YALLOURN had the better of old rival Drouin 90-74 in a rain-affected West Gippsland Bowls division one tussle on Saturday.
An early afternoon tea was taken due to a rain interruption with play resuming when the green dried out.
After a neck-and-neck battle Max Grubb, Charlie Ward, Paul Sherman and Peter Phillips emerged victorious over Col Finger, Robbie Burke, Dale Hendrick and Ian Smethurst 18-14.
Phillips edged ahead 10-9 after 18 ends before winning the next three ends to open up an eight-shot gap 17-9.
Smethurst pegged him back to go down in a tense low scoring match.
There was only one shot the difference on a neighbouring green as Ken Capper’s Yallourn quartet was bested by Dave Ahby’s men.
After a slow start Ashby drew away to a 9-3 advantage before Capper, Nosha Michaels, Alan Ryan and Alan Grubb turned up the heat to level at 11-apiece.
Yallourn then hit the front 15-12 before Drouin came again to eke out an 18-17 victory in another tight match.
Yallourn’s John Hannant, George Lambos, John Backman and Kevin Lovett were on fire early against Ian Snell, Maureen Leighton, Stephen Barr and John Leighton.
Lovett flew out to an 8-0 lead before Leighton’s men went on a tear of their own to trail 8-10.
Four good ends saw Lovett leading 20-8 and he maintained the advantage until the end to win 31-21.
On the final rink Drouin hit the ground running as Mark Atkinson’s men jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
Jim Lawrence’s foursome was resolute and was able to even matters out at 7-7.
It was all one-way traffic for a time as Atkinson, accompanied by Ian McCartney, Mick Fleming and Sheryl Atkinson, blew Yallourn away to build a 19-8 buffer.
There was yet another twist to come as Lawrence rebounded, winning the next eight ends before snagging a three on the last to see his side home 24-21 in a thriller.
Yallourn scored two fours and a five and Drouin’s best end was a three.
In other results Trafalgar demolished Neerim District, Traralgon won the derby over RSL and Warragul was far too strong for Morwell Club.
TRAFALGAR Bowls Club is set to host a series of Strzelecki Bowls Region events on Thursday to determine the region’s representatives for the state championships.
The Strzelecki region encompasses West and South Gippsland Bowls Divisions, with the West to be represented by Denise Hamilton (Drouin), Ian Smethurst (Drouin), Shirley Whitechurch and Pat Trewin (Traralgon), Peter Gallasch and Ian Belling (Warragul), Glenda Collins (Warragul) and Geoff Woods (Warragul).
The program commences at 9.30am at Trafalgar.
Victoria has 16 regions which means as many finalists will enter the draw to compete as per the following dates and venues.
– Over 60s State singles finals both men and women played at Bundoora RSL BC on 18 and 19 November
– Over 60s State Pairs finals both men and women played at Bairnsdale BC on 9 and 10 December
– State Novice singles finals both men and women played at Mulgrave Country Club on Sunday, 10 January
DIVISION 1 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Trafalgar 18 107 Neerim District 2 88
Yallourn 18 90 Drouin 2 74
Traralgon 16 95 Traralgon RSL 4 80
Warragul 20 142 Morwell Club 0 68
DIVISION 2 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Yallourn (3) 18 99 Moe (2) 2 69
Yallourn (2) 19 107 Garfield 1 69
Moe 18 105 Morwell 2 82
Traralgon (2) 16 96 Longwarry 4 82
DIVISION 3 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Drouin (2) 18 114 Warragul (3) 2 69
Warragul (2) 20 107 Traralgon (3) 0 72
Trafalgar (2) 100 Thorpdale 100
Traralgon RSL (2) 18 98 Yinnar 2 72
DIVISION 4 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Yarragon 16 97 Morwell Club (2) 4 89
Boolarra 16 99 Traralgon (4) 4 92
Morwell (2) 10 0 Traralgon (5) 10 0
Yallourn North 10 0 Neerim District (2) 10 0
DIVISION 5 Pts Shots Pts Shots
Traralgon RSL (3) 14 67 Yinnar (2) 2 56
Morwell (3) 14 73 Drouin (3) 2 49
Yallourn (4) 14 81 Trafalgar (3) 2 52
Warragul (4) 14 68 Garfield (2) 2 58
DIVISION 6 WEST Pts Shots Pts Shots
Moe (3) 10 58 Garfield (3) 0 30
Drouin (4) 10 6 Warragul (5) 0 (-6)
Yarragon (2) 8 46 Longwarry (2) 2 42
DIVISION 6 EAST Pts Shots Pts Shots
Yallourn North (2) 50 Yallourn (5) 50
Morwell (4) 106 Yallourn (6) 0(-6)
Traralgon (6) 8 56 Boolarra (2) 2 40
