FOR ALL YOUR TYRE AND
WHEEL ALIGNMENT NEEDS,
RING ERRON MARTIN 9274 3333
April 2, 2009
FINALS
The finals get underway at Osborne Park this Saturday Morning, the Grand Final will be played at Carlisle/Lathlain. This will be the last time this club will host this event. Carlisle/Lathlain will close its doors at the conclusion of this season and amalgamate with Victoria Park
Two very interesting finals with both North and South represented
Osborne Park V Doubleview from Nth of the river
Victoria Park V Sth Perth from South of the river.
Osborne Park have dominated the competition this season to finish on top of the ladder
Doubleview have come from an almost impossible position, they were 8th on the ladder at the conclusion of the 10th round to finish in second place.
Victoria Park fell away after looking certainties to finish in second place
Sth Millers have done themselves proud to make the final four in their second year back into the Premier League. I cannot recall if Sth Perth have ever finished in the playoff's in years gone by
Colin Fleay has been a very good recruit for Osborne Park this season. A great club man at Melville for many years and now performing a vital role for the Saints playing three to Kevin Pickering
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OSBORNE Pk SAINTS v D/VIEW POWERHOUSE
G. Caffell (sk),G. Evans, G. King, G. Nicol
K.Pickering(sk)C. Fleay, DiGuiseppe,R.Couper
D. Rankin (sk),P. Caffell, P.Pendergast, J. Coleman
J.Goddard(sk),I. Payne, B.Galloway,D.Appleton
---------------------versus
D. Trewhella (sk) K. McIlroy,C. Slavich, P. Ker
J. Slavich (sk), P. Buller , J. Bausor, C. Tunstall
R. Ball (sk), L. Thorn, M.Mitchell, K. Screech
D.Katunarich (sk) A. Delaporte,R. Barns ,G. Nelson
The two best teams for the home and away season meet in the second semi final.
Osborne Park Saints have been the trendsetter's and the benchmark for the rest of the competition losing 4 games during the season. What makes their efforts even more remarkable was the loss of 4 gun players, most thought this would take it toll on the National Premier League Champions.
Those players were Daniel Trewhella, Peter Ker, James Jaworski and Daniel Guelfi.
The new recruits have been a boon to the club and they have covered the losses. Colin Fleay, Kevin Pickering and Bob Couper have played their part as had Rob Lawrence earlier in the season.
Overall the Saints lost three of their games by 4,1,1, shots, all away games, not bad for a revamped side from last season then finally losing top the PowerHouse last Saturday by 11 shots to record their first loss at home for the season
Doubleview PowerHouse have had a mixed season. They started off the season minus gun players Robbie Ball, Jon Sharp, and Bruce Urquhart while Dennis Katunarich was unavailable for the first 5 games. Their recruits were pretty handy and it was thought they would cover these losses.
Daniel Trewhella has been the key skip, Peter Ker has done his job. James Jaworski left the club after round 3. The further loss of Ross Dempsey later in the season added to the PowerHouse woes.
Recent form of the Saints has been patchy and has cast doubt as whether or not they can win the flag.
David Rankin's side after a stellar season have lost their last two games, a telling loss was against John Slavich last Saturday. They also lost
against Cambridge last Sunday. Clearly they side will need to regroup.
John Goddard and his rink are the flagship at Osborne Park, they have had plenty of highlights this season capping of the season by being the best performed rink in the Premier League. They represent the best chance for the Saints to win the flag
Kevin Pickering has an honest side who have generally speaking, done well this season but are by no means certainties to win their rink in this match
Gary Caffell has impressed as a skipper this season but his rink has not delivered when we look at the stat sheet and are vulnerable, however they only went down by 1 shot against Daniel Trewhella last Saturday. For Osborne Park to have a chance of victory they need this rink playing its best bowls.
Doubleview have come from further back than the Mighty Bernborough. They have won their last 8 games straight, beating all sides that are in the final four.
At the conclusion of round 10 they were 8th on the ladder and as far as I was concerned they could call in the undertakers to come and bury them.
The return of Robert Ball co-incided with the 8 game winning run has added a presence to the team. Dennis Katunarich's presence also cannot be underestimated, having him in the side is so important.
With Robbie Ball continually improving his touch and finesse after returning to the side at the halfway mark of the season will trouble what ever rink he will draw.
Dennis Katunarich's rink went down heavily against John Goddard but are capable of doing so much better.
Daniel Trewhella's rink is the flagship at Doubleview, the rink has won on both occasions against his former club and represent the biggest danger to Osborne Park. He played Gary Caffell on both occasions this season winning 24/7 and 23/22
John Slavich's rink have a good stat sheet 10/6/2 to show for the season. In his first round game his rink were soundly beaten by John Goddard and his second round game saw his rink soundly defeat the well performed rink of David Rankin.
The home ground advantage should favour Osborne Park but because the greens are so good to play on this advantage disappears somewhat.
The PowerHouse are clearly the form side and logical favourites, however we cant ignore the reasons why the Saints finished on top of the ladder.
6/2
Sth PERTH MILLERS v VIC TORIA PARK REDS
G. Wishart(sk), T. Mitchell, S. Caven, G. Hiskens
J. Mitchell(sk),R. Hughes , C. McNeil, D. Patterson
R. Butler (sk), J. Jaworski, S.Knott., G. Faulkner
A. Provost(sk), S. Bainbridge, G. Quann, C. Hayes
-------------------------versus
R. Bresland(sk), B. Bandy, D. Bandy S.Kelly
M.Elull(sk), F. Carbone, M.Trojack, M. Hughes
K. Pride(sk) S. Walker, G. Pauling, J.Cunningham
N. Reagan (sk) S. Lunn, G. Reagan, D. Lyons
Charlie McNeil adds plenty of value to the Reds playing as a two
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Sth Perth Millers journey to the finals has been an exciting one this season, along the way they have beaten Victoria Park Reds and Doubleview.
They did have some down times losing unexpectedly to Yokine three games or so ago along with other form lapses.
They were not able to manage a win against Osborne Park in the two game
played in the season.
There is no doubt the club has some big game players involved with first semi- final
Matt Elull, Nick and Greg Reagan Ross Bresland, Ken Pride, Merv Hughes, Frank Carbone, Glen Pauling and Scotty Walker. All those named have won or done or achieved something.
There have been a change or two for this very important first semi-final game. Ken Pride has taken over the rink of Scott Walker, while it would be best to be going into this game with rinks settled it is understandable that this change has occurred because the rinks led by Scotty Walker have not produced enough winning games as the stat sheet shows 3/9/ - 56
Their biggest asset has been the remarkable season that Matt Elull and his rink have displayed.
They have been the driving force behind the Millers making the final with 13 wins for the year
Ross Bresland and his rink can also
lay claim to being another reason for their final four placing.
11/6/1 is a very good performance for the season and if we recall the rink's great comeback in the game at Osborne Park recently, storming to victory after being well down over Gary Caffell's rink tells us that the rink will be hard to toss on Osborne Park grass.
Nick Reagan showed his class in the final of the state Pairs but would need his rink to fire up and if it does all the more chance of helping the Millers cause.
Victoria Park have recruited very well this season and Anthony Provost is the recruit to do so well for the Reds. His efforts have made a difference while other rinks have not lived up to the potential and expectations we thought might occur.
Skipper stats show us it has been an ordinary year and the side has been over rated. The Reds did play in the first semi last year and with all their new recruits they achieved the same result again.
However it would be folly to underestimate the capabilities of the Reds, if they are at their best they are very very good.
Highlights for them were the 1 shot win and the 2 shot loss to Osborne Park, the second game in particular when they beat both David Rankin's unbeaten rink and John Goddard's rink.
That was a red letter day for the Reds in a game they lost but showed so much.
The Reds went down by 5 shots to the PowerHouse in their only meeting for the season.
We are not aware of the makeup of the side
for this game but if they play their best side and position it in the best possible way they should have too many aces in the pack for the Millers.
Bearing in mind the Millers have a good record against the Reds, losing the first round game in the last two ends and then belting the Reds into submission at Victoria Park in the second round
6/2
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