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March 26, 2007
Review One Blue South ROUND EIGHTEEN:

What a final round of bowls, three clubs vying for the promotion spot and the coveted One White opportunity; the demotion zone not finalised until the completion of this round and the final four not determined until the last bowl was played at Rockingham.
Manning travelled to Carlisle Lathlain to ensure they stayed in the mix should Mossies and Spearwood slip up, Rockingham hosted Spearwood who needed a good aggregate win to give themselves a chance at promotion, while Rockingham needed 8 points to have some finals action, and finally Mosman Park they too needed an aggregate win against Hilton Park at home to give themselves a chance at promotion while Hilton Park needed points to remain in the four.

Mosman Park 85 (6) d Hilton Park 68 (2)

Mosman Park hosted Hilton Park for a crucial final game, Mossies were level on points with Spearwood and a win was critical for their chance at promotion. Mosman Park took on Hilton Park desperate to reverse an end of season form slump and gain promotion to One White. Mossies new the importance of securing at least six points from the match knowing that their nemesis Spearwood would be giving their all to secure a victory against the much underrated Rockingham 16.

The match was a tight affair for the first 40 ends with little separating either side before the rinks of Cole and Mortimer put their foot down and skipped away to very comfortable leads. The Hilton Park young guns Travis Simpson and David Opie were well supported by their rinks and came away with very narrow victories against the John Rainoldi and Doug Rodgers quartets.

However this was not enough to keep Mossies at bay with Mortimer going on to defeat Norm Ball (25-13) and Cole recording a comfortable (22-12) win against Brad Ball.
After an early start to the game Mossies were then left to sit around and wait on the result of the very close Spearwood vs. Rockingham game, with the end result going Rockingham’s way therefore ensuring Mosman Park will start in White next season.

Rockingham 76 (6) d Spearwood (72 (2)

Spearwood travelled to Rockingham to take on the home side in a season determining game; for Spearwood the game was the most important in its short history with last seasons second place still fresh in all the players’ minds, a good win would earn them promotion into One White.

At the mid point of the game Rockingham held a 3 shot lead, at the 64th end the Rocky boys still held the 3 shots over Spearwood, by the 80th end this had moved out to 4 shots with the last four ends to play, Spearwood could not produce the result it desperately wanted.

For the Rockingham side none played better than Bob Costello and his rink (25 to 10) against Spearwood’s strongest rink Boris Yakas, from the start Bob’s rink took control of the game and never let up, Boris Yakas has been the cornerstone all year for the Spearwood side, to their credit they never gave up.
The other winner for the Rocky boys was John Lethlean (20 to 17) over a determined Tonko Fiamengo rink the scores were level on two occasions in the game and the sides were never separated by much all day.

For the Spearwood side Marin Sokol (23 to 16) outplayed Keith Gould, Marin’s rink took control in the first half of the game but to the home sides credit they outscored the visitors in the second half.
The other winning rink for Spearwood was in the form of Italo D’Ascenzo (22 to 15) over Watson McIlveen, the game was all tied up on the 11th end however the Spearwood boys were stronger in the second half to give the Spearwood boys hope of a win.
For Rockingham they missed the finals action this year but they continue to play well home and away and will be looking forward to the next season.

Carlisle Lathlain 91 (7) d Manning 71 (1)

Manning Eagles flew into Carlisle Lathlain territory in the hope that an 8 point victory in the slim hope that a significant loss by Mosman Park and Spearwood might see them sneak into a promotional position. Carlisle Lathlain however had other plans. They dominated the game to come up with seven points and leave Manning in third place overall.



Tony Hockey Manning (pictured) His side may have lost to Carlisle but he can still celebrate,

Tony Di Bello’s rink was never headed all day and finished with a strong (25-14) victory over Bill Pengilly’s lads.
Greg Fairheads’s rink picked up 6 shots very early in the game, but were run down by the relentless Mick Simms and his team to lose (23-18).
After being in control all day John Sheridan accounted for Milan Jokic’s rink with a (25-16) victory.
This is a very good effort as Milan’s rink has been in good touch all year. The only winner for Manning on the day was James Jaworski’s rink over Bob Simms team. The game was played at a good standard with James running out the winner (23-18).
Jaworski has had a good year with a 14 wins, 1 draw and 3 loss season-a fine effort by anyone’s standard. Given the result and the quality of the bowls played by Carlisle it is difficult to believe that they will be relegated.

I am sure they won’t be in second division for long. Manning will need to think hard about their game before the finals next weekend. They have the players and the capability to win the One Blue South Pennant this year.

Melville 87 (6) d East Fremantle 76 (2)

Melville hosted East Fremantle in a game that was critical to the Blue and Whites survival in One Blue, the Melville side proved too strong on the day for East Freo so they will have to re load in second division next year.

For the Magic Glen Beard (20 to 11) was too strong for Bruno Zarins, Glen has gone from strength to strength since his return and he will be looking forward to the next season, Gary McCormack (26 to 14) also was too consistent for Reg Bullen together these two rinks consigned the Blue and Whites into the relegation zone.

For East Fremantle John Brewer (26 to 23) had a good game with Nev Brierley and Gary Mitchell (25 to 18) had a close game with Mal Randall. Melville has improved significantly in the second half of the season and will be in the mix in the 2007/08 season.

Midland Morrison 86 (6) d Victoria Park 74 (2)

Midland Morrison hosted Victoria Park; Midland had a vital game to ensure they were safe from relegation, while the Park were safe in the middle of the table.

For the Midland side David Rhodes (32 to 11) over Craig Parnham set up the home sides win, Gary Willis (22 to 17) over Nev Faulkner made the aggregate safe.
For the Park Brent Scott (25 to 13) over John Snell and Rod Volich (21 to 19) over Martin Wattleworth in a tight tussle, gave the depleted Vic Park side some promising signs for next season, while the Midland side can rest easy they will survive into next season and will be hopefully looking for Bowls WA to move them into the One Blue North colour.
Vic Park played well in patches through out the season at one stage it seemed they would make the finals however with some changes later in the season this did not eventuate they retained this colour and would be looking to build on it in the next season.