TRAFALGAR was edged out on home turf by Drouin 97-93 in West Gippsland Bowls Division’s match of the round.
With only aggregate separating the teams on the ladder a win was a must for both sides.
The greens were running beautifully but an east-west wind made conditions tricky.
Trafalgar was up at the tea break 57-52, but was unable to go on with it and lost the game by four sho
Paul Dawson, Bruce Marino, Martin Fraser and John Cornish struggled against David Ashby’s Drouin side, with the visitor on top all day.
Ron Brodie gave his side a good start as lead, consistently beating Cornish to the jack as Ashby’s side won 17/33.
Steve Dawson, Peter Jonas, Tim Fraser and Bruce Giles had a close game against Ian Smethurst’s quartet.
Giles found the going tough after being elevated from third division but the Trafalgar side was five shots up at the tea break.
However the host could not hold on and went down 21-24.
Darren Kane, Ian Miles, Scott Jones and Tony Dawson were the only winning rink for Trafalgar playing against John Leighton, Steve Barr, Maureen Leighton and Ian Snell.
The Trafalgar side worked hard to gradually pull away, with the final score 29-13
Steve Lodge, Tom Lodge, Michael Ralls and Alex Brodie played Mark Atkinson’s squad on the final rink.
Lodge’s side was up 23-16 after 15 ends but eventually went down to a more determined Drouin side by a single shot 26-27.
David Ashby of Drouin Bowls Club is the WGBD state winner after he defeated James McCausland of Yallourn Bowls Club 25-21 at Yallourn.
Ashby defeated Bruce Marino (Trafalgar) 25-20 to advance through the semi-final while McCausland moved on at the expense of Trafalgar’s Alex Brodie 25-12.
A couple of shots separated the two finalists until the 14th end when Ashby scored the maximum four shots and led 15-9.
After 20 ends Ashby was in the box seat 24-14.
McCausland stayed alive with a three on the following end and won three consecutive ends by keeping the jack long.
At 24-21 in Ashby’s favour all the momentum was with the Yallourn bowler, but the Drouin competitor drew the shot on the 23rd end to take out the event.
Ashby will now represent the division at the regional finals on Sunday.
Division 1 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Warragul 20 103 Traralgon RSL 0 74; Yallourn 20 133 Neerim District 0 65; Drouin 18 97 Trafalgar 2 93; Traralgon 19 136 Morwell Club 1 74
Division 2 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Morwell 20 123 Yallourn (2) 0 75; Moe 18 98 Garfield 2 77; Longwarry 18 90 Yallourn (3) 2 87; Traralgon (2) 18 116 Moe (2) 2 78
Division 3 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Traralgon (3) 16 87 Yinnar 4 79; Warragul (3) 18 98 Thorpdale 2 85; Warragul (2) 18 109 Traralgon RSL (2) 2 88; Drouin (2) 18 114 Trafalgar (2) 2 80
Division 4 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Yallourn North 18 112 Traralgon (4) 2 69; Traralgon (5) 17 119 Morwell Club (2) 3 88; Boolarra 16 87 Neerim District (2) 4 73; Morwell (2) 16 106 Yarragon 4 94
Division 5 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Drouin (3) 16 80 Trafalgar (3) 0 47; Garfield (2) 14 77 Yinnar (2) 2 74; Yallourn (4) 13 71 Morwell (3) 3 61; Warragul (4) 14 89 Traralgon RSL (3) 2 64
Division 6 West Pts Shots Pts Shots
Longwarry (2) 8 54 Yarragon (2) 2 48; Moe (3) 10 65 Garfield (3) 0 34; Warragul (5) 10 50 Drouin (4) 0 39
Division 6 East Pts Shots Pts Shots
Yallourn (5) 8 49 Yallourn North (2) 2 43; Morwell (4) 10 6 Yallourn (6) 0 (-)6; Traralgon (6) 10 59 Boolarra (2) 0 34
