EXTREME heat and a dogged BMS outfit still wasn’t enough to stop Central Wendouree from continuing its rise through the Ballarat District Bowls division one weekend pennant ranks.
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The home side scored a remarkable 98-96 win in Saturday’s round 15 match that Central Wendouree selector Len Vincent described as an “absolute thriller”.
The BDBD’s heat policy – which dictates that matches must be cancelled if the temperature exceeds 38 degrees celsius – threatened to derail the most important game of the round at one of the most crucial moments in the match.
“The temperature reached 38.4 degrees with about four ends to go and we had to halt play for about half an hour,” Vincent said.
“At that stage, there was nothing between the two sides, but luckily the temperature dropped about one-point-four degrees and we were able to really get over the line by way of Col Johnson’s rink in the last two ends.”
Michael Kennedy, who played second to Johnson, appeared to give the Bears the edge with a superb draw shot before BMS skipper Phil Clamp removed it, only for Johnson to put down one final precise bowl and finish the match in its dying stages.
The win saw the Bears switch places with BMS and move from fourth
to third on the ladder.
Johnson’s rink defeated Clamp’s 26-23, Col Wright’s four defeated David Schreenan’s team 27-25 and Eric Kosloff’s rink ousted Cameron Boyle’s rink 26-25.
BMS skipper Kevin McLean stood tall for his side, with his rink scoring a sole victory over Greg Roberts’ four 23-19.
“I think both sides were happy to get a decision one way or another,” Vincent said. “It was one of our best performances of the year and I thought that the players showed great patience towards the managers who made the difficult decision in regards whether we should have continued playing or not.”
City Oval’s match against Buninyong was the only division one game to be cancelled.
LADDER: CITY OVAL 208 points + 278 shots, BALLARAT 203 + 217, CENTRAL WENDOUREE 168 + 174, BMS 157 + 90, Learmonth 143 + 0, Buninyong 140 + 70, Mt Xavier 98 - 95, Webbcona 82 - 183, Smeaton 80 - 226, Daylesford 70 - 325.