With the final home and away round of Murray Weekend Pennant bowls behind us there is a new dawning.
Finals.
Some teams will go into hibernation dreaming of “what if?” Other teams will emerge from the chrysalis and spread their wings to compete at a new level.
In division five, Cobram is one such team that will appear in the fray of finals.
Meeting near-bottom-side Strathmerton at Strathmerton, Cobram was able to obtain some winning form leading into the finals in a fortnight.
Cobram’s Tracey Emery was up against Strathy’s Ryan Bury in a close-fought encounter.
Emery and her side had an eight-shot advantage after eight ends with the score 10-2.
Strathy fought back and the scores were tied at 10-all on end 13.
Strathy continued their momentum with the score 17-11 in favour of the home side. Emerey’s team mounted a challenge, but fell short on the final end. Bury 18, Emery 17.
Although at the lower end of the table, Strathmerton skipper Kathy Daniel has a fine record and sits second among division five skippers with seven wins and a draw from 12 outings.
Daniel was up against Cobram’s Alan Temple.
Temple is no slouch either when it comes to skipping.
With five wins from nine games skipped, Temple is fourth on the skipper ladder.
The Cobram players with Temple were Denise Stanbridge (lead), Donna Bacon (second) and John Taylor (third).
Cobram outshone Daniel’s side early with a score of 2-8.
Cobram was able to maintain that margin throughout its match despite Strathmerton scoring four shots on end 18.
The final score was Daniel 12 to Temple 18.
The overall score was Strathmerton 30 to Cobram 35.
Cobram finished second on the ladder and will play Numurkah in a fortnight, with the winner taking a grand final berth.
In what can only be described as ‘one of those games’, Cobram’s Carolyn Mathers met Numurkah’s Jenny Rogers in their division four match.
Being 5-19 after 13 ends, the visitors matched Numurkah from then on.
Cobram held shots on several occasions, but Numurkah found a way to win the ends, whether from traditional or less orthodox methods.
Rogers 25 to Mathers 11.
Cobram’s Andrew Rushby (skip) was ably assisted by Steve Paganoni (lead), Jeanette Liersch (second) and Lynda Gallyot (third) when they encountered a Numurkah team skipped by Andrew Moffatt.
Cobram led by four shots (7-11) on the 10th end and then found some superb form over the next three ends, to show 7-20 after 13 ends.
Moffatt did some damage following that, scoring eight shots on the next three ends, but Cobram was able to regain the ascendency and took the rink points.
Moffatt 19 to Rushby 24.
Numurkah took the overall points 44 to Cobram’s 35.
While Numurkah finished second on the ladder with a double chance, Cobram, in third position, will now face Numurkah Golf in a knock-out final in two weeks.
In division three, fifth-placed Cobram travelled to Jerilderie in a battle for fourth position, which Jerilderie occupied.
Annette Temple (lead), Sue Carter (second), Pat Quinane (third) and Trevor Wood (skip) served Cobram well when they took the points over Jerilderie’s Terry Chaplin, winning 17-19.
Jerilderie’s Mark “Basha” Baldwin and Cobram’s Phill O’Dwyer had a close contest, with Cobram coming off second best.
Baldwin 20 to O’Dwyer 18.
Despite a solid performance by the lead, Koby Madgwick, the Cobram side skipped by Graham Cobban, was not able to get the job done over Jerilderie’s John Bryce.
Bryce 28 to Cobban 19.
With the overall result Jerilderie 65 to Cobram 56, Cobram is left in fifth place and looks towards next year.
Cobram division two made the short journey to Barooga to cement its position in the final four.
Barooga third v Cobram second.
Cobram’s Greg Dunn opposed Barooga’s Jeff Nisbet and did a sterling job early to lead 4-14 after eight ends.
With a second-half capitulation by the visitors, Barooga was able to take the points 22-19.
Cobram’s Ron Dean was up against the Hawks’ “Willie” Nelson.
Despite being 17-8 down, Dean and his crew rallied over the last four ends to go down by a coverable two shots.
The final rink scores were Nelson 17 to Dean 15.
Although the other two rinks may have gone down by narrow margins that the remaining rink could cover, there was no covering to be had by the visitors.
The Barooga rink skipped by Peter Wood dominated the day, allowing Marj McDonald’s Cobram side to only score singles on five occasions.
Final scores, Wood 26 to McDonald 5.
Overall, Barooga is 65 to Cobram 39.
Cobram sat in second place before this round.
The top five positions were Strathmerton 152 points, Cobram 117, Barooga 110, Finley 108 and Tocumwal Golf 104.
In an amazing set of circumstances, Cobram lost on all rinks, and Toc Golf beat the dominant Strathy side on all rinks.
At the end of the day, the top five placings were Strathmerton with 152 points, Barooga with 126, Finley with 122, Tocumwal Golf with 120 and Cobram outside of the finals with 117 points.
A disappointing outcome for the Tigers in what had mainly been a successful season.
Cobram’s division one side travelled to Numurkah Golf Club and was playing for pride in its encounter with the Waterwheels.
Cobram’s John Dixon’s side got away to a flying start over Numurkah Golf’s Dane Gade.
However, the momentum could not be maintained and the home team went on to win 25-13.
Cobram’s Ray Parks had a close game against Numurkah Golf’s Luke Spargo.
With the score favouring Spargo 20-19 after 18 ends, Spargo managed singles on the remaining three ends to claim the points.
Spargo 23 to Parks 19.
Cobram’s Steve Tatnall (skip), Allan McDonald (third), Greg Thorne (second) and Brian Bacon (lead) were a glimmer of hope for the Tigers when they played Numurkah Golf’s Geoff Sutcliffe.
In a close game early, Tatnall and his team drew away as the game went on.
The final scores showed Sutcliffe 11 to Tatnall 19.
However, this was not enough to get Cobram over the line.
Final overall scores were Numurkah Golf 59 to Cobram 51.
On Tuesday, February 20, Cobram division one will play Numurkah Golf for a position in the grand final in the second semi-final played at Strathmerton.
Cobram division two is also at Strathmerton in a second semi-final.
Its opponent is Katandra West.
Murray Weekend Pennant has a week off this weekend due to the spare day that is set aside for heat-off or washout rounds not being used.
Finals will commence in a fortnight.
Midweek pennant also has a week off for the same reason.