THERE wasn’t much in the number one and two sides Victoria and Sebastopol’s match in the Ballarat Geelong premier division round seven.
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One rink drew, Victoria had two rinks by less than a handful and Sebastopol had one rink by 11 shots. It was Sebastopol that was able to secure the victory by two shots, 91 to 93, even with Victoria winning more rinks.
Sebastopol captain Ian Warner said it was a very closely contested match with a high standard.
“There was one shot the difference at tea break with Victoria in the lead. Victoria pulled away to lead by 12 shots, and Sebastopol closed the gap a couple of times, but Victoria kept looking like it was in control,” he said.
Victoria led by two shots going into the last end. Sebastopol was four down in Brad Oates’s rink going into the last end, but Oates bowled a magnificent shot that touched the jack and brought their rink up to a draw, giving Sebastopol the win.
Andrew Myers’ rink had the 11-shot win, another key factor in Sebastopol’s victory.
Victoria chairman of selectors and skipper Barry Clark said it was disappointing to lead almost the entire day and get beaten in the last bowl.
“It could’ve gone any way,” Clark said. “If we had have won, we could have been a game-and-a-half in the lead, but now we’re back in the pack.”
The other premier division games weren’t as closely contested.
Avenue had a three-rink loss to Lara away from home, Lara 105 and Avenue 76.
Webbcona is holding its fourth position, beating Highton at Highton 98 to 74. Tony Wood and Ash McArthur’s rinks drew, with Brett Mahoney and Ben McArthur’s rinks carrying the win.
Central Wendouree was unable to lift itself from the bottom of the ladder against Ocean Grove, Ocean Grove winning 91 to 74 away from home. Bareena won 11 shots up against Geelong West, 91 to 80.
LADDER: VICTORIA 93 points, 1.25 per cent; SEBASTOPOL 90, 1.03; OCEAN GROVE 88, 1.21; WEBBCONA 81, 1.12; Bareena 74, 1.09; Geelong West 66, 1.05; Avenue 45, 0.84; Lara 44, 0.92; Highton 27, 0.82; Central Wendouree 22, 0.81
Meanwhile, BALLARAT and BMS have switched places on the ladder after their round seven match in the division one bowls weekend pennant on Saturday.
Ballarat moved into second and BMS dropped to third after Ballarat had a 20-shot win over BMS, 96 to 76.
The rinks were split, but Ballarat’s Andrew Dalgleish and Paul Ashmore made all the difference, with both rinks having a 16-shot lead.
Ballarat president and lead bowler David Eastman said Ballarat performed very well and was glad to have Shane Wilson back bowling after his shoulder operation.
“We’ve won five out of seven, so we are really happy with how we’re going,” Eastman said.
Although Ballarat had a convincing win, Phil Clamp’s rink for BMS performed very well, 25 shots to 16 against Ballarat’s Mark Fothergill.
“We were holding five shots, and the doctor (Phil Clamp) came in and left us down by four. He ran around and told us it was showtime,” Eastman said.
BMS men’s tournament director and match committee member Graeme Inglis said Ballarat was always a tough side on their home green.
“There was nothing in it at the break, but they got a jump on us afterwards,” Inglis said. “We had a few bad ends which cost us the game.
“David Schreenan’s rink was about 11 at all break, and then a lapse in concentration cost us the rink,” said Inglis about the rink in which he bowled as a third. “After break, Dalgleish took six, four, and then four. It was the difference in the match at the end of the day.”
Dalgleish’s rink finished on 33 and Davie Schreenan’s on 17.
Division one saw other unexpected results, with Webbcona scoring its second win for the season against Smeaton, finshing seven shots up 95 to 88.
Buninyong and Ballarat East split rinks, but Buninyong was able to take the match by two shots away from home. Ballarat East finished on 89 and Buninyong finished on 91.
Mt Xavier, enjoying the strong performance this season, beat City Oval, 101 to 88.
Learmonth was too strong for Victoria, winning 122 to 94 taking three of the rinks.
LADDER: MT. XAVIER 92 points, 1.06 per cent; BALLARAT 84, 1.25; B.M.S. 76, 1.15; BUNINYONG 72, 1.07; Learmonth 64, 1.00; City Oval 61, 1.01; Smeaton 53, 0.88; Ballarat East 51, 1.02; Webbcona 50, 0.89; Victoria 27, 1.78