More night games for weekend blowers

BALLARAT East will hold their first Ballarat Highlands Bowls Region Pennant match under lights this Friday evening.

There’s great expectations from club members as their Division 2 side welcomes Ballarat North and the possibility of finals for the home side take some strong wins in the last few rounds of the season.

“We look forward to a great night and whilst we have played some club games and local tournaments under lights here at Ballarat East this is our first Pennant match,” said club president Mick Kay.

“We will be having a barbecue and everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy watching the game and socialising.

“Earlier in the season we swapped venues for our earlier round game with Ballarat North because the weather had affected our grass greens and the club faced the situation that all three Pennant sides were due to play at home.

“With North’s consent we decided to reschedule our top division side match to a Friday night.

“Looking forward to the weather the way it is these days, the possibility of playing Pennant on summer evenings gives you a further option for playing the game.”

Ballarat East’s division 7 and 9 sides are having a good season, with both in third position on the ladder with the prospect of playing finals in March.

Ballarat Highlands Bowls Region chair Ian Guymer said the board is taking a forward approach attract bowlers to the game and retain those already participating, and if there’s opportunities play matches in the evening that has the support of league organisers.

“We love every opportunity to promote the game and Friday nights is an initiative to attract players to the game from all walks of life,” he said.

Last Friday evening Ballarat Memorial Sport, or BMS, held a double header with the Club’s Division 1 side matching off against Linton while the Division 3 team competed against Bungaree with BMS taking comfortable wins in both matches.

The victory sees BMS’ Division 1 side take third on the ladder with strong competition from Mount Xavier, Webbcona and Sebastopol to wrestle for the final two spots to make finals.

Meanwhile the Division 3 team need a strong run home in the final month to displace Invermay and make the final four.

This was the second night match for BMS with their Division 1 side having played Ballarat prior to Christmas on a Friday evening, and also having a successful night.

“It was an electrifying experience and a terrific night was had by all, both the Linton and Bungaree clubs enjoyed the night and there was interest to play more Friday night games in the future,” said BMS president Kevin McLean.

“This is a great innovation for bowls and we hope this heralds the possibility of other clubs venturing into playing some of their matches on a Friday evening.

“We hope to be able to arrange for all our BMS teams the experience of playing Pennant under lights sometime in the future.”

– BY ANTHONY McCABE