East’s sevens in heaven

Ballarat East’s Division Seven side secured a strong win at home on Saturday in Ballarat-Highlands Bowls Region pennant action.

Stephen Kay and Alan Rickard’s rinks enjoyed good wins with 14 with 12-shot margins, together with John Shannon’s rink which earnt Ballarat East 16 points for the afternoon’s outing.

Hamish Adam’s was the biggest winning rink for the day with and 18-shot victory giving the Ballarat North side two points which places their side in fifth on the ladder, equal points with Bungaree but with a slightly lower percentage in what will be a tight race to the finish for finals action.

“Our Division 7 side are going along really well and it’s great to see the team enjoy their success this year” after a few lean years in recent times,” said East’s president Peter Dean.

East’s win moves them into third ahead of Bungaree, Ballarat North and Sebastopol who are all close behind and in hot pursuit for a finals berth in the coming month.

Teams only separated by nine points between Ballarat East and sixth placed Sebastopol.

Ballan are undefeated with nine wins and head the ladder, closely followed by City Oval side with just a single loss.

The French game petanque is being played on the Ballarat East top green and this has had positive results for the club as they have forged a good partnership which has allowed them to share social activities such as our Christmas joint raffle.

The women’s bowls club champion, Cathy ‘Budgie’ Phillips has taken up the game and is now also the Petanque Club’s Ladies champion as well.

The other Ballarat East side competed in Division 1 and was unable to enjoy the same success and were overcome by a strong Webbcona squad who commanded a good home win with all rinks up although Mark Ryan’s rink narrowly missed out earning points for the visiting side.

Ballarat North’s Colin Cox said it had been hard for some sides in the lower divisions, including their own, to get the required numbers on the green each Saturday afternoon because of player availability.

Nevertheless, North’s Division 7 side has managed five wins for the season.

The club’s Division 5 side is also having a great season and had a good win away at Ballarat meaning they hold top spot on that division’s ladder.

North’s leading side was promoted to Division 1 after claiming last year’s Division 2 flag and is adjusting to the higher standard of competition bowls and to date has only managed two wins.

 

– BY ANTHONY MCCABE