Jimmie Irwine all had their moments in the sun but from what was seen rarely did they all do it together. Nonetheless three shots up was the result when the last end played out, another very good result at Kardinya.

Whilst all this was going on McKenzie and his band of cut throats were in all sorts of trouble. Tony Cocodis kept referring to his leader as "Steve Glasson" and the way he bowled, the name was well deserved. When someone on Macka's rink got one close, Tony ripped it out. In the final analysis Tony and his merry men ran out comfortable winners by 17 shots.

This left Greg Reagan with a three shot buffer on the aggregate with a few ends to go. However following a few dead ends the last end of the match was finally completed with Kardinya picking up the required shots to force a draw. Five points was the prize for Thornlie not all that bad considering. With one rink down by so much, the other 12 players must be commended for their very good rink wins.

This Week:
The selectors have shuffled a few spots for the away game against Morley as listed above. Morley should be a tough one and to say Thornlie owe them is an understatement as we dropped 8 points to Morley in round 1.
My prediction is Thornlie 6/2 in a very close encounter

Martin’s Prediction: MORLEY.