ROUND 12 of the Saturday pennant was contested on the weekend and wow weren’t there some interesting results.

Winning margins from a low of four to high of 50 and high rink scores well over 30 in every division.

Division one

SCORES ranged from 87 to 37 and that came about down at Portland Memorial when Hamilton visited.

Clay Holcombe got 31 to Norm Pech’s nine, and it must be said that one of the Hamilton players had to leave the green and as per the rules those bowls were delivered by other players.

Kelvin Wiffen 33 to Hamish McDonald 15, and Graeme Solly rolled up 23 to Peter Graham 13, to complete the match-up.

The Memorial winning margin was greater than their opponent’s total.

The side now sits 35 points clear on top of the ladder.

Grangeburn played at home against Balmoral and had another solid win, with two rinks and a draw.

Bert Partington 26 to Nev Trotman 17, Grant Gibson 28 doubling Peter Merryfull’s total, and Leah McCabe drawing with Troy Gore at 14-14, leading to a 68 to 45 overall result. 

Heywood had all sides at home using up seven rinks and sadly for the club, the only two to not win were in division one.

Mick Swan did win against Casterton’s Neil Shannon, 22 to 14, but then Ricky Angelino was defeated by Andy Alderton, 14 to 20, and Lionel Pevitt went down to Styx Russell, 13 to 34.

Casterton is probably an outsider to make the finals, while Heywood plays Balmoral up north next round and only six points separate the sides.

Penshurst set up for Portland and Air Wick was needed.

Maybe the home side needed more, as Portland won on two rinks and took 14 points home.

Ali Rentsch with 16 to Peter Cottier’s 31, Phil Allen 12 to Lindsay Gruar 18, and Mick Ross kept Penshurst on the second rung taking two points after he accounted for Mick Jennings by one, 19 to 18.

So, none of the ladder positions changed after all results were recorded.

Ladder: Memorial 167, Penshurst 132, Portland 131, Balmoral 83, Heywood 77, Casterton 70, Grangeburn 64, Hamilton 44.

Next week’s round 13 match-ups include Grangeburn v Portland, Memorial v Casterton, Hamilton v Penshurst and Balmoral v Heywood.

Division two

THIS division had a highest side score of 63, while the average side win was by 19 and only one home side won.

Hamilton Green had a difficult game playing Portland at home.

Geoff Woods 19 to Alan Warburton 29, and Rob Thornton was allowed nine by Andy Smail 34, which all put together meant it was 28 to 63 on the final scoreboard.

Hamilton Gold was at home to Macarthur and the mozz continued.

Gordon Scott 13 to Clifton Tonissen 22, and Jim Brody 14 to Bill Edge 21.

After all that, the totals settled on 27 to 43.

Heywood with two winning rinks scored 14 points and defeated Grangeburn, 48 to 26.

Coral Stephens 26 to Nettie Ryan 11, and Daryl Moore 22 to K. Bailey 15.

Memorial and Coleraine had the only real close match-up with four shots the final margin to the home side.

Gerry Watt 12 to Bruce Armstrong 23, and Des Pitts 26 to Steve Cooper 11.

It is good to see Pitts back after a long break.

There were only a couple of ladder changes during the round.

Ladder: Hamilton Green 111, Memorial 111 with 14 shots difference, Portland 107, Macarthur 93, Coleraine 88, Grangeburn 70, Hamilton Gold 50, Heywood 42.

Next round will see Portland v Heywood, Hamilton Green v Coleraine, Hamilton Gold v Grangeburn, and Macarthur v Memorial.

Division three

THE third division results saw two home sides claim victories, with the highest winning margin being 42, with the only changes to the ladder being the two Hamilton sides swapping spots.

The big win was by Hamilton Gold against Balmoral, as Pom McCrae 25 held off Mick McInnes 14, and Heather McIntyre 36 easily accounted for Paul Raggett 5.

The win moved Gold to fourth spot on the ladder.

Portland went down to Memorial on the score sheet by seven, with the scoreboard showing 32 to 39.

Heather Burgess 19 to Peter Fasoli 12, and Tony Hogan got 13 to the evergreen Kevin Husson 27.

Memorial sits on top, along with two of the other divisions, while Portland sits on the rung below after the loss.

Dartmoor doubled plus a couple the Hamilton Green score, Neil Murrell 23 to Miriam Tonissen 17, and a red-hot Redeye Kerr with 36 to Ray Fary’s nine.

Dartmoor may be safe on the fourth rung following the victory.

Penshurst had a win against Grangeburn when Ian Mclean scored 29 to Wendy Kosch 11, and Barry King not far behind with 27 to Wayne Rigby 13.

Ladder: Memorial 135, Portland 120, Penshurst 100, Dartmoor 87, Hamilton Gold 71, Hamilton Green 64, Grangeburn 57, Balmoral 38.

The next round will see Balmoral v Dartmoor, Hamilton Gold v Grangeburn, Portland v Hamilton Green and Memorial v Penshurst.

Division four

THE highest team score was 37, while two home sides did the job, and the high side score was 64.

That impressive score was put together by the top side, Memorial Red, facing off against Grangeburn, when Ronnie Bramley got 37 to Raelene Roberts 10, and Jude Fasoli 27 to L. Foley 16.

Macarthur was overcome by second-placed Memorial Red, 34 to 47.

Carole Dunn 21 to Jan Hamblin 28, and Mary Millard 13 to Rob Hamblin 19.

Heywood accounted for Portland, 58-34, after Des Stuchbery 29 to Les Baker 23, and Corey Spruit 29 to Gary Milich 11.

Hamilton Green got 28 to Coleraine 55, following Doreen Edwards 16 to Rodney Woolley 21, and Bev Langsworth 12 to Alan Templeton 34.

The last game was between Hamilton Gold, who went into the round in top spot, and Penshurst, who started the round at the bottom of the ladder.

Despite those ladder positions, everything seemingly went the water garden venue way, as Alan Roll knocked up 26 to Peter Clapham 13, and Neil Manning got two more points for the side by defeating Barry Dowling, 21-17.

The overall scores settled at 47-30.

Ladder: Memorial Red 120, Memorial Bl 116, Hamilton Gold 108, Portland 105, Coleraine 97, Heywood 74, Macarthur 59, Penshurst 55, Hamilton Green 54, Grangeburn 52.

Next round’s match-ups are Grangeburn v Heywood, Memorial Blue v Memorial Red, Hamilton Green and Gold play-off, Portland v Penshurst, and Coleraine v Macarthur.

Other news

THE women’s and men’s section champion of club singles champions were played to the last four with women on Friday and men on Sunday.

For non-bowlers, clubs play their singles championship and as well as getting your name on the club’s honour board, you then represent your club in our area.

It is then potentially a pathway event to much higher levels.

Both days were at Hamilton on the new green and all comments have been very encouraging considering it has only been in use for around six weeks.

On Friday every club champion competed and in mostly very high standard games.

Casterton’s Margie McConachy and Grangeburn’s Jules Pollock along with Balmoral’s Nettie Tinning and Ann Rentsch from Penshurst all fought their way to the last four.

Sunday again saw some incredible bowls delivered and with two players not attending, the field was again reduced to four.

Casterton’s Andy Alderton made it and didn’t have to play a game, as his opponent was absent.

He will play Macarthur’s Bill Edge, who defeated Peter Graham in a very tight game to get to the next stage. Balmoral’s Derek Brody defeated Vern Spencer, while the fourth one to make the finals was Heywood’s Mick Swan, who had a brilliant game against Memorial’s Kelvin Wiffen.

Back and forth, as the margins went up by two then down by one drop three by both players, and so to what was the last end, as Swan was 22 to Wiffen 21.

Three shots to Swan, and Wiffen just missed with his last bowl and the scores finished at 25 to 21.

Two great days with exceptional viewer attendance especially on Friday.

The finals will be at Hamilton on Sunday.