Smeaton looks to consolidate

SMEATON’S top side aims to consolidate its position in Division 2 Ballarat bowls competition when it travels to Ballan on Saturday to play off against the current ladder leaders, and make up for last week’s loss against Waubra.

It’s always a tough match for any side playing Ballan at their home venue. Nevertheless with four wins behind them and only trailing by four points it can be expected that the match will be hotly contested with the likely winner having the chance to take the leading position in the division depending on the outcome of the Crewick and Buninyong match.

“Overall we are tracking well with all our Saturday pennant sides,” said Smeaton’s Russell Leishman.

“This season our Division 6 has got off to a great start aided by good availability of players and this has also aided all the club’s sides.

“Our Division 2 team meets over the next three rounds the other sides in the four; Ballan, Ballarat North and Buninyong so this will give as an indication by Christmas how we are travelling.”

The club will be holding its annual Turkey Triples on Sunday 7th December starting at 2.30pm and single entries may be made through tournament chairman Barney Clohesy on 0455 598 084.

Smeaton Division 5 side took out a narrow victory last Saturday away at Buninyong with both sides having two rinks up but with a strong win on Ron Leishman’s rink that saw the visitors gain the shots to take out the game.

In a very tight race at the top Smeaton narrowly leads Webbcona by the single point and should go into this Saturday’s home game against Bungaree with confidence as the visiting side is introducing a few new bowlers into the game and are currently looking to open their account in this season’s competition.

Smeaton’s Division 6 holds onto first place with their win over Webbcona and will travel to Daylesford on Saturday in their quest for a further win to further retain the top position.

Webbcona’s division 5 side travels to Sebastopol on Saturday and having a very narrow victory against City Oval and only winning by two shots last week are set to be challenged by Sebastopol who have come off a strong win in their game against the Bungaree side.

Bungaree’s leading side competing in Division 3 is keeping up with the competition racking up three wins to date and currently placed sixth with only five points separating the fourth to sixth sides has every chance to go forward as the season progresses. Their chances will also depend on the match where fourth placed Victoria host Midlands who have performed strongly so far this season and have recorded five wins to head up the Division.

“We are going through a bit of a rebuilding process at the club having lost a few bowlers from last season so we have a number of new bowlers playing in both our Division 5 and 8 sides,” said Bungaree’s president Danny Irvin.

“It is pleasing that most of the new bowlers are young and this will help us build for the future and our club selectors are mindful of the development phase we are in and working towards the future.

“In the new year our club will be holding our annual Triples tournament in January followed by our Fours tournament in February.”

Bungaree’s third side in the Ballarat competition competes in Division 8 and narrowly missed out last Saturday by the single shot from recording their first win for the season in the game against BMS where Peter Britt’s rink had a narrow two shot but unable to offset the scores of the other two rinks. They travel to Sebastopol this coming Saturday and the possibility of gaining a win will help in the development of a number of their new players into the game.

BMS’ division 8 side with last Saturday’s win places them just in the four and their trip to Midlands on Saturday is expected to be a challenge as the home side tries to gain the points to contest fourth place on the ladder. Victoria and City Oval both comfortably head up the ladder followed some points away from third placed Beaufort.