Sport
31 May, 2024
Locals win state championship
WARRNAMBOOL hosted the Victorian Men’s and Ladies State Pairs championships and state fours championships last weekend.
Four rounds of play in the pairs were completed on Saturday to lead up to Sunday morning’s finals.
The ladies final saw Allansford’s Barb Draffen and Dennington’s Helen Harney take out the title with a narrow victory over Jacinta Marney, also from Allansford, who teamed up with Jo Blake of Melbourne.
The Draffen skipped pair opened up a comfortable lead before dropping five shots on the penultimate end to reduce their lead to one.
Harney played a superb bowl to hold shot inches from the end of the mat, forcing opposition skip Marney to try to conjure a miracle.
The resulting knock off of the kitty left Draffen and Harney in the winner’s circle.
The Men’s Pairs final was also a local affair with Glenormiston’s Scott Pierce and Justin Rasmussen defeating Allansford duo George Draffen and Robert McCrabb by a single shot.
Pierce and Rasmussen held a solid lead for the first two thirds of the game before a late rally saw the Draffen/McCrabb team hit the front with three ends to go.
With the score tied on the last end, the kitty was moved a couple of times with the Glenormiston team hanging on to shot and victory.
The Fours in both men and ladies were also completed on Sunday, with visiting teams having the most success.
The Ladies Fours was won by Waaia’s (near Shepparton) Sue Cleeland, Bev Hutchins, Dawn Carey with Timboon’s Pam Dwyer.
They had a comfortable win in the final over the Melbourne team of Jo Webster, Jo Blake and Lisa Brown with local player Sue Gavin.
The Men’s Fours was a high-quality affair with the Bacchus Marsh team of Glen Sargeant, Justin Webster, Alistair van der Ploeg and Jak Wilson defeating Sean “Fluffy” Ingram, Craig Fleming, Mark Broadwood and Adrian Ballinger.
Next Sunday the Victorian Singles will be played in Melbourne, with Warrnambool’s Marney attempting to defend her 2023 title. Another 10 players from Warrnambool will also travel to compete.
In local pennant on Monday night, the status quo was maintained in Division 1 with the top three teams all recording victories.
The top sides are Allansford Cats, Tigers and Lions skipped by Jacinta Marney, James Ruddle and Rob McCrabb respectively.
They are joined in the top four by Wannon Park Racers, skipped by Liam Keegan, who had a good win over City Slickers.
In Division 2, Liz Lenehan’s Allansford Cougars defeated Clarrie Matthews’ Allansford Pumas to move into second spot on the ladder. Allansford leopards are top with Port Fairy Seagulls and Allansford Pumas third and fourth.
Grangeburn continue their dominance of Division three, relegating Cooramook Sinners from second to fourth with their 13 shot victory. Cooramook Saints have assumed second place with Wannon Park Barkers third.
