There was plenty to encourage Sturt’s Saturday sides on 24 October, with Sturt II recording a commanding win to move to the top of Division 5 East and Sturt VI winning all three rinks.
Sturt III, meanwhile, suffered its second one-shot loss in three rounds — another close contest that could easily have gone the other way.
Sturt II report from Team Leader Paul Teesdale
Sturt II had a resounding 54-shot win over Beaumont IV, and we now sit on top of Division 5 East.
The inclement weather at the start was challenging but the greens ran well and we were unfortunate not to get all rinks up.
Rod Stuart, Steve van der Veen, Toby Carter and Russell Moore were 22-shot winners and club Rink of the Day.
They nudged out Bob Rutten, Stew Allen, Peter Drabsch and Steve Young who were 20-shot winners.
A special mention to Bob Rutten, whose game was of high quality but constantly interrupted by umpiring duties and an eccentric random person who seemed more concerned with debating conditions of play rather than enjoying a game of lawn bowls!
We move to Tranmere next week and another challenge awaits. It is never easy out there. With top side stability comes second side stability and so on.
Our colleagues in the third side have had two one-shot losses away from home and while not ideal, when the dust settles this side will also be right in the 5 East action.
Sturt III report from Team Leader Wyatt Groth
Under threatening skies, the 16 men and women of Sturt III made the journey out to Kensington Marryatville for the third game of the season.
Halfway through the roll-up the heavens opened up, and within 5 minutes the surface resembled more a child's wading pool than a bowling green, but we were assured by the Kensington team manager that it would clear up in about 30–45 minutes.
During the wait we were faced with another problem; one of Karen Esdale's kids had fallen sick and she understandably needed to be at home to deal with the issue.
A quick phone call to one of the reserves, and Angela Murray got on her bowling gear and rushed down as quickly as she could to take up the number two position on Gerry Dillon's rink.
The normally slow artificial green of Kensington was replaced by a wet, very slick surface, more closely resembling the type of artificial green that we face at Clarence Gardens.
The fast green was a challenge to both teams, and after 21 ends on 4 rinks the result was unfortunately a one-shot loss, which was the same result as the round 1 game against Hawthorn.
All rinks were tight contests, with two narrow losses, one draw and one solid win.
The winning rink was Gerry Dillon’s who won by seven shots (22-15), which was all the more amazing considering that super-sub, Angela, was not able to get down to Kensington until the third end of the game.
Three rounds in, we are one win and two losses.
Although disappointing, the two losses could quite easily have been two wins, which means that we just need to hang in there, and our luck will surely change.
Next week we face Ascot Park V on home turf. Go Sturt.
Sturt VI report from Team Leader Peter Mann
The weather was critical in our three matches and before the game the rain kept coming.
The green was wet and because of the thunder there was not much time to practice before the game.
It was a matter of which team adjusted early on.
Luckily, all our rinks adapted better early on to the wet conditions, and we were all comfortably ahead by the middle of the game.
However, Toorak Burnside fought back in the second half of the game.
Our players held their nerve by staying positive even after dropping a few ends in a row. Giving up a lead happens too often!
We kept our heads and all our rinks won even as Toorak Burnside were nipping at our heels on all three rinks. Overall score: 64–43.
Message: adjust early to whatever conditions and keep your confidence.