By Ed Parker
Sturt V skip Ed Parker gives an inside account of the huge effort it took last weekend for Sturt to reach the 7 South West Grand Final this Saturday, winning their games on Saturday and Sunday despite being underdogs.
Saturday 15 March, 7 South West, Sturt V def. Novar Gardens III, 64-47
A hot-weather induced early start at Hawthorn for the semi final between Sturt V and Novar Gardens. We started off in the shadows of the surrounding trees, the greens were slow and all rinks were tight for the first few ends. But as the heat rose and the greens sped up things started to happen - suddenly we dropped 4, but then took 4 back on the following end. Across the rinks, things were close. Momentum finally swung our way, when at 6 down we were saved by an inspired moment as we found room to wriggle through and draw one in to go 1 up. With the pressure rising in line with the mercury, the deadlock was broken when the strategy of ‘bowls in the head’ paid dividends - faced with trying to save a couple, the opposition skip played a heavy shot and unfortunately knocked out their only close bowl - I was heartened but slightly embarrassed when Leslie Dunstall called out 7. This was followed up with a 5 and we started to pull away. I glanced across at the other rinks & breathed a sigh of relief as we were well up overall. There was one final scare when we gave away 5 on the last end, however by that time we were already home! A great team effort where everyone was able to contribute.
Sunday 16 March, 7 South West, Sturt V def. Ascot Park VII, 62-50
And so we reconvened on Sunday at Ascot Park to face the losers of the previous day’s second semi final. We had to be underdogs as we lost to Ascot Park only a few weeks ago, they narrowly missed topping the division and had home advantage. Conditions couldn’t have been more different, a cold gusty wind played havoc with the bowls, as did a very irregular playing surface. Again, things got off to a nervy start with very little in it. At the short break things were fairly even across the rinks with us a few ahead overall. After the break, their 1 and 2 really hit their stride and put the pressure on - emphasising the dominance they have shown all season. We hung on and kept in touch - keeping our nerve - turning around a 5 down to a 1 up and a 2 down to a 2 up – and our rink was a hard fought 19-16 loss. However, a strong performance on one of the other rinks saw us comfortably home in the end - again, a confident all round performance against strong opposition, setting up a dream Sturt v Sturt final … bring it on!