THE Mount Gambier RSL Bowling Club made a clean sweep of the Division 1 pennant honours this season, with two thrilling grand final victories in the Open and Friday competitions over the weekend.
Both teams entered the season deciders as underdogs, having played through the preliminary finals to earn their places in the big dance.
For the Division 1 Open pennant RSL Red team, it was the dominant performance of Dean Wilkinson’s rink which helped it to an 11-shot win over Naracoorte.
Having finished the minor season in second place, due to a unexpected loss to Millicent in the final round, the RSL had to travel to Naracoorte to face the home team in the second semi-final.
The home-green advantage saw Naracoorte put in a solid display to book the first ticket into the grand final.
However, the RSL bounced back in fine fashion to defeat cross-town rival Mount Gambier in the preliminary final by an impressive 44 shots, setting up a rematch with Naracoorte.
Saturday’s grand finals were played at the Millicent Bowling Club in windy conditions, which premiership player Robert Corner said played to the RSL’s advantage.
“I think the conditions were a little bit in our favour,” he said.
“The greens were a little bit slow – that probably suited Naracoorte a bit more – but it was a bit windy.
“A few of their players who played well up at Naracoorte, I think they struggled a bit in the wind.
“I think that might have helped us in the end.”
The final score saw Mount Gambier RSL Red with an overall win of 77 shots to Naracoorte’s 66, with some hard-fought results on the day.
Neil Tobin’s rink found itself down 24-10 after 15 ends, but won eight of the remaining 10 ends to pull back the margin and settle for a three-shot defeat of 23-26.
Strawb Masters’ rink also went down by three, but by the final end it did not matter as the RSL held a 14-shot buffer.
“We were level with one end to go, but it did not matter – we were 14 shots in front so we just played it out and they got three on the last end,” Corner said.
Despite the two narrow losses, it was the impressive display from Wilkinson’s four which handed the RSL the honours, with a 17-shot victory against the Naracoorte rink led by Graham East.
It was a big turnaround for Wilkinson’s combination, which had been troubled in the previous meeting with Naracoorte.
“In the second semi where we had to play Naracoorte, Dean’s rink got a touch up,” Corner said.
“Then against Mount Gambier in the preliminary final their rink won easy – we won by 44 shots overall against Mount Gambier.
“The last two weeks they sort of carried the rest of the team.”
Saturday’s success marks the team’s fourth consecutive premiership, but that figure is small in comparison to the club’s total pennant victories.
In fact, the 2019-20 title was Ralph Stafford’s 30th success in the Division 1 Open pennant competition.
“We have a couple of other guys who are close – in the late twenties – but Ralph Stafford won his 30th this year,” Corner said.
While Corner played his part in the Open victory, he watched the Friday pennant success from the sidelines.
Played at Naracoorte, the RSL Red team matched up against a dominant Port MacDonnell and put in an impressive effort to clinch the win over its favoured rival.
“It was amazing – we were the underdogs there too,” Corner said.
“Port Mac had been the best team of the year – they have Heather Richards and a couple of very good players.”
Both clubs won a rink each, but the RSL emerged the victor by five shots after a thrilling finish.
“It was a pretty good effort from our girls,” Corner said.
“It went right down to the last end or two – either team could have won it.
“Considering the conditions – which were probably as bad as you can bowl in – it was a pretty exciting game.”
The final score was a 50/12 to 45/2 victory to the RSL.
All Lower South East Bowling Association clubs will now take a break from the greens after restrictions were put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
