Sturt’s Saturday pennant season opened with three close contests at Unley on 10 October, with Sturt II recording a win while Sturt IV and V went down narrowly.
Across the three sides there were encouraging individual performances, strong teamwork and plenty of fighting spirit — but also reminders of areas where improvement will be needed as the season develops.
As each of the three Team Leaders say, it is only Round One. We take the positives, learn from the experience and move on to next week.
Reports from the Team Leaders follow.
Report on Sturt II by Team Leader Paul Teesdale
Sturt II struggled at home as our 5-shot mid-game lead stalled and we just held off Payneham III, 75–70.
It is an indication that Division 5 East is not going to be easy, albeit the scoreboard did not reflect the Sturt II dominance.
We take the win and the focus now turns to our trip to Prospect Broadview II next Saturday.
The side displayed good voice, great camaraderie and was resilient when the game was in the balance.
It was an enjoyable day, some great bowls were played but many will be thinking they left a bit out there.
Well done all and mentions to Andy Hardy who was very consistent, Toby Carter was full of beans and John Blue who played some bombs.
Moving forward, keep the game simple, be purposeful in our preparation and have some fun.
Bring it on!
Report on Sturt IV by Team Leader Derrick Witt
Hard fought 25 –24 win on Rink 3
Great team effort all round by Phil Scardigno, Paul Badenoch, Janet Mullins and Robb Nuus.
Jumped out to a 9–2 lead before coughing up an 8 which stunned us to say the least, but it was neck and neck for the rest of the day with the lead changing several times.
Walkerville then stretched their lead out by 6 with a couple of ends to play.
In true Sturt grit-style, the team fought back with 8 shots to 1 in the last 4 ends to win by 1.
A tough battle on Rink 2-A
The rink came out on top to win 21–19.
It was an outstanding battle by the leads.
Noel Mullins putting some top bowls in close.
Skip Jake Ettridge lived up to family tradition by leading with loud clear directions and encouragement.
Jake also provided much appreciated encouragement to neighbouring rinks.
A rough day at the office for Rink 1
A 10–22 loss.
Walkerville proved to be a very tough opposition.
Den Vail battled all day to break even with his direct opposition.
Once we were aware of what we were up against, Den did a great job repositioning the mat and changing the length, attempting to upset the opposition.
Walkerville’s second and third were outstanding and continually put multiple bowls on the jack, out-playing us all day.
We did manage to save some ends and cut many down in number.
When we managed to achieve a multiple winning head, they were able to reduce the number or cut us out.
To the team’s credit they never gave up and kept encouraging their team-mates, staying positive and supportive to the end.
The overall score – 56–65.
Report on Sturt V by Team Leader Nick Manglaras
It was a sunny day, with an occasional gusty wind from the west, when Sturt V took on Millswood V for the first game of the season.
Some late changes to our rinks, but spirits were high and expectations higher.
But alas, at the end Sturt went down by a handful of shots (59–62), two rinks down and one up.
The Griffith rink had a big 20-point winning margin due to the efforts of all, but especially thanks to an operatic performance by Matt Jeffery and closely followed by David Beales. The purple and blue bowls were a great combination.
The Brian Dunstall rink had a difficult day, going down by more than the Brian and Lesley combination would have wished.
A bottle of red might be in order, to restore marital harmony.
On the Manglaras rink, things didn’t start well, down 10–20 soon after the break, but with some dogged bowling from the skip and the three graces (Sharon Irwin, Angela Murray and Jo Kirby), managed to square things up with only a few ends to go.
The opposition went quiet fearing a last-minute surge like the Brisbane Lions, but alas, it was not to be, beaten by a more consistent foursome.
There is always next week.