Mornington Peninsula Twilight Fives
It was the ultimate case of deja-vu as both Hastings men and Mt Martha women made it back-to-back Mornington Peninsula Twilight Fives titles in 2017.
The 2016 winners of the Peninsula Bowls Division’s Wednesday night team-based, fast format tournament, defended their titles over the eight-week season.
Peninsula Bowls Division once more turned finals night into a carnival like atmosphere, with free pizzas and drinks supplied.
It is the second year of the tournament, which will almost certainly be back for a third after rousijng support from clubs and players for the concept.
PBD President Geoff Hooper says one of the most interesting findings of their survey of players during the tournament was that players didn’t want prizemoney to be included as had been considered for next year.
“Interestingly, the players are saying they love it just the way it is, and we asked them about prizemoney, and they said no,” Mr Hooper says.
The format adopted for the series was:
* Two games each night with teams of five playing 12 ends of 3 bowl pairs and 2 bowl triples concurrently
* No rolling of the jack by the leads as skips spot the jack
* No players going up to the head
* No umpires (a player from the next rink could be asked to adjudicate if required)
* Games begin each evening at 6.15pm and were completed by 9.30pm
* Competition is run over eight weeks and at the conclusion of the initial rounds the top eight men’s teams and the eight women’s teams compete to determine the winning clubs
* Finals format consists of teams 1-4 playing off for the ‘A’ Division title and teams 5-8 competing for the ‘B’ Division title.
The B division title-winners were Capel Sound – a combined Rye, Rosebud and West Rosebud unit – in the men’s, and City of Frankston/Karingal in the women’s.
The 16 teams of men played the first four weeks at Mt Eliza, whilst the eight teams of women played at Mt Martha. Then they both swapped venues over the final four weeks.
The teams represented were:
Women: City of Frankston, City of Frankston/Karingal, Mt Martha, Mt Eliza, Beleura, Dromana, Mornington and Mornington Civic.
Men: Fitzroy Peninsula, Hastings, Mornington, Mornington Civic (2), City of Frankston, Dromana, Mt Martha (2), Main Ridge, Capel Sound (Rye, Rosebud, West Rosebud), Mt Eliza (2), Beleura, Belvedere and Somerville.
