It was a very scary ride but our Senior Representative side made it to the Semi-Finals of the Senior IZ Sides Champs at Tamworth being held from 17/5 to 19/5, but unfortunately they were defeated by defending champions, Zone 16 Illawarra in the semi-final. It was still a great achievement.
In the first round of sectional play they defeated the home Zone (Zone 3) by one (1) point, but loosing 2 rinks to 1. Congratulations to Phil Westcott's rink (with Peter McCarten, Bill Constantine & Dick Thornton) for a 21 to 14 win to get us up by that 1 point.
In the afternoon we were trailing almost all the way. Around 30 ends we were down by 18 points. It was Tony Shoebridge's rink (with Terry Hughes, Garry Murphy & Neil Dell) that had the big win 31 to 12. The others lost but did well to keep their games close for a 10 point overall win against Zone 13 (Southern Sydney).
In the last of the sectional rounds, we lost to Zone 7 (far south coast) and would have been eliminated, if it wasn't for the home side (Zone 3) salvaging some pride with a win against Zone 13. John Robert's rink (with Greg Pigram, Mark Tyler, Colin Passfield) were the only winners.
We faced Zone 9 (North Sydney) the winner of Section 4 in the Quarter Finals. John Robert's rink and Tony Shoebridge's rink won for an overall 7 point win.
The semi-final against defending champions Zone 16 (Illawarra) was a little frustrating. Perhaps because they were playing on the TV rink, things did not go well for Phil Westcott's team as they were badly beaten 27-11 . They actually did well in the closing ends to get their score into double figures to try and close the gap. Tony Shoebridge's team won by a point 18-17 and John Robert's rink also won 21-16. After winning two matches with just the one rink win, I guess it was our turn to have it done to us.
To make the semi-final is an achievement of which the players should be most proud as is the Executive of Bowls Central Coast and all the members. Well done Guys.
