Cobram Bowls Club

Cobram has been selected as the venue to host the Murray Playing Area Singles Champion of Champions starting on Sunday, February 12.

So, Ray and Carol (our ladies champion), will get the chance to face off with the other club champions.

Everyone is welcome to come and watch our area champions.

Midweek pennant on January 31 saw division one welcome Finley for a home game.

By mid-game, Jenny Warfe’s four were in front of Kerry Turner on the scoreboard and took the rink by nine shots. They were first off the green.

Glenda Mann struggled all game against Nan Smith, with both Smith and her third, Tony Turner, playing precision shots.

Mann went down by 12 shots, leaving Cobram behind overall.

Tracey Miles and team staged a bit of a comeback, winning five of the last eight ends against Cobram’s Marj McDonald, including the critical final end to leave Cobram in arrears by one shot.

So game points to Finley — only its second for the season.

Also at home, division two hosted Numurkah. Despite some tight heads and good bowls by the Tigers, Barb Turner found herself behind all game to Lyn Cline.

Brenda Smethurst played Merren Carr, and with the scores even at end 16, the game was there for either side to take.

On this occasion, Cobram was not able to add to its score over the final five ends.

Carol Doherty’s team shot out of the blocks against Jenny Rogers, at one stage having an 11-shot lead. Numurkah then held Cobram scoreless for five ends, which reduced its deficit to just three.

Then the tables turned and it was Numurkah held scoreless for five ends, with Cobram’s lead back to eight shots. Cobram took this rink by seven shots, but it was game points to Numurkah with an overall six-shot win.

Cobram bowlers Ross Smith and Col Bawden teamed with a Finley bowler Norm Barnes when Finley hosted trade day.

They were runners-up and then brought home their share of the $330 jackpot. John Dixon and team were in the hunt for best first game, but the three teams could not be split on shots-up, ends won or actual score — but they lost the draw of a card.

What a difference a week can make — the previous Saturday we were playing games in the morning to avoid the forecast high temperatures, and this Saturday long trousers and jackets were the choice of most to combat the cool wind.

With the top four sides all but decided for Saturday division one, wins are now even more important for the end-of-year positioning and the all-important double chance.

Cobram took on a hurting Wunghnu after its three-rink loss the week before. These two teams have had some tight battles in the past with wins shared, but this was even more important.

Greg Dunn was a late out for the Tigers and Andrew “Rowdy” Giblin turned out to be a very suitable replacement.

Mal Beer and Alan Vinecombe also had better than respectable games, allowing the John Dixon led rink to their best win of the year over Ray Hill.

Steve Tatnall’s three in front of him also had great games with Dave Quinane, Alan McDonald and Garry Carter placing plenty of bowls in the head to restrict the Peter Revell-lead opposition to 12 shots for the day.

Ray Parks played the ever-consistent Barry Cosgrove and seemed to have the two rink points in the bag leading all day. The last end saw the Cobram rink drop a five and the rink.

The overall win went to the Cobram Tigers, however with such a tight top four, two rink points may be valuable to Wunghnu.

Cobram 2 hosted Jerilderie and Tel Pearce took on Terry Chaplin. The scorecard shows Cobram holding a two-shot advantage at the 14th end, and with the mat exchanging regularly from then, Cobram was lucky to take the rink by three shots.

Marj McDonald played Ron Keyes, and the Tigers had a slow start on the scorecard, not hitting the front (by one shot) until the 15th end.

With each side scoring six shots on the run home — that remained the winning margin for Cobram. On the third rink Colin McDonald did battle with Mark Baldwin.

The scorecard shows that Jerilderie kept in touch for the first half of the game, but they were only allowed to score one more single-shot end, so a big rink win and match points to Cobram.

Cobram 3 took on the top of the ladder Picola on its home turf. At the end of the day, Picola took game points with four shots up and two rinks.

Great effort Tigers. Laurie Vinecombe built up an eight-shot lead over Sue Jamison by end eight, before that lead was reduced to one shot, and finally going in to the last end with scores even.

A two-shot final end gave this rink to Cobram.

When Peter Garland played Bruce Agnew the scorecard shows the scores even at end 14. The scorecard doesn’t show how Picola scored seven shots on the next end — but this made the Tigers dig deep. They scored nine shots to Picola’s three, giving the rink to Picola by only one shot.

On the third rink, Glenn Murphy took on Keith Berger. Scores were fairly even for the first half of the game, until Cobram was held scoreless for six ends.

With a deficit of 11, these Tigers also showed some tenacity and won four of the last five ends, scoring eight shots to two. But game points to Picola.

Cobram 4 made the trek to Finley for a game played with the wind, while not cold, was gusty and swirling.

Brenda Smethurst’s four took on Norm Barnes, and the only time Cobram was behind on the scorecard was at end 11, when Finley held a one-shot lead.

This was unfamiliar territory for this Tigers’ rink that has had some big wins in recent weeks.

But the Tigers then kept their noses in front for the rest of the game to take the rink by three shots. On the second rink Mann played Steve Malone.

All Cobram bowlers contributed to bowls in the head and Mann played some good shots to convert or take shot. This rink and game points to Cobram.

Cobram 5 was at home to Numurkah. The scorecard shows that John Taylor was behind all day to Lyn Cline, while Luke Quinane’s rink let Viv Morris take hold of the game when the Tigers were held scoreless for seven ends in the middle third of the game.

Despite outscoring Numurkah eight shots to two in the final six ends, it was Numurkah’s rink by four shots.

At the end of the Saturday round, Cobram has teams on the top of the ladder in divisions one, four and five — but all three will have to fight hard to retain that position.

Division two is third on the ladder and will need to fight hard to improve that position. Division three is sixth, and with the draw having them play the three teams that are secure in the top three positions, they will have to dig deep to make progress up the ladder.

And add to that midweek division one that is second on ladder, it looks like busy finals time for Cobram.

At the time of writing, the Neighbourhood Challenge competition has played three of its six rounds. There is still some movement on the leader board, and while Gibbo’s Gang is on top, there is likely to be a challenger to stop them in their tracks.

Great to see newcomers on the green enjoying the game that we all love. Come down on a Tuesday evening from 7pm to see the fun for yourself.

Goulburn Murray Bowls Region finals for state events:

These were played at Shepparton Golf Bowls Club on Sunday, February 5.

Cobram had players representing the Murray Playing Area in the women’s singles and as part of a composite team in the women’s fours.

We again congratulate them for being the playing area champions. Jenny Warfe lost to Shepparton Golf’s Carla Miles in the singles, and Jenny Warfe and Tracey Emery, playing with Finley’s Nan Smith and Tracey Miles, lost to the Goulburn Playing Area champions from Shepparton Park Bowls Club.

Club reminders: