MOUNT Gambier Bowls Club bowlers advanced to the next level of post-season competition last week with the advancement after a Midweek Open semi-final win over Port MacDonnell.
The Red side travelled down the Bay Road to face their opposing Red side and the rink of Bill Bremner, Kym Jones, Jeff England and Gary Widdison dominated their opponents for a 34-18 win.
In contrast, Brian Francis, Ray Hutchesson, Daryl Raneberg and Ian Von Stanke had a battle on their hands against the Bill Richards skippered rink who went on to take their game by 19 shots to secure a 47-44 overall win.
The Reds will now meet Naracoorte RSL in the preliminary final to progress to the Midweek Open grand final.
Meanwhile, the Friday women’s Pennant preliminary final was played at Beachport in challenging conditions, with delays due to a flooded green and heavy rain.
The Division 2 team played Naracoorte RSL for a grand final berth and the rink of Barb Butchart, Deanna Farranfield, Kerry Pedlar and Beryl Versluis continued their excellent season, leading all day for a 32-15 win.
The rink of Jan McCarthy, Mavis Edgecumbe, Leanne Hentschke and Jane Calleja had excellent recent form and fought out their game against strong opposition to narrowly lose 27-32 to help their team to a 59-47 victory.
In an impressive turnaround, sitting mid-table before Christmas, the Mount Gambier side now meets Penola in the premiership decider.
Saturday’s Open Pennant action in Division 1 scheduled to be played at Kalangadoo was moved to Lucindale due to the heavy overnight rain.
The Blues faced off against Mount Gambier RSL Red for a spot in the grand final.
The RSL Reds started the game well and led strongly on the three rinks, while the Blues looked to be closing the gap, with the rink of Jim Philpott, Kym Jones, Gary Widdison and Steve Farrell making their opponents work hard for their eight-shot win.
The RSL Reds’ experience proved to be the difference going on to win the three rinks for a 96-52 victory and will now face Mount Gambier Red in the grand final.
Despite the loss, the Blues performed well throughout the season, after promotion to Division 1 this year, finishing the minor round in second position.
With the experience gained they will look to go deeper into the finals next year.
The Division 4 South grand final was played at Penola on Saturday and the Reds faced Millicent Blue.
The Millicent team was off to a strong start, leading well at the break.
However, the Reds fought back to make it a close finish.
The Reds rink of Jane Calleja, Rex Klaassens, Glenn Brown and Eddy Smith were off to a slow start but fought back well to lose narrowly 23-28.
The rink of Kathryn Gray, Ray Hutchesson, Diana Harris and John Kentish had a close game to eventually go down 18-22.
The best performed Reds rink of Barb Milstead, John Hughes, Steve Smith and Ron Cox gave their team a hope of victory by winning their rink 26-20.
However, in a tense final few ends the Millicent Blues held on to take a 70-67 overall victory.
