26 August 2023

The Region 15 Play-Offs for the State Singles and Senior Singles were held at Belrose today, in front of a large crowd of spectators and supporters for the women’s events as well as for the Finals of the Open Reserve Singles and the Zone 9 Men’s State & Senior Singles.

In the Women’s State Singles match, the North Shore District champion Jenny Hepburn (Neutral Bay) got off to a great start, scoring 2 and then a full count of 4 to lead 6-0 after two ends. Then the Manly-Warringah champion Maria Lind (Manly) found her range, winning the following 5 ends to lead 9-6. Jenny struck back with a 3, to level things at 9-all. That was the pattern for the remainder of the game, with each player trying to make a break-away, but being held to no more than a 3-shot margin. Scores were level at 9-9, 15-15 and 18-18. Then Jenny scored a two for 20-18 and trailed the jack back with her last bowl of the next end to be holding 4 — potentially only 1 shot from victory! However, Maria had one bowl remaining and played it superbly to sneak past front traffic and trail the jack away from Jenny’s bowls for shot, then followed up with another single to be 20-20. Two more ends … 21-21. The supporters were willing each player on and Jenny rose to the occasion with a 3 to be almost home, but 3 to Maria made it 24-24 and she was able to carry that momentum into the final end to take out the match 25-24.

In the Senior Women’s Singles, North Shore champion Vicki Bartrop (St Ives) scored a single on each of the first two ends, but Manly-Warringah champion Chris Gordon (Harbord) won 7 of the next 8 ends to lead 12-3. The contest over the next 7 ends became more even, with Chris ahead 16-9. Vicki then rolled a much shorter length, which both players adjusted to very well. Vicki was holding shot behind the jack, but Chris had three close “2nds” just behind the shot and inspected the head before she played her final bowl. Armed with a good understanding of the situation, Chris returned to the mat and played the perfect bowl with minimum weight to push Vicki’s bowl through a gap and “stay” for a full count of 4. That put Chris on 20-9, and she was able to control the game from that point onwards, winning 25-11.

Maria and Chris will represent Region 15 in the State finals, to be held in Dubbo 23-25 March 2024.