Seymour VRI Bowls Report 20th February

SEYMOUR VRI BOWLS REPORT
Saturday 20ᵗʰ February 2021

It was a very disappointing week for the VRI club with both last week’s Saturday and Midweek Pennant games cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown followed by losses suffered by both CBD Pennant Saturday sides in the penultimate round leading up to the final home and away round for this season.

Having arrived at the conclusion of the home and away season with one round remaining for our CBD Saturday and Midweek Pennant sides both Division one and two are safely in their respective top fours whilst our Midweek side need a win or at least one rink win this week against Alexandra to cement their fourth place and finals action. Meanwhile GVBD Division 6 have finished the home and away season on top of their division ladder and will meet Nagambie in next week’s qualifying final at a venue TBA later in the week.

With our CBD Division 1 side suffering a disappointing loss at home to 4ᵗʰ placed Wallan, and with top side Kilmore and 2ⁿᵈ placed Broadford collecting maximum points the final four and their positions are set in stone. VRI will be away for their final home and away clash against 6ᵗʰ placed Alexandra with the knowledge that irrespective of the result they are safely in 3ʳᵈ place and unable to fall out of the four. They will meet 4ᵗʰ placed Wallan in the Elimination Final in 2 weeks’ time.

CBD Division 2, courtesy of 4ᵗʰ placed Eildon collecting all 16 of the available points against 3ʳᵈ placed Kilmore, will remain in 2ⁿᵈ place just 6 points ahead of 3ʳᵈ placed Kilmore. Seymour VRI will be at home to meeting 6ᵗʰ placed Alexandra for their final home and away needing a win to ensure that they remain with that cherished double chance position and a matchup against top side Wallan in 2 weeks in the qualifying final, whilst a bad loss could feasibly see them fall to 3ʳᵈ, although unlikely, with 3ʳᵈ placed Kilmore meeting top side Wallan, we all know that anything could happen by the end of the round.

Our Midweek side remain in 4ᵗʰ place following last weeks cancelled round, 14 points clear of 5ᵗʰ placed Eildon who will meet top side Kilmore in the final home and away round. Eildon would need to collect all 16 of those points available against top side Kilmore to have a chance of removing VRI from fourth whilst VRI at home will have an excellent chance of finishing the home and away rounds with a win against 7ᵗʰ placed Alexandra.

CBD MIDWEEK 10ᵗʰ February
WALLAN 0 (0) drew SEYMOUR VRI 0 (0)

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, depending on your view, this round where 4ᵗʰ placed VRI were due to travel to meet 2ⁿᵈ placed Wallan in what would have been a critical game for VRI in seeking to remain in the top four was cancelled with the State Government entering the entire state into Lock Down due to the Covid-19 outbreak. With all matches cancelled and no points allocated VRI remain in 4ᵗʰ place and have a finals appearance entirely in their hands, needing a win at home against 7ᵗʰ placed Alexandra.

CBD DIVISION 1
Seymour VRI 60 (2) lost to WALLAN 87 (14)

Seymour VRI were at home in a must win game against 4ᵗʰ placed Wallan if they were to continue to challenge for second place Broadford for the double chance. With a poor start VRI found themselves with all rinks down and trailing by a huge 20 shots at the 42-end break, leaving them a mountain to climb over the remaining 33 ends. Eventually 1 rink managed to get in front however the other two rinks suffered double figure losses and the dream of reaching 2ⁿᵈ place was gone going down to Wallan for the second time this season, by a huge 27 shots, their biggest losing margin for the season to date, 60 to 87. However, VRI would retain 3ʳᵈ place and will again meet their nemesis Wallan in the elimination final in two weeks’ time at a venue TBA.

It was Greg Jones rink of Phil Challis, Bill Dawe and Wayne Noonan who would be shining the light for VRI at the end of the day against Paul Warren’s rink, however, they would have a battle on their hands after winning the first end for a 2 they dropped 7 shots on the 3ʳᵈ end followed by a further 4 shots on the next 2 ends to trail 2 to 11 after 4 ends. They managed to get their game together over the following 9 ends in scoring 14 shots to Paul’s 3 and actually held a 2 shot lead 16 to 14 but another poor end saw them drop 5 shots on the 14ᵗʰ end to find themselves trailing by 3 shots at the break, 16 to 19. After the break Greg’s rink dropped a single on the 15the end to trail by 4 shots, however they then won the next 5 ends straight collecting 10 shots and found themselves holding 1 6 shot lead after 20 ends with just 5 ends remaining 26 to 20. Greg’s rink found that lead slashed to a single shot after dropping another 5 shots on the 21ˢᵗ end however they managed to steady with a 3 on the 22ⁿᵈ end again giving them a 4 shot lead 29 to 25. Paul’s rink scored a single on the 23ʳᵈ end to trail by 3 shots but that was to be as close as they would get as Greg’s rink scored singles on the final 2 ends to secure a hard fought 5 shot win, 31 to 26.

Mick Szczykulski’s rink of Moreno Puppa, Helen Flint and Geoff Neal, began well in winning the first 2 ends and scoring 3 shots against Greg Cowan’s rink, however they then lost the next 3 ends to Greg’s rink who scored 8 shots, including a 5 on the 5ᵗʰ end to leave Mick trailing by 5 shots 3 to 8. The following 9 ends saw Mick’s rink score singles on each of their 4 end wins however Greg’s rink on their 5 end wins managed some heavy scoring in gathering 12 shots to leave Mick’s rink trailing by 13 shots at the completion of the 14ᵗʰ end 7 to 20. Over the final 11 ends the maximum scored by either rink was 2 shots as the scoring dried up, unfortunately for Mick’s rink they could win just 5 ends and add a further 6 shots whilst Greg’s rink added 8 shots from their 6 end wins leaving Mick’s rink suffering a heavy 15 shot loss, 13 to 28.

Joe Purcell’s rink of Kevin Cain, Ian Cashill and Brad Anderson were slow out of the blocks dropping 9 shots, including a 3 and 4 on the first 4 ends against Steve Duncan’s rink, however they fought back winning the next 4 ends scoring 8 shots including a 3 on the 7ᵗʰ end to trail by just 1 shot 8 to 9 after 8 ends. Both sides scored 2 shots each with singles scored on the following 4 ends to see scores 10 to 11 after 12 ends, unfortunately with Joe’s rink dropping a 4 on the 13ᵗʰ end before scoring a single shot they found themselves trailing by those 4 shots at the completion of the 14ᵗʰ end 11 to 15. Winning the first 2 ends following the break Joe’s rink added 3 shots to trail by just 1 shot, 14 to 15 after 16 ends. With Steve’s rink adding a 2 and a further single for Joe’s rink the margin remained 2 shots after 18 ends 15 to 17 and the likely hood of a tight finish looming. Again unfortunately, that was not to be the case as Steve’s rink won 6 of the remaining 7 ends and added a further 14 shots to their total including a 7 on the 21ˢᵗ end and a 4 on the 23ʳᵈ end whilst Joe’s rink could add just 1 shot from their lone end win leaving them to suffer a heavy 17 shot loss 16 to 33.

CBD DIVISION 2
WALLAN 65 (14) def Seymour VRI 59 (2)

In the battle of the top 2 sides at Wallan it was 2ⁿᵈ placed Seymour VRI finding themselves with all rinks up and holding a 10-shot lead at the 42ⁿᵈ and afternoon tea break. Unfortunately, only one rink was able to go on with the job after the break getting up by 9 shots, whilst another went down by the narrowest of margins, 1 shot on the last end and the other winning just 3 ends and suffering a heavy loss by 12 shots it was Wallan proving too strong by just 6 shots. It would appear, barring unforeseen circumstances, these two sides will again be meeting in the qualifying final in two weeks’ time and with results at one all it should be a great match-up.

Peter Delzotto’s rink of John Crockett, Joy Cashill and Jeff Rhue started well against Andy MacIntosh’s rink, scoring a 5 on the first end and with a 2 on the 3ʳᵈ end jumped out to a 6 shot lead 7 to 1. Winning just 2 of the next 6 ends and scoring singles on those ends Peter’s rink
dropped 8 shots including 1 4 on the 5th end to find scores level at 9 all after 9 ends. Getting their act together in winning 4 of the next 5 ends and dropping just 1 shot whilst scoring a further 8 shots themselves including a 4 on the 10ᵗʰ end it was Peter’s rink with a handy 7 shot lead 17 to 10 at the 14ᵗʰ end break. Whilst only winning 5 of the remaining 11 ends following the break it was Peter’s rink in scoring another
8 shots including a 4 on the 17ᵗʰ end and holding Andy’s rink to just 8 shots on their six ends won that enabled Peter’s rink to come away with a handy 7 shot win, 25 to 18.

Wayne Flint’s rink of Jim Tuckwell, Anthony Nachtigal and Jim Furletti that played out an absolute thriller against Peter Glass’s rink. With each side winning 2 of the first four ends Wayne’s rink found themselves trailing 2 to 4 however with wins on the next two ends they led by a single shot 5 to 4 after the 6ᵗʰ end. They surrendered that lead by dropping a 4 on the 7ᵗʰ end and a single on the 8ᵗʰ however scoring their own 3 on the 9ᵗʰ end they trailed by just 1 shot, 8 to 9. Over the next 5 ends to the 14ᵗʰ end break Wayne’s rink added a further 4 shots whilst Peter’s rink could manage just 2 shots giving Wayne’s rink a narrow 1 shot lead, 12 to 11. Over the next 10 ends each side winning 5 ends each the match was level at 21 shots each with just the 25ᵗʰ and final end to play. Wayne’s rink was unable to secure that final end going down by
a single shot suffering a heart breaking 1 shot loss, 21 to 22.

Mario Furletti’s rink of Mark Brett, Geoff Dixon and Brendan Challis found themselves trailing by 2 shots after the first 4 ends 1 to 3 against Paul Denegro’s rink, however they won the next 3 ends adding 4 shots to lead by 2 shots 5 to 3 after the 7ᵗʰ end and then found score level after 9 ends locked at 5 all. Adding 6 shots including a 3 on the 12ᵗʰ end and dropping just singles on their 3  end losses Mario’s rink had built a 2 shot lead 10 to 8 after the 14ᵗʰ end and the break. In losing the first 3 ends after the resumption and dropping 8 shots, it was Mario’s rink finding themselves trailing by 6 shots 10 to 16. They won the next 2 ends but could only secure singles so still trailed by 4 shots with 6 ends remaining 12 to 16. Whilst losing 5 of those 6 remaining ends including dropping a 4 on the 22ⁿᵈ end and securing just 1 end for a single shot themselves it was Mario’s rink going from 2 shots up at the break to suffering a heavy 12 shot loss 13 to 25 at the completion of the game.

GVBD DIVISION 6
SEYMOUR VRI 0 (0) v Bye 0 (0)

With the bye in the final home and away game and following the round cancellation from last weekend it was requested that those club players who were available, but not selected in other sides, make themselves available to play in a scratch match on the number 2 green thus giving them all some much needed match practice as they go into next week’s qualifying final against Nagambie.

Until next week
The Oracle