Emu Point hold off Mt Barker Golf in ladies pennants to maintain slender lead on top of ladder

Passionate Albany bowler TIM SCOTT is writing a fortnightly column for The Extra, keeping our readers up to date with the local bowls scene.

In round 11 of the women’s Lower Great Southern Bowling League pennants, Emu Point maintained their slender lead as they beat Mt Barker Golf 3 (41) to 1 (37).

Emu Point hold a 1.5-point lead heading into the final three rounds.

Middleton Beach Green beat Denmark Orange 3 (39) to 1 (31) while Albany Green easily accounted for Middleton Beach White 4 (47) to 0 (34).

In the game of the round Denmark Aqua beat Albany Gold 3 (41) to 1 (40).

There were only two games played in the womens’ division two as Emu Point Blue had a one-shot away win over Mt Barker Golf 3 (40) to 1 (39) and Mt Barker travelled to Cranbrook to win 4 (38) to 0 (29).

In the men’s pennants division one competition, the bottom two teams had valuable wins, with Middleton Beach Black winning the derby against Green 6 (61) to 0 (45) as Albany Green had a one-shot victory over Denmark 5 (58) to 1 (57).

Albany Gold consolidated their position as ladder leaders with an away win over Emu Point Red 5 (59) to 1 (52).

Middleton Beach Gold also recorded a tight victory over Mt Barker Golf 4.5 (61) to 1.5 (57).

In the men’s division two competition, pennant favourites Mt Barker had a strong away win against Albany Grey 6 (63) to 0 (53).

Walpole, Emu Point Purple and Albany Brown are within one point of each other in the battle for spots in the four.

Walpole 5 (58) beat Emu Point Purple 1 (52). Albany Brown recorded an away win over 5 (43) to 1 (38) in a match shortened to 16 ends as the heat took its toll on players.

In the other game, Mt Barker Golf White beat Middleton Beach White 6 (70) to 0 (41).

In the men’s third division there’s a wonderful battle taking place for top spot, as both Denmark and Mt Barker suffered upset losses.

Mt Barker Golf Blue defeated Mt Barker 5 (69) to 1 (59), and Denmark lost to Emu Point White 4.5 (56) to 1.5 (51).

Middleton Beach Lime had a huge away win over Emu Point Black 5 (78) to 1 (52), as Albany White travelled to Frankland and won 5 (53) to 1 (49).

This match was also played in extremely hot conditions.

Albany recently held the ever-popular men’s classic pairs, with Jack Vander Ven and Milan Sasic winning the day as Don McKenzie and Rick Rodgers finished runners-up.

Green Range hosted 32 teams, in a show of great support for the small club, as they chased the prize money in their annual Triples Open day.

The Albany combination of Roy Sharpe, Wayne Jones and Tony Italiano took out first placing as Colin Toone, Gordon Hill and Ron Lewis placed second.

The 8 Badge with Albany’s Clive “Loopy” Bahr

1. Where were you born? Lake Grace.

2. Sports/interests growing up? Football and cricket.

3. How did you get/who got you into bowls? I thought that I was too old for cricket and just decided to give bowls a go.

4. Clubs played for? Kukerin, Albany.

5. Favourite format? Pennants.

6. Most cherished moment on greens? Winning Kukerin’s first ever first division pennant in 2019. We also won the next two.

7. Best bowler ever seen/played against? Keith Doncon.

8. Why would you recommend bowls as a sport to play? It provides great fellowship and camaraderie.