This Week in Mortlake was absolutely massive.
Last weekend, round nine Saturday pennant was played and was the last round before the Christmas break.
Mortlake Blue (div. 1) def. Timboon Gold 70-44 (home).
D Grant def. A Finch 28-7; L Johnson def. P Neal 23-30; G Draffen def. P Rowe 19-17.
Mortlake Blue has moved up one place to fifth and is still in the hunt with 11 points separating second to fifth.
Mortlake White (div. 2) def. Koroit White 72-52 (away).
M Heard def. S Battistello 24-15; J Rasmussen lost to P Elliott 20-24; E Robinson def. J Duffield 28-13.
Mortlake White has moved up into fourth and is 13 points behind Warrnambool Red in third but only three points clear of Warrnambool Green in fifth place.
Mortlake Gold (div. 4) def. City Orange 39-30 (home).
D Murray def. B Bell 19-17; K O'Shannessy def. R Cuzens 20-13. Mortlake White is holding steady in second, 13 points clear of Port Fairy Black in third but gaining ground on Dunkeld White, only 10 points ahead on top of the ladder.
MIDWEEK PENNANT ON TUESDAY:
Mortlake Purple (div. 2) lost to Koroit Purple 47-60 (home).
V Smith drew Pauline Elliott 16 all; A van Diemen lost to Phillip Elliott 17-18; D Robertson lost to S McKew 14-26.
Pennant resumes in the new year with weekend pennant round 10 starting Saturday, January 14 and midweek pennant on Tuesday, January 17.
Last Sunday and Monday, the A grade and 100Up championships saw the finals conclude.
The A grade championship (played together on a very windy Sunday afternoon) saw Jacinta Marney play Gert MacDonald.
Gert drew first blood in the first two ends before Jacinta levelled the scores at two all after the next two ends. Three ends later, they were locked again at four all.
Jacinta took the lead again with five shots to lead 9-4, before a run of six shots in four consecutive ends not only made up the deficit but put Gert into the lead 11-9.
Gert maintained but Jacinta kept in touch with the scores 12-11 after 16 ends. Gert gained six more shots over the next two ends to extend the lead 18-11.
Jacinta stemmed the flow with a single on the following end, but Gert continued to score with a pair of doubles on ends 20 and 21 to inch closer to victory 22-12.
At this point, the ladies have played as many ends as a Pennant game.
The winner is the first to 25 shots.
Jacinta fired back on the next end with a much needed two shots to gain some ground, but Gert gained a single on end 23 to be only two shots away from victory.
All this time, Jacinta was valiantly fighting for every shot and then the comeback started.
On ends 24 through 27, Jacinta banked nine shots to tie the score at 23 shots a piece.
The next few ends would decide who wins the 2022 Women’s A Grade Championship.
On the next end, Gert broke the deadlock with a single to be one shot away from victory but Jacinta forced another end after she scored a single to level the scores once again at 24 all.
In a very nervous and tense end, a single was scored.
Congratulations to the 2022 women’s A grade champion, Jacinta Marney.
Well done to runner-up Gertie MacDonald on a match that could have gone either way.
In the mens’ A grade championship, Richard Draffen played Peter Beardsley and Richard got off to a good start, scoring five shots on the first two ends but Peter opened his account with a double on end three.
Doubles either way progressed the match forward until Richard scored three consecutive singles to extend the lead 10-4 after eight ends.
Not to be outdone, Peter had a run of his own with four consecutive singles to trail by two 8-10 after 12 ends.
Richard kept Peter at bay with two shots on the next end but Peter fought back with a single on end 14 to remain in touch 9-13.
Richard retaliated with four shots on ends 15 and 16 to extend the lead 16-9, only for Peter to gain five shots on the following two ends to be within two shots yet again.
Richard scored a single on the next end but Peter responded with a triple to level the match at 17-all after 20 ends.
Richard broke the silence with a single to lead 19-18 but Peter responded immediately after with a double to re-take the lead.
In the end, congratulations to the 2022 men’s A grade champion, Peter Beardsley. Well done to runner-up Richard Draffen for a well-fought match.
For both Jacinta and Peter, this is their first A Grade Championship and their next date with destiny is in the WDPA Champion of Champions at Warrnambool Bowls Club on Sunday, January 15.
Good luck to both Jacinta and Peter on their quest for WDPA glory.
In the 100 Up, the women’s match was between Gert MacDonald and Jacinta Marney.
Gert got off to a good start but Jacinta started to claw back Gert's lead.
Jacinta kicked into gear and Gert kept fighting back but in the end, Jacinta def. Gert 100-87.
In the men’s 100 Up, the final was between Colin Goldsworthy and Dwayne Dolling and the match started off pretty even with Dwayne keeping up with Colin's pace.
Once Colin got going however, it took Dwayne everything he had to keep in touch but Colin was too good for Dwyane on the day.
Congratulations to Jacinta and Colin on their respective 100 Up championships and well done to runners-up Gertie and Dwayne.
On a sombre note, we say goodbye to Jon MacDonald.
Jon was part of the 2015-16 South Western 60 and Overs social pennant premiership side.
Jon was a gentleman and quick to help out around the greens when he could. He will be sadly missed by everyone and our condolences go out to the MacDonald family.
This was a Week in Mortlake. We're taking a break for a while and will return in the New Year.
Everyone at Mortlake Bowls Club wishes you and your family a merry and safe Christmas and New Year.
See you next year.
