Impressively, Sturt IV were not overawed and put pressure on the top side, particularly on one rink.
Referring to a potential boil over, coach Peter Hughes noted that "leading skipper Wendy Rutten was challenged by Julie Short who recently returned from three weeks cruising."
Peter said that Julie faced some challenges: she had "new member Cynthia Dixon playing her first game and Suzanne Farrelly playing her first ever pennant game as a substitute and new bowler Paul Badenoch playing as an OG (opposite gender).
"Wendy’s rink picked up a very handy early four shots that helped keep them narrowly in front (14-13) at the 16th end. I then called both sides together, praising the Sturt IV players for their outstanding effort so far and challenging Sturt I to focus on the process and good things will follow.
"Sturt IV immediately scored another two shots from another skipper’s conversion!
"(Hence) our leading rink was down at the 17th end. The 18th end saw Sue Kasprzak, Sharon Gray and Joanne Kirby all stay cool, calm and collected and put all six bowls 'on or beyond' – just 30-50 centimetres behind the kitty.
"With a little good fortune they won that end with five shots and finally broke away to win 21-16."
In summary, Peter Hughes reported that "all games were played in great spirit. They were friendly, fun, encouraging but with serious competition too."