Cobram Bowls Club

In the mid-week competition on Tuesday, November 8, division one saw the local derby played at Barooga.

Despite Cobram winning two rinks, the day went to Barooga because of their action on the third rink.

I have been assured that the scorecard definitely was not a reflection of the standard of bowls played by Cobram, but all four on Karen Bruce’s rink had a day out and spoiled any hope of Cobram holding shots that they had.

Meanwhile, division two hosted Picola at Cobram.

Brenda Smethurst’s rink kept the pressure on Karen Peacock’s four all game for a comfortable win.

Glenda Mann and team were not able to keep up with Sue Jamison’s four, and were not able to capitalise on the five shots scored on the 16th end.

With those two rinks off the green, the overall game was anyones.

Barb Turner’s crew were competitive against Julie Berger with the scores tied at end 17, but Picola finished by winning the final four ends, and this was enough to give Picola game points.

With the sun still shining on Wednesday, and the forecast of rain later in the week, there was a huge working bee to install the new drainage on our Ena Gray green.

Thank you to all the workers and to Carol Doherty for supplying smoko.

Cobram Bowling Club was proud to host the lawn bowls event for the TriState Games on Friday, November 11.

An enjoyable time was had by participants and thanks to members who volunteered to set up their games.

Grey clouds hovered overhead at the start of Saturday pennant, however the sun was shining on the Cobram greens.

Division one saw a grand final rematch between the Tigers and Wunghnu in a close match up.

A win for Cobram here would see them hold top spot on the ladder with a nice little buffer, but a win for Wunghnu would mean very little between them by the end of the round.

Ray Parks took on Peter Revell and it wasn’t until the last five ends the Park’s rink managed to pull away and score a six-shot win.

Steve Tatnall’s rink found life difficult even with Tatnall playing some very telling shots in the first half.

Barry Cosgrove proved to be the difference with consistency throughout the day preventing the Cobram side from scoring any large numbers.

An eleven-shot rink win to Wunghnu could have been more if not for Tatnall trailing the jack with his last bowl to give the overall scoreboard a match saving buffer.

John Dixon’s rink was last off the green playing a tense final end with the Magpies requiring three shots for an overall draw.

Ray Hill attempted to play a Cobram bowl out of the head but it ran through Wunghnu’s shot bowls and gave Cobram the shot instead.

A well-fought win and another tight Cobram/Wunghnu battle for the ages.

Division two fell victim to the weather. On their journey to Jerilderie, they encountered an extremely heavy downpour that made them stop on the side of the road in the interests of safety.

They got onto the green, but the game was halted after only seven ends on each rink because of more rain and the points shared for the round.

Division three hosted Picola one and the game points score of 14 for Picola and two for Cobram was actually because of a draw on two of the rinks.

Skipping for the first time this season, Glenn Murphy and team were keeping Keith Berger at bay with up to nine shots up.

But Picola scored 10 shots to one over the final six ends to claim the draw.

Phill O’Dwyer’s scorecard against Sue Jamison showed Cobram out to a good lead, but Picola scored themselves back to level scores at end 18, and that is how the game finished.

The scorecard for Peter Garland and Bruce Agnew shows that up till the 16th end, the biggest margin at any time was three shots, and with the scores equal at end 16, it could have been anyone’s game.

But it was Picola that scored seven shots to Cobram’s one that gave it the match.

Also at home, Cobram four took on Finley two. Glenda Mann had a slow start against Norman Barnes with Finley’s Brian Anderson, and Matt Hannan giving him accurate support.

But then the Cobram four all took their turn to help win some ends and take rink points.

On the second rink, Barb Turner skipped against Graeme Close, and while the scores were fairly even up to the 14th end, Cobram outscored Finley 11 to three over the final seven ends.

And, yes, we had room for a fourth side to be playing at Cobram where Cobram five played the local derby against Barooga.

When Ian Bray played Jill Toohey it was good to see that when the Tigers got in front on the scoreboard at end 14 that they kept up the pressure, scoring eight to three over the final eight ends.

Jim Burkitt’s four played Carol Cox and the Tigers built up a seven-shot lead by end 13 and then outscored Barooga nine shots to three over those final eight ends. A good win for Cobram.

So, in our topsy-turvy season, all Cobram sides are in the top four.

The light shower mid-afternoon didn’t have much affect on the games, but we were pleased to be inside the clubhouse when the downpour arrived — 13mm in quick time.

It was comforting to know that we had got the drainage work completed on the Ena Gray green.

The second semi-final for men’s club pairs was decided on Friday afternoon, when it took the final bowl on an extra end for the defending champions Allan McDonald and Garry Carter to defeat Glenn Murphy and Cliffy Faulkner.

McDonald and Carter will take on John Dixon and Mal Beer in the final on Friday, December 9 at 4pm.

Reminders