Midweek Champion of State Pennant 2018
2018 Midweek Champion of State Pennant video recap.
2018 Midweek Champion of State Pennant kicks off.
Day One
Round 1
Scare for Ocean Grove on Day One!
In Section A, defending 2017 Midweek Pennant State Champions Ocean Grove BC (Geelong Region) had to pull out all stops to win their first-round encounter against Yallourn BC (Strzelecki Region) in a very close fought match on an undercover green at Moama BC on Day One of competition. The “Grovers” were successful in winning by four shots 39-35, losing on two of their rinks and relying on Matt Flapper’s team to carry them over the line to claim their first win of the event.
Yallourn were also returning to this event in 2018 after a not so successful campaign in their previous outing in 2017. Shepparton Park BC (Central Goulburn Murray Region) won their first match with a come from behind 49-45 win over Mildura BC (Murray Mallee Region) who looked to have the match under their control until the closing ends of the game. Finalists in last year’s event Benalla BC (Ovens & Murray Region) opened their campaign with an all-rinks up win over Dromana BC (Peninsula/Casey Region) with a final score-line in that match of 58-26 in favour of Benalla.
Benalla heads Section A after Rd. 1, closely followed by Ocean Grove & Shepparton Park.
The first-round matches in Section B saw Wycheproof BC (Wimmera Region) take the points from Portland BC (West Coast Region) 44-39 with two of their three rinks claiming wins to open their account. Bairnsdale BC (Gippsland Region) dented the hopes of local side City of Echuca BC (Bendigo/Campaspe Region) by pulling away in their last ends of the match to win 48-37 with great support for the locals all the way to the end.
Croydon BC (Eastern Ranges Region) and representatives of the Metropolitan Midweek Pennant competition, proved too strong for Dunolly BC (Central Victoria Region) and recorded a 55-33 win to lay a solid base for their challenge for this year’s title.
Section B has Croydon out in front, with Bairnsdale and Wycheproof both behind on shot difference. Rounds 2, 3 & 4 will be contested on Day 2 of the competition and you can find all the results in the links below.
Armed bowler Graeme Hegarty of Dromana Bowls Club putting down a bowl on Day 2, Round 2 against Mildura Bowls Club.
Day 2
Round 2
Section A: Defending Champions Ocean Grove BC easily accounted for Benalla BC 58-24 in a replay of last year’s final and have taken a stranglehold on top spot in the section. Dromana BC opened their account with a 43-29 win over Mildura BC to kick-start their challenge for the title and Shepparton Park BC scored their second consecutive win with a 10 shot win over Yallourn BC 44-34.
If Ocean Grove BC and Shepparton Park BC win their respective Rd. 3 matches they will face off against each other in a Rd. 4 clash that will almost certainly determine the winner of Section A. Current Standings in Section A: Ocean Grove 4 pts. +38 shots, Shepparton Park 4 pts. +14 shots, Benalla 2 pts. -2 shots, Dromana 2 pts. -18 shots, Yallourn 0 pts. -14 shots & Mildura 0 pts. -18 pts.
Section B: Croydon BC snared their second win with a 53-29 win over City of Echuca and Croydon are very much taking all before them after two rounds. Dunolly BC scored a 10 shot win over first round winners Wycheproof and posted a 44-34 win to grab two valuable points.
Bairnsdale BC gathered their second win and closed out a very determined Portland BC 44-40 and are due to face Croydon in Rd. 3 which may very well decide who advances from this section into Thursday afternoon’s final. Current Standings in Section B: Croydon 4 pts. +46 shots, Bairnsdale 4 pts. +15 shots, Wycheproof 2 pts. -5 shots, Dunolly 2 pts. -12 shots, Portland 0 pts. -9 shots & City of Echuca 0 pts. -35 shots.
Round 3
Section A: Shepparton Park BC made it three wins from three starts as they accounted for Dromana BC 50-30 to maintain their clean sheet. Ocean Grove BC repeated the same after they took Rd. 3 honours against Mildura BC who are still yet to open their account with a 52-30 win.
Benalla BC’s hopes of making the final are still alive as they defeated Yallourn 57-21. Rd. 4 sees Shepparton Park BC and Ocean Grove BC going head to head as three game winners, a mouth-watering match for the purists that will see one of these two firming in the race to the final.
Current Standings in Section A: Ocean Grove 6 pts. +60 shots, Shepparton Park 6 pts. +34 shots, Benalla 4 pts. +34 shots, Dromana 2 pts. -38 shots, Mildura 0 pts. -40 shots & Yallourn 0 pts. – 50 shots.
Section B: Croydon BC have firmed as Section B favourites after securing their third win with a 62-27 win over Bairnsdale BC who remain with two wins from their three starts. City of Echuca BC broke their duck with a 35 shot win over Wycheproof BC 62-27 and this brought a smile to the faces of the locals who had been trying their hardest to secure a win. It must have been the round for breaking through as Portland returned a win over Dunolly BC 49-31.
Current Standings in Section B: Croydon 6 pts. +81 shots, Bairnsdale 4 pts. -20 shots, Portland 2 pts. 9 shots, City of Echuca 2 pts. 0 shots, Dunolly 2 pts. -30 shots & Wycheproof 2 pts. -40 shots.
Round 4
Section A: As hard as they tried, Shepparton Park BC couldn’t bridge the gap against Ocean Grove BC as the Geelong Region winners recorded their fourth win of the Championships with a 48-30 win. Yallourn BC took their first two points for the championships as they defeated Dromana BC 35-31 in a very closely fought match. Benalla BC’s faint finals hopes remain intact after they defeated Mildura BC 53-35 to see them finish Day 2 on 6 points & 26 shots, now just behind by two points and 26 shots to Ocean Grove who could very well go back to back given their extremely strong showing in the first four rounds of competition so far.
Current Standings in Section A: Ocean Grove 8 pts. +78 shots, Benalla 6 pts. +52 shots, Shepparton Park 6 pts. +16 shots, Dromana 2 pts. -42 shots, Yallourn 2 pts. -46 shots & Mildura 0 pts. -58 shots.
Section B: It’s hard to see Croydon BC not making it through to the final as they won their fourth match 42-36 against a very competitive Wycheproof BC who threw everything they had at the Metropolitan winners. Bairnsdale BC are still giving it their best and had a third win over Dunolly BC and won 49-38 to keep their dream alive, but it will require them having to see results go their way and have Croydon lose by a massive shot margin to top the section. City of Echuca BC and Portland BC fought out a 42 all draw and shared the two points.
Current Standings in Section B: Croydon 8 pts. +87 shots, Bairnsdale 6 pts. -9 shots, Portland 3 pts. 9 shots, City of Echuca 3 pts. 0 shots, Dunolly 2 pts. -41 shots & Wycheproof 2 pts. -46 shots.
Ocean Grove and Croydon Bowling Clubs have fought hard to reach the Final on Day 3.
Day 3
Round 5
Section A: Ocean Grove BC secured top spot in Section A with an undefeated run of five wins after accounting for Dromana BC 48-28 in thay 3eir morning encounter to advance to the final where they will attempt to defend their State title won in 2017. Shepparton Park BC finished runner-up in the section with four wins after they won 41-33 over Benalla BC. Yallourn BC finished off their series of matches with a fifth-round win against Mildura BC and won their match 49-29.
Final Standings in Section A: Ocean Grove 10 pts. +98 shots, Shepparton Park 8 pts. +24 shots, Benalla 6 pts. +44 shots, Yallourn 4 pts. -26 shots Dromana 2 pts. -62 shots, & Mildura 0 pts. -78 shots.
Section B: Croydon BC have taken all before them to claim Section B after they registered five wins from five starts with a 57-26 win over Portland BC. Bairnsdale BC only lost the one match during the event and that was to eventual section winner Croydon. Bairnsdale BC defeated Wycheproof BC 59-27. Dunolly BC recorded their second win this time at the expense of locals City of Echuca BC 38-47.
Final Standings in Section B: Croydon 10 pts. +118 shots, Bairnsdale 8 pts. +23 shots, Dunolly 4 pts. -32 shots, City of Echuca 3 pts. -9 shots, Portland 3 pts. -22 shots & Wycheproof 2 pts. -78 shots. The Final Croydon BC and Ocean Grove BC will be contesting the State Final and to see up to date scores you can follow progress on BV’s Facebook page.
Final
Ocean Grove BC after winning Section A and Croydon BC who secured Section B both earned the right to face off for the Bowls Victoria Midweek State Pennant Championship final conducted at Moama BC. The benefit of the organisers having at their disposal an undercover venue was driven right home as there were several factors associated to experiencing all the four seasons in one afternoon of bowls. The pace of the green was well above the temperature, hail stones splashed onto the green in the middle stages and overcoats, beanies & scarves were the main items of clothing for spectators and players alike. Both sides trade early blows, and after 13 of the 54 end encounter scores were tied at seven shots a piece. It looked like we would be in for a fantastic arm-wrestle between these two sides who’d both advanced without dropping a sectional rounds match.
After 19 ends Ocean Grove opened a very slight 3 shot lead over their opponent to have their noses in front 14-11 and with two of Ocean Grove’s rinks leading and John Dixon’s Croydon rink keeping them in touch. At the 35 end mark “The Grovers” had extended their lead to 12 shots 31-19 as they appeared to have an answer to everything that Croydon could throw at them. The conclusion of the 41st end showed the deficit faced by Croydon had stretched out to 13 shots 24-37 and now with ends fast running out there had to be one last hurrah from the Eastern Ranges Metropolitan Winners. Croydon staged a concerted effort to get back into the match at this stage and they mounted a rear-guard action to get the result back to 41-36 at the completion of the 50th end and the Ocean Grove players could feel their opponents coming at them with only four ends left to complete and a margin of 5 shots in it.
Ocean Grove’s Faye Richardson and her rink just went down to Croydon’s John Dixon 14-15, Rod Brehaut and his team were able to hold off Geoff Kirk’s Croydon rink 15-13, which left Ocean Grove’s spiritual leader Matt Flapper and his combination posting a 14-10 victory over Barry Fergusson’s four for Ocean Grove BC to record a 43-38 win in their second consecutive Midweek State Pennant Championship.
All thanks to Moama BC for hosting such a great championship event over the three days of competition at their magnificent venue.
Click here for the event program.
Champion of State Pennant Section A (Midweek)
Fixtures
Results
Ladder
Champion of State Pennant Section B (Midweek)
Fixtures
Results
Ladder
Champion of State Pennant Final (Midweek)
Fixtures
Results
Ladder
