Joanne Bovell (left) took on champion Carly Crothers in the ladies final on Sunday.
The finals of both the Men’s and Ladies Singles were decided on Sunday at the Deniliquin Bowling Club.
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Steve O’Brien and Shane Laing, both multiple winners of the title in the past, staged a memorable encounter in their clash.
Laing was out to a very comfortable lead early, only for O’Brien to bowl brilliantly in the middle stages to take back the lead and threaten to go on with the job.
It was shot-for-shot for several ends from there before Laing gained the ascendancy late to go on and secure a very hard-fought victory, and claim his fourth win in the prestigious local event.
The Ladies Singles final saw a more decidedly clear cut victory, with Carly Crothers setting the scene from the start when she got out to a very sizeable lead.
Joanne Bovell fought back admirably in the middle stages to make some inroads, but the gap was too great.
Crothers went on to record a very worthy victory as Ladies Singles Champion.
A healthy local crowd was in attendance to witness quality bowls in both matches in perfect conditions.
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There were encouraging results for the Deniliquin Bowling Club Weekend Pennant teams on Saturday with two out of three victories.
Division 1 came back from Rochester with a solid 63-48 win, and retained a clear third place on the ladder at the halfway mark in the season.
Mark Quor (skip), Graham Nisbet, Chris Taylor and Peter Chadderton were in control most of the day to record a comfortable victory, 19 shots to 12.
Similarly, the combination of Jamie Shields (s), Carly Crothers, John Flisher and Steve O’Brien led all day to run out 27-12 winners.
The final rink comprising Shane Laing (s), Mark Tasker, Rob Morris and Bryan Kemnitz were down 5-14 after eight ends after conceding a seven early in the match.
They more than held their own thereafter, but the deficit was too much to overcome when they eventually succumbed 17 shots to 24.
Division 2 lost on two of the three rinks, but did just enough on the third to snatch a narrow 56-53 victory against Mathoura.
They stay in contention at equal fourth on the ladder.
Stuart Treble (s), Terry Boyer, Jo Bovell and Craig Hillier found themselves down 4-17 after 13 ends, but fought back valiantly late before losing 15 shots to 19.
Similarly, Andrew Holloway, Terry Taylor, Steve King and David Hessel (s) trailed by seven shots after nine ends before rallying late to only be defeated narrowly, 17 shots to 19.
Glenn Thomson’s side including Paul Snare, Jill Grimshaw and Mark Law made sure of the comfortable overall victory when they pulled away late in a tight game to win 24 shots to 15.
Division 3 hosted Stanhope and were defeated 58 shots to 69.
Alan Hardcastle’s rink, along with Tony King, Craig Murray and Mike Donohue were down 9-22 at halfway before coming home well only to be beaten 19 shots to 26.
Lloyd Ritchie (s), Tom Todd, Col Knuckey and Lee Pattinson may be looking for the festive season break after going down 16-23.
They will regroup and mount a comeback, I’m certain of that.
The final combination of Ken Salter (s), Noel Murray, Tony Danckert and Winnie Pattinson were cruising at 23-10 after 15 ends, but got the staggers late in the contest before limping over the line in a 23 shots to 20 victory.
The pennant season is now on a festive season break and will resume on January 20.
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