MIDWEEK Pennant saw the closest division one result for the season to date on Tuesday - any closer and it would have been a draw.

Grangeburn made the arduous trip to Kennedy Street and what a game it was.

The visitors were one player short, so on scene Ron McDonald subbed and was in a winning team.

Heather McIntyre played the team with the sub skipped by Jan Hicks and the final scores were 14-21.

Jenny Pole played Robyn Thomassen and the Thomassen team scored 17 to the Pole’s 15.

Then the decider came up and Elma Astbury played Alison East and the 23-15 result meant Grangeburn won by one shot.

Memorial played Portland and the difference at the end was a little bit wider in the Portland side’s favour. Leonie Buchanan was taken out by Kerrie Alexander 15-28. Jan Woolley equalled the 28 and defeated Heather Burgess by six.

Shirley Rogers added to the total defeating June Leahy by one to see Memorial go down, 58-66.

Casterton had a bye.

The provisional ladder is Portland 30, Memorial 28, Grangeburn 28, Hamilton six and Casterton four.

DIVISION two fixtures started and Balmoral’s Chick Trotman with Nett Tinning, Jenni Mutch and Pauline Koenders kicked the sweep with a total of 37 against Hamilton.

To partly counter the above score, Hamilton’s Robyn Donovan scored 29 to Trish Brody’s 15. However, the 37 was to six, giving Balmoral a 58-35 win.

Penshurst had a bye and by calculation received 13 points for staying home, while Macarthur had to forfeit, so Casterton received 14 points.

The provisional ladder is now Balmoral 38, Penshurst 30, Portland 28, Macarthur 26, Hamilton 26 and Coleraine 16.

DIVISION three saw Dartmoor host Grangeburn Red again because of the travel bubble and Dartmoor won 45-37.

Elaine Jones with Sue Tregellis and Tricia Brown has now rolled up 88 shots in three games.

This time 28 to Lesley Moller 17 and Kaye Lanyon scored 17 to Nettie Ryan 20.

Results from the Portland Grangeburn Blue game came through as a blank copy.

Weekend Pennant

DIVISION one pennant got off to a flyer after the very long pause.

There were two games won by less than seven shots and 14 was the biggest margin.

Portland hosted Memorial and apart from a draw on one rink, the points all went to Memorial Red.

I have been told that some of the best bowls seen in ages were played on the rink where Peter Cottier and Des Pitts teams played.

The score there was Cottier 19 to Pitts 23, while Michael Jennings collected 13 to lose by 10 John Wallis.

Barry Jennings and Ken Evans finished 19-19, leading to a Portland 51 Memorial Red 65 result.

Grangeburn got off to a good start in both outcome and early shots, leading 36-16 before winning, 64-53.

Robyn Thomassen defeated Bill Satchell, 21-18, Phil Allen and Norm Pech played the second draw of the round, 21-21, and Bert Partington defeated Richard Martin, 22-14.

Balmoral and Memorial Blue played out a thriller with Balmoral edging out a 57-55 win.

Tom Simons defeated Steve Turner, 26-20, Peter Merryfull’s 19 held off Gerry Watt by four, and Neville Trotman lost to Ted Leahy.

Heywood played Penshurst down south in the morning, because of the Penshurst races.

This was the six-shot difference game to Heywood’s advantage, 61-55.

Lance Price defeated Trevor Landwehr, 22-10. Rick Angelino recorded 25 to David Cook 16, while Mick Swan lost to Mick Ross 14-29.

On Saturday Memorial Blue plays Portland, Penshurst has Grangeburn visit, Hamilton is at home to Balmoral and Memorial Red plays Heywood.

DIVISION two has two games each week and in the first round Portland defeated Hamilton, 67-47.

Tom Alexander with Lionel Shelton, Ken Fisher and Arthur Coates scored the highest number of the two games with 32 to J. Forsyth 11. Tony Hogan 22 to Maurice Jolly 19 and Richard Speers 13 lost to Jack Waldron 17.

Casterton 69 beat Macarthur 41, as Styx Russell drew with Clifton Tonissen 20-20, Neil Shannon 22 to Jean Schroeder 13 and Andy Alderton with 27 to Ken Handreck 8.

Round two will be Hamilton v Casterton and Macarthur v Portland.

DIVISION three saw Hamilton Green win defeat Portland, 73-54; Geoff Wood 24 defeated Tom Beauglehole 20, Cliff Brinkman 26 won this one against Alan Warburton 21 and Max Spiller 23 d. Ken Place 13, giving Green all 16 points.

Grangeburn lost to Memorial, 50-71, as John Colcott was pushed to the limit by Ian Benbow, losing 9-30, while Nettie Ryan scored 26 to defeat Peter Fasoli by five, and on the third rink Jan Hicks 15 lost to Bert Roos with 20.

Hamilton Gold 85 d. Coleraine 48; Ray Fary 22 lost to Steve Cooper 25, Peter Clapham 30 d. Bruce Armstrong 12 and Denis Gay with Wayne Tuffnell, Robyn Donovan and Ron McDonald scored 33 the highest of all scores to Alan Templeton 11.

DIVISION four section one saw Casterton 38 lose to Hamilton Green 40; Berniece Sullivan drew with Norm  Schwarz 19-19, Anne Kearns 19 lost to Neville Blackmore 21.

Heywood 33 lost to Macarthur 43: Daryl Moore 15 lost to Carole Dunn 22, Thelma Hoggan 18 lost to Rodger Moodie 21.

Penshurst swapped venues with Dartmoor because of the travel bubble and Dartmoor made the most of the swap to defeat Penshurst 48 to 43. Ross Kerr 22 to Denis Olly 28 and Peter Holmes 26 to B. Eales 15.

DIVISION four section two’s schedule had Dunkeld with a bye.

Grangeburn 30 v Hamilton Gold 53; G. Harris 10 lost to Barry Dowling 32.

Balmoral 47 d. Coleraine 43; Wendel Timms 23 defeated Lesley Beaton 19, Bernard Mutch drew with Arthur Guy, 24-24.

Other news

THE women’s and men’s section 60 and over pairs sectional games were played at Grangeburn and Hamilton on Monday.

At Grangeburn there were only six women’s entries and going through to the grand final on Thursday are pairs skipped by Chick Trotman of Balmoral and Heather McIntyre of Hamilton.

In the men’s section there were 11 entries, so the three-section winners were Norm Pech who has the bye to the final, and Neville Trotman will play Rob Baker for the other final position.

There were certainly some great bowls played with several winning scores with less than four shots difference.

The men’s section fours sectional games were played at Heywood on Sunday and the winners there were Mick Swan and John Rappard, a new skipper at the Portland club.

The grand finals of the fours and the deferred triples will be played on Sunday at Memorial.

In the triples, Des Pitts plays Rick Angelino and Neville Trotman plays John Wallis.