Report by Alex Smith:
As October turns into November, Club Championships continue to roll on for the Sturt Bowling Club.
Singles on Sunday the 1st of November included Sections 9, 10, 11 & 12 for the Men and Sections 5, 7 & 8 for our Women’s competition.
Section 5 – Women’s: Cheryl Saunders, Patsy Dixon and Lesley Dunstall kicked us off for the day.
Cheryl adapted better to the cooling conditions, taking Game 1 21-5 over Patsy, before backing up 21-15 in double duty over the irrepressible Lesley.
Patsy and Lesley would shake hands for their dead rubber and no doubt enjoyed the afternoon ‘sunshine’.
Section 7 – Women’s: Section 7 was robbed by the elements, with last week’s rescheduled State Mixed Pairs meaning new recruit Rachel Krebbekx would have to self-schedule her Sturt singles games (don’t worry Sturters, she and Adelaide’s Kobe Jarman topped their State Section 9 with +63 points. Light work).
Section 7’s lone shootout would go the way of Maria Canala, who topped Bron Perry in a 21-15 battle on B green, giving Maria an early advantage for progression.
Section 8 – Women’s: our final female feature included Karen Esdale, Wendy Rutten and Amanda (Ned) Kelly.
Like many sections, it would be marred by rain, with Amanda and Karen sharing points at 14-12 in Game 3.
The story of Games 1 & 2, however, was undoubtedly Wendy Rutten, who triumphed over fellow Sturt I skip Esdale 21-15 before utilising her experience over impressive newcomer Amanda (Ned) 21-4 to ensure progression.
Section 9 – Men’s: Stewart Adams and Michael Spinelli would go toe to toe in a showdown for progression after Jack Trenorden’s late scratching (scheduling conflict or sugar hangover from the Halloween circuit?). Spinelli would triumph 21-15 to collect the chocolates.
Section 10 – Men’s: The final game in Section 10 next Tuesday, following the rain delay, has a lot to live up to, with Steven Young taking an absolute thriller 21-20 over Deano Pye in Game 1, before Neville Riddle put the pieces together for a 21-18 win over Youngy in Game 2.
Deano and Puzzle will complete the section at 3pm Tuesday afternoon, with the ice-cold Kim Keane holding the card.
Section 11 – Men’s: Peter Drabsch, Jim Trenerry and Dan Flanagan duked it out in Section 11.
Game 1 saw Drabsch take down Trenerry 21-4, before Jim warmed to his task in Game 2, taking the fight to Flanagan before ultimately running out of steam to fall 21-19 to the currently undefeated Saturday skipper.
Dan would lock in qualification with a 21-6 win over Peter in Game 3. Section 12 – Men’s Section 12 would round out the day with Paul Badenoch, John Blue and Frank Sabatino on deck.
Bluey would put down an early marker with a 21-9 victory over Paul before taking up the scorer’s card as Paul kept himself in the section with a 21-7 salute over Frank Sabatino.
Mr Badenoch would have been keeping a keen eye on proceedings even without the obligation to mark, as a tight tussle meant John eked out progression 21-15 over Mr Sabatino.
The train keeps rollling
The Sturt train keeps rolling, with Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday pennants all showing positive signs early doors.
Tournament play continues with Sections 5, 6 & 8 next Sunday for the Men and Sections 3, 4 & 6 of the Women’s competition throughout November.
Go Sturt.