Bowls, Competitions

MPB Novice Finalists

October 20th.was semi-final and grand final day for the MPB Novice Singles with Judy Woods and Lynette Taylor playing off against each other in the ladies semi final.  In a see-saw battle that went right down to the wire, Lynette won out 21-19. 

Meanwhile, Wayne Taylor played his semi final and continued his excellent form from the early rounds to win convincingly 21-7.

And so after a short break we moved on to the grand finals with Wayne up against Russell from Mornington and Lynette playing Melisa from Dromana. 

After 3 ends, despite putting down 12 good bowls, Wayne found himself down 0-3,. But then Wayne took it up another gear, responding to every challenge to win comfortably 21-9.  To appreciate his dominance, Wayne won his 5 matches while keeping his opponents to single figures each time, winning 21-1, 21-2, 21-7, 21-7 & 21-9.

The ladies final saw the lead changing numerous times throughout the match, Lynette found herself locked in a real battle. Melisa edged ahead 20-18 only for Lynette to take the next end to make it 19-20 down.  In a real climax, an unfortunate tickle of the jack moved it towards the opponent’s bowl and after a measure, Lynette went down 21-19 in an epic 3 hour tussle.

While the fairy-tale husband and wife triumph didn’t occur, this was an amazing double act by two players who are still in their first year of bowling. 

And it’s also worth noting that Geoff Gilsenan lost 18-21 to the player that came runner-up, so the four Mt Martha bowlers really stamped their mark as being amongst the best novices in the region.

We wish Wayne the best of luck as next Sunday he takes on the winner of the Casey region.