Former World Champion of Champions gold medallist Lee Schraner, from Bendigo East, and his team were the favourites before play in the Deniliquin RSL Bowling Club’s Easter Triple Tournament, and they did not disappoint.
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Despite losing their first round of the five day, 15 round competition, Schraner’s team, which also included Jarryd Davies and Travis Berry, did not drop another game for the rest of the tournament.
But it was not until the second last day of competition the visitors took the lead on the competition ladder.
Deniliquin RSL Bowling Club president Tony Tonta said based on the first three days of competition, the combination of Cohuna’s James McGillvray and Deniliquin RSL bowlers Craig Taylor and Daryl Weymouth were heavy favourites to claim the title.
‘‘McGillvray’s team looked like the ones to beat up until Saturday,’’ Tonta said.
‘‘They were in the lead before the Good Friday break but dropped back to third Saturday.
‘‘They managed to make it back to second place.’’
Third overall were brothers Kevin and Barry Brennan, and lead Glen Dorwood.
The winning trio finished the tournament with 42 points from a possible 45, and an overall margin of 196.
Their only loss was to a mostly local team, made up of David Hart, Ken Wellard and Garry Koopman.
Nine shots down after that first round, they started to claw it back by being five shots up in round two.
Their best game of the tournament was in round 13, against the team skipped by Michael Symonds, where they won with a margin of 29.
They achieved a similar result in round 9, against Brett O’Donnell, Matt Koek and skip Mick Gardner, finishing up by 28.
McGillvray’s team did not drop a game until round eight, when they went down by just one shot to Graham Nisbet, Christine Taylor and Linda Harris.
They dropped another two games after that, losing by three in round 10 and four in round 13.
The trio’s best result was a +22 in round 11, against O’Donnell, Koek and Gardner.
They finished with 36 points overall, and a margin of 115.
The Brennan brothers and Dorwood finished with 34 points overall and a margin on 96. They dropped games in rounds two, six and 14, and finished in a draw in round 10.
Their best result of the tournament was a +22 in round 11 against Ian Berry’s team.
