Seymour VRI Bowls Report 6th February

SEYMOUR VRI BOWLS REPORT
Saturday 6ᵗʰ February 2021

Once again, the rain that fell on Friday failed to disrupt our Saturday bowls at the various venues around the area. Our Seymour VRI sides again recorded wins in all three matches with CBD Division 1’s win over Seymour seeing them sitting comfortably in 3ʳᵈ just 4 points behind 2ⁿᵈ placed Broadford whilst CBD Division 2 who received a forfeit from Seymour, remain 2ⁿᵈ still 4 points clear of 3ʳᵈ placed Kilmore and GVBD Division 6 continue their top of their ladder reign after disposing of 2ⁿᵈ placed Nagambie who are now 32 points behind.

Our Midweek side with their fighting loss to top side Kilmore have now fallen to 5ᵗʰ place on shot difference but still equal on points with 4ᵗʰ placed Eildon, with a further 7 points behind 3ʳᵈ placed Seymour and 16 points behind 2ⁿᵈ placed Wallan who, are yet to have their 2ⁿᵈ bye, so the opportunity to grab a finals chance still remains if they can get on a winning roll over the remaining 3 rounds.

The win by Division One secured the prized “Stuart Arthur Doyle Trophy” for yet another season. Stuart was a revered member of both clubs and the trophy named in his honour is played for once a year between the top sides from each club in the CBD on an annual basis, with each club taking their turn to host the event when drawn to be the home side. This year, the trophy was presented to Seymour VRI Club Captain Mick Szczykulski by Stuart’s daughter Jenny Ritchens and his nephew Michael Clark who spoke on behalf of the family, the presentation was witnessed by Seymour’s Greg Quillinan.

L to R: Michael Szczykulski is congratulated by Greg Quillinan whilst Michael Clark and Jenny
Ritchens look on.

CBD MIDWEEK 3ʳᵈ February
KILMORE 74 (14) def Seymour VRI 58 (2)

Seymour VRI’s Midweek side were no match for top side Kilmore at Kilmore although winning on 1 rink by 13 shots the other two rinks suffered losses, the margin on one rink by 8 shots whilst the other rink was never in the hunt going down by a whopping 21 shots. Trailing overall by just by 6 shots at the lunch break after 42 ends, VRI couldn’t get their game together over the next 33 ends to record a substantial loss by 16 shots.

Greg Jones, rink of Geoff Dixon, Paul Rolfe and Jane Wilson were matched up with the wily Trevor Young and his rink. After scoring a 2 on the first end Greg lost the following 3 ends to trail by 2 shots at the 4ᵗʰ end 2 to 4. Winning the next 7 ends but scoring just 10 shots Greg’s rink had jumped out to a 6-shot lead after the 11ᵗʰ end which was reduced to a 3 shot lead at the 14ᵗʰ end break 11 to 8. The resumption after the break saw Greg’s rink dropped a 1 on the 15ᵗʰ end but 2 x 3’s and a single on the next 3 ends saw their lead extended to 9 shots following the 18ᵗʰ end. Trevor’s rink scored a pair of 2’s on the next 2 ends and trailed by 5 shots with 5 ends remaining. Greg’s rink won 4 of those remaining ends scoring a further 9 shots whilst allowing Trevor’s rink a single shot in reply, giving Greg’s rink a very handy 13 shot winning margin 27 to 14.

Ian Cashill’s rink of Jim Tuckwell, Bill Dawe and Mario Furletti appeared to be evenly matched against Phil Skehan’s rink with scores tied at 3 all after the first 6 ends and again at 5 all following 9 ends however dropping 9 shots whilst only scoring 6 shots themselves found Ian’s rink trailing by 3 shots at the 14ᵗʰ end break 11 to 14. The evenness of the rinks continued following the break with scores being level on two more occasions, the 18ᵗʰ end at 16 all and then again on the 21ˢᵗ end at 18 all. Low scoring continued over the next 3 ends with Ian’s rink finding themselves trailing by 2 shots with just 1 end to play so still very much in the hunt however with Phil’s rink scoring a mighty 6 on that final end it was Ian’s rink suffering a substantial 8 shot loss, 19 to 27.

Joe Purcell’s rink of Kevin Cain, Garry Bester and Peter Delzotto whilst jumping out to a 3 shot lead 5 to 2 after the 4ᵗʰ end against Denis Marshall’s rink hit the wall losing the following 5 ends to find themselves trailing by 9 shots after 9 ends 5 to 11 which Joe’s rink managed to reduce to 6 shots after the 14ᵗʰ end and the lunch break 8 to 14. After the break things went from bad to worse for Joe’s rink, managing to win just 2 of the remaining 11 ends and scoring just 4 shots whilst Denis’s rink in winning 9 of those remaining ends added a further 19 shots, including a 7 on the 17ᵗʰ end. Suffering a huge 21 shot loss 12 to 33 wasn’t the result Joe’s rink were looking for after getting back on the winners list last week, but as they say, there’s always next week to look forward to.

CBD DIVISION 1
SEYMOUR VRI 92 (14) Seymour 51 (2)

Seymour VRI at home to seventh placed Seymour in the annual Stuart Arthur Doyle Trophy match and found themselves with 2 rinks up and leading by 23 shots at the 42-end break. Eventually with those 2 rinks continuing on to record healthy wins the rink that trailed at the break was unable to get their noses in front and went down by a small margin. Although with only 2 rinks up the SAD Trophy was retained by VRI with a very healthy 41 shots.

Mick Szczykulski’s rink of Moreno Puppa, Helen Flint and Geoff Neal, built a narrow 2 shot lead 6 to 4 after splitting the first 6 ends with 3 ends a piece against Greg Quillinan’s rink. The following 8 ends were all won by Mick’s rink, apart from dropping 1 shot on the 13ᵗʰ end, they managed to score 19 shots including a 7 on the 14ᵗʰ end to establish a 20 shot lead 25 to 5 at the break. On resumption after the break both rinks won 2 ends each adding a further 3 shots each to see Mick’s rink lead of 20 shots remain after the 18ᵗʰ end. However, from then on it was all Mick’s rink adding a further 19 shots in winning the next 6 ends, increasing their lead to 39 shots with just 1 end remaining to play. Greg’s rink secured a single on that 25ᵗʰ end to see Mick’s rink run out very comfortable 37 shot winners 47 to 10.

Greg Jones rink of Phil Challis, Bill Dawe and Wayne Noonan in winning 8 of the first 14 ends to Jenny Kreemer’s rinks 6 ends won over the first 14 ends managed to build a 4-shot lead at the 14ᵗʰ end break. Greg’s rink saw that lead reduced by 1 to 3 shots following the 19ᵗʰ end with the scores standing at 16 to 13 with 6 ends remaining. Greg’s rink proceeded to win 4 of those remaining ends to add a further 11 shots to their score whilst Jenny’s rink scored an additional 5 shots themselves from their 2 end wins, thereby allowing Greg’s rink to record a healthy 9 shot win, 27 to 18.

Joe Purcell’s rink of Kevin Cain, John Crockett and Brad Anderson jumped out of the blocks scoring 6 shots on the first 2 ends against Don Lawton’s rink however in losing the next 8 ends in a row it was Joe’s rink trailing by 4 shots 6 to 10 after 10 ends. 0ver the next 4 ends leading up to the break Joe’s rink won a further 3 ends adding a further 6 shots to Don’s 3 shots from 1 end won, reducing Don’s lead to a single shot 12 to 13 at the 14ᵗʰ end break. Following the break Joe’s rink won 5 ends to Don’s 4 and found themselves just 1 shot behind with 2 ends to play 18 to 19 and a great opportunity to get a win. Alas it was not to be as Joe’s rink failed to score on either the 24ᵗʰ or 25ᵗʰ end whilst Don’s rink added a further 4 shots which saw Joe’s rink endure another loss, this time by 5 shots 18 to 23.

CBD DIVISION 2
Seymour 0 (0) forfeited to SEYMOUR VRI 15 (16)

Unfortunately, our opponents, Seymour were unable to field a side for the second week running so Seymour VRI were awarded the full 16 points and a gift 15 shots to remain in second position on the ladder with 3 games remaining, the next two being a home game against Eildon
followed by an away game against Wallan with wins then ensuring retention of second place and the vital double chance in their own hands.

GVBD DIVISION 6
SEYMOUR VRI 46 (12) def Nagambie 43 (2)

At home against 2ⁿᵈ placed Nagambie this was going to be a tight match up that Seymour VRI needed to win if they were to secure a top 2 finish and a double chance come the finals. With one rink up by 4 shots and the other level VRI held a narrow 4 shot lead at the 28ᵗʰ end break and the result was still very much in doubt. The final 22 ends saw the overall lead see-saw between to two sides however a strong finish with both rinks winning their final ends to score a combined 4 shots allowing the Seymour VRI side to record a critical narrow 3 shot win.

Garry Bester’s with his rink of Alan Walton, Terry Flynn and Jeff Rhue began well against Colin Miller’s rink winning 5 of the first 6 ends securing a 7 shot lead 8 to 1. Colin’s rink began to get back into the game securing 9 shots in winning 5 of the next 8 ends whilst Garry’s rink added a further 6 shots form their 3 ends won thus allowing them a narrow 4 shot lead at the 14ᵗʰ end break. With a 3 scored straight after the break allowed Garry’s rink to increase that margin to 7 shots but in dropping 3 shots on the next 2 ends saw the lead again reduced to 4 shots. The next 3 ends were to prove decisive with Garry’s rink scoring 9 shots scored enabling them to establish a 13-shot lead with 5 ends remaining 26 to 13. With Colin’s rink adding a further 5 shots from 3 ends won Garry’s lead had been reduced to 9 shots but the overall margin favoured Nagambie by 1 shot. Whilst Garry’s rink was assured their 2 points the 25ᵗʰ end was to prove pivotal in deciding the overall result. Garry’s rink stood up to the pressure scoring 3 shots and with a 12 shot win 30 to 18 also guaranteed the overall result favoured Seymour VRI by a narrow 3 shots.

Jane Wilson’s rink of Jeanette Anderson, Wayne Flint and Carol Harrop were extremely slow out of the blocks against Ed Dunn’s rink losing the first 6 ends to trail 0 to 7 and needing to get on a roll, which is what Jane’s rink did win the next 4 ends to find themselves leading by 4 shots after 10 ends 11 to 7. In what was becoming a see-sawing match up Jane’s rink in losing 3 of the next 4 ends found themselves level at 12 all with the completion of the 14ᵗʰ end break. Ed’s rink scored 6 shots by winning the first 3 ends following the break and established a handy 6 shot break. Jane’s rink managed to reduce that margin to 5 shots with 4 ends to play but in losing 3 of those ends found themselves trailing by 10 shots with just 1end remaining, an end that they scored 1 shot which although never enough to win their game, went a long way to assisting with the overall win. Jane’s rink whilst suffering a 9 shot loss 16 to 25, by fighting hard all day, assisted in ensuring top spot remained firmly in VRI’s hands.

Next Week’s Matches
Midweek were be at home to 6ᵗʰ placed Broadford on Tuesday, where a win could see them jump back into the top four. Next Saturday’s Pennant will see CBD Division One travel to Eildon when they will be competing for the “Stuart Doyle Trophy”, and the opportunity to challenge for a double chance should any of the clubs above them falter. CBD Division Two will be at home in a must win game against 4ᵗʰ placed Eildon. GVBD Division Six with a bye in the final round will be playing their last home and away game against 4ᵗʰ placed Shepparton Park at the Parkers home green, with a top 2 position locked up this will not be the time to become complacent.

Until next week.
The Oracle