WHERE do we start this first post-Christmas Saturday pennant report?

Grangeburn defeating Balmoral by one shot, Penshurst defeated Portland on the last end, four rink draws over all divisions and a high team score of 34, while Hamilton increased the gap at the top of the division one ladder or the last four contestants for the Playing Area champion of club singles championships.

Division one

GRANGEBURN got up with the third last bowl of the day to take 13 of the 16 points available after Robyn Thomassen lost to Nev Trotman, 16-19.

Ken Prewett and Pete Merryfull played a 17-17 draw, and Bert Partington got the side’s total up by one with his second last bowl.

Derek Brody just missed, and Partington put the last one in his pocket to see the final score finish 54-53.

Penshurst rocked the Mt Rouse foundations and Portland’s as well with a four-shot win.

Cam Wilson 19 to Peter Cottier 21, I hear who might have been able to change things with a last bowl, but without result.

David Cook defeated Bob Bowden, 24-13, and Trev Landwehr lost to Lindsay Gruar, 16-21, leading to a 59-55 result.

Memorial got 15 points with a win over Casterton, however it made no difference to the side’s ladder position.

Des Pitts 21 to Styx Russell 19, Ken Evans 28 to Neil Shannon’s nine, and Greg Hoggan drew with Andy Alderton at 21-21 apiece.

That leaves Hamilton at home to Heywood.

One draw and one win each.

Bill Satchell and Mick Swan finished on 19-19.

Norm Pech 14 to Rick Angelino 18, and the top score of all games was by Richard Martin, Michael Pech, Jack Waldron and Peter Clapham, combining for a 31-11 win against John Angelino’s team.

Ladder: Hamilton 130, Portland 112, Balmoral 108, Memorial 95, Heywood 82, Grangeburn 76, Penshurst 72 and Casterton 28.

Division two

ALL home sides lost, one side had another one-shot win, this one was by Hamilton Green against Macarthur.

For Macarthur, Clifton Tonissen lost to Dennis Gay, 17-19, and Anthony Bourke 19 accounted for Edwin Maclean 13.

The Jean Schroeder team held three shots with one bowl to go and Maximillian Spiller cleaned them out for a 15-20 win to Maxi’s team to settle overall scores 51-52.

Portland Blue had the Blues after Hamilton Gold visited and left with a win.

Alan Warburton defeated Trev Schultz, 20-10, Allan Palmer 15 lost to Neville Linke 28, and Reg Alexander 12 to Allan Crane 28.

It was the biggest division two margin at 47-66.

Memorial hosted Portland Gold and the visitors got up by four after another draw between Peter Fasoli and Tom Alexander, 19-19, Gerry Watt 23 to Barry Huppatz 15, and Leonie Buchanan 11 to John Rappard 23, leading to a Memorial 53 to Gold 57 result.

Ladder: Hamilton Gold 141, Portland Gold 136, Portland Blue 94, Memorial 84, Macarthur 37, and Hamilton Green 36.

Division three

GRANGEBURN 41 fell to Coleraine 73 after John Colcott 11 lost to Bruce Armstrong 31, the topper in this division.

Nettie Ryan 16 lost to Steve Cooper 18, keeping his team as the best winners in division three, while Wendy Kosch 14 was outdone by Vern Spencer 24.

Hamilton lost top rung on the ladder when the Memorial side won on all rinks.

Some excellent bowls by all players but the Mem top order seemed to have the finishing edge.

Bill Edge 15 lost to the ever-effervescent Tink Imbi 18.

Graeme Wallis fought back from a big deficit but went down, 17-21, to David Garnier.

Heather McIntyre and team were out rolled by the opposition leader, Jack Rees, Lockie Aitchison, Meredith Fredericks and the expert Terry Stanley to the tune of 13-17.

A terrific game of bowls on all rinks. Forty-five to 56 the totals.

Ladder: Coleraine 98, Hamilton 95, Memorial 83, and Grangeburn 76.

Division four

COLERAINE now sits atop the ladder in both divisions three and four.

This came about via a win over Dartmoor by Grangeburn, which was first against sixth.

Peter Holmes 17 lost to Phil Forsyth 19, and Ian Brown 17 lost to Peter Moore 22. 

Redeye wasn’t able to skip due to a work injury.

The loss removed Dartmoor from top rung.

Casterton at Island Park defeated Hamilton Green and caused a big reshuffle of the bottom rungs.

Berniece Sullivan 19 defeated Peter Anson 17, and Anne Kearns had a day out with 29 to Nev Blackmore 18.

Macarthur at home took on Heywood and the visitors had the rub of the green, Macarthur 24 to Heywood 63.

Carole Dunn 10 to Rob Hamblin 34, which was the highest of all scores, and John Bragg 14 to Thelma Hoggan 29.

Oh boy didn’t Penshurst enjoy the trip home from Hamilton after Hamilton Gold scored 23 to Penshurst 51.

At one stage scores were 0-14 and 2-15. 

Miriam Tonissen 9 to Ian McLean 27, and Norm Schwarz 14 to Basil Eales 24.

Coleraine took top rung with a win over Balmoral at Coleraine.

Robin Salamon 17 to Ben McPhee 20, but Arthur Guy got up to 25 and kept Paul Raggart on 18.

The close clash ended at 42-38.

Ladder: Coleraine 122, Dartmoor 115, Balmoral 96, Penshurst 85, Heywood 79, Grangeburn 74, Casterton 70, Hamilton Gold 56, Hamilton Green 38 and Macarthur 35.

Other news

THE women’s section champion of club singles championship was played to the last four on Friday at Macarthur.

As reported by competitions committee representative, Ann Rentsch, In perfect conditions at Macarthur, a crowd of 40 plus were treated with some great bowls from the champions of the Far Western Playing Area.

Congratulations to Chick Trotman (Balmoral) Fay Morrow (Casterton) Lyn Boxer (Coleraine) Trish Brown (Dartmoor) Robyn Thomassen (Grangeburn) Jenny Pole (Hamilton) Sherree Chaudry (Heywood) Anne Gilmore (Macarthur) Brenda Uebergang (Penshurst) Kerry Alexander (Portland) and Kim Overall (Portland RSL) for representing your club with pride.

The morning games results were Pole defeated Brown, Chaudry defeated Gilmore, and Thomassen defeated Boxer.

Afternoon results were Morrow defeated Uebergang, Chaudry defeated Pole, Thomassen defeated Overall, and Trotman defeated Alexander.

Nearly all of these games went down to the last two shots in a display of precision bowls, and three of the games only had three shots difference and could have gone either way, keeping the crowd totally immersed.

The finals will be played at Penshurst on Sunday at the same time as the men’s section finals.

The men’s event was played to the last four on Sunday at Penshurst.

Mick Swan and John Pye played to make up the eighth position on the draw sheet.

Swan won this game after a terrific contest.

We then moved to the round of eight and Peter Merryfull defeated Mick Ross, Richard Martin accounted for Anthony Bourke, Swan got the better of Bert Partington and Gary Russell won against Vern Spencer, so those four winners meet on Sunday.

The women’s contestants will be Robyn Thomassen v Chick Trotman and Fay Morrow v Sherree Chaudry. Some great bowls will be seen I guarantee.