Rich River Bowls Club

One of the main highlights of the week in bowls at Rich River was the outstanding performance by Mel Velt and Stan Barker (s) winning the CVBD / State Champions of champions Pairs played at Rochester on Sunday last. Velt and Barker combined well to defeat the Deniliquin RSL pair Mark Quor and Frank Daniels (s) and will now compete in the Bendigo / Campaspe Regional play-off to be held at the Elmore Bowls Club this coming Sunday starting at 1.00pm. This event will be played in conjunction with the B/C Regional State Champion of champions Singles where Mark Chaplin from Moama will meet his Bendigo opponent.

At the popular Jackpot Pairs on Wednesday the event was strongly contested by the 28 teams in action. A couple of golden “oldies’ from the football days, Alan Ash and Don Alden (s) spread eagled the field to score 55 points to collect the major spoils ahead of Bill McEwan and Stan Barker (s) 54 points in second place while Graeme Moffatt – Barry Downer (s) survived a three way count-back to gain third with 53 points plus 10 shots from Vic Woods – Max Bidgood (s) 53 points +5 and Eugene Xodo – KD Martin (s) 53 points +3 shots. Other two game winners were Gerry Devlin – Trevor Evans (s) 52 and Paul Wallace – John James (s) 51 points. Ray Shelley and Robert Taylor (s) combined brilliantly to win the RRGCR voucher on plus 28 shots while Ken Marwood – Renn Ritchie (s) finished +12, Mike Holmes – Barry Roberts (s) +10, Geoff Rayner – John Hewlett (s) +5, Ken Maynard – Alan Jones (s) +5, Darryl Woods – Barry Brown (s) +5 and Paul & Brian Kearney +4. The raffle winners were Graeme Moffatt and Graeme Edgar.

Roy Prigg was back to his best form on Wednesday evening to skip the winning team of Barbara Fitzpatrick and Ray Hicks to a solid victory in the Indoor bowls. In second place was Audrey Norris, Phyllis Allez and Heather Smith (s). Twenty-seven bowlers were in attendance.

On Thursday evening another vibrant field of 67 players converged onto the greens for the third round of the Night Pennant series. Wilma Curnow, Bill Curnow and Trevor Nagorcka (s) were declared the winners scoring 36 points. For second placing Cath Kelly, Peter Preston and Graeme Kelly (s) 33 points plus 22 shots survived a count-back from Darren Mills, Colin Douglas and Neil Faulkhead (s) 33points +15. Nancy Goldrick, Di Simmons and Roy Berryman (s) finished on 31 points while Kathy Nancawen, Ray Hocks and Tony “Iceman” Berg (s) had 30 points. Denise Lee and Chris Simson were the wine winners.

In the club championship events Roy Jackson defeated John James to win the 100 up championship for this season. The 21 up championship is nearing completion after Roy Berryman defeated Robert “Sam” King to win a semi final berth against Stan Barker after Barker accounted for Athol Brown in a high standard game. Mal Whyte eliminated Barry Downer and met Trevor Nagorcka in the semi final where Nagorcka was able to keep his opponent at bay and win a place in the final. Earlier Nagorcka defeated Des Sehestedt.

On the pennant scene the mid-week competition is nearing the semi-finals with just one round to be completed. Division one defeated Moama Gold 73-67 and will finish just short of a finals place. In division two the women lost by one solitary shot 69-70 and have to beat Mathoura this Friday to gain a berth in the final four. Division three Green have the bye and will finish in fourth place and play the finals series while Three Blue will look on and barrack hard.

The results in the CVBD pennant showed a 2-4 win/loss ratio for the club. Division one let a good chance go by when they lost a vital game against Mathoura by eleven shots and still retain third position on the premiership ladder. Division two lost to Deniliquin RSL but is still a chance for the four if they win both remaining games while division three defeated Deniliquin RSL 67-62 and will feature in the finals. In division four the Green machine defeated Mathoura and jumped into the four at the expense of Four – White who succumbed to City of Echuca. Both teams have equal chances of figuring in the finals if they keep winning. Division five lost to City of Echuca 31-69.   

Members attended local tournaments on the weekend, but unfortunately there was little positive feedback from the players concerned. Mostly fruit salads – win, loss and draws.

The women enjoyed brilliant sunshine and excellent conditions for their weekly social bowls yesterday. Twenty-nine bowlers graced the greens with three / two game winners on the day. Following a lengthy count-back the team of Gwen Brewster, Cath McKenzie, Prill Edgar and Margaret Griffiths (s) were declared the winners ahead of Mary Marwood, Wilma Williams and Mary Scott (s). Lyn Barker and her team were the unlucky ones. The semi-finals of the 100 Up championship are to be played. Lyn Barker will play Maureen Carr while Stella Wood will meet Nola James.

Pennant practice and barbeque will be held on Friday evening. Duty personnel are Vic Woods and Jack Henwood

Members are reminded of a second change of date for the club Mixed Pairs championship. This event will be held on a date to be announced. Names to be listed at Bowls office.

On Sunday 4^th March the club will host the Rich River – Picola combined 3–bowl Mixed Triples (any combination) tournament. Excellent trophies and the entry fee is $45.00 per team. Commences at 1.00pm. Contact Bowls Coordinator Chris Stewart 5481 3390 for details.