AS the bowls season enters its twilight for the 2022/23 campaign, it was an impressive week from the Mount Gambier Bowls Club.
Round 13 of the LSEBA Open Midweek Pennant brought mixed success for the Mount Gambier.
The Red team travelled trip to Millicent and showed their strength as they claimed wins on both rinks against the local reds with the final score 71-25.
Neil Blakey, Diana Harris, Peter Clark and Bryan Vorwerk were the stars of the show as they achieved the rare feat of scoring a 50 in their win.
The valuable eight premiership points kept the Reds in second spot with the Round 14 bye to follow.
The Blues travelled to Naracoorte RSL and fought hard to win one rink.
Barb Milstead, Bob Cranwell, Jim Farran and Ron Cox claimed a narrow 22-21 win in their rink but it was not enough to seal an overall win as Naracoorte claimed a 49-41 victory.
The Round 14 home clash with Millicent Red is a must-win game as the Blues sit seven points behind the fourth-placed Naracoorte.
The Friday women’s Division 2 team received eight points for a forfeit in the last round which left them in third spot at the end of the minor rounds.
Their opponent in the semi-final will be Beachport Red.
Saturday’s Open Pennant saw Mount Gambier Blue travel to Penola in search of points to avoid relegation.
Maryka Heaver, Darryl Raneberg, David Bab and Ian Von Stanke won their rink 29-23 but it was the only success of the day with the final score being an 89-52 win to the home team.
The two points lifted the Blues six points clear of the relegation zone with the Round 18 clash at home to Mount Gambier RSL Red to follow.
The Reds played host to Port MacDonnell knowing a win would be enough to secure second spot and the double chance in the finals.
The game was tight early as the visitors won early ends on two of the three rinks.
However, the Reds kicked away after the break to record a resounding 80-52 win.
It was a dominant display from Jim Philpott, Bill Bremner, Kristy Errock and Brad Errock as they dominated throughout and claimed a 34-10 win.
The Reds will now face Mount Gambier RSL Blue in the last round before the finals.
The Division 2 side hosted Naracoorte and the visitors claimed a nail-biting 76-73 win.
The home side won two rinks and the best performers were Steve Smith, John Hughes, Leanne Hentschke and Gary McIntyre, who claimed a 33-25 win.
However, a loss on the third rink was enough to see the visitors take the overall win.
The four points for the two rink wins lifts the team to 106 and trails fourth place by 11 points.
With one round left, anything but a three-rink win next week will spell the end of the season for the Division 2 side.
In Division 3 South, Mount Gambier Red visited Millicent to take on the Blues.
The Reds proved too good for Millicent Blue and claimed a 74-60 win off the back of victories in two of three rinks.
Neville Gilbertson, Don Fraser, Helen Kentish and John Kentish helped to secure the victory for the Reds with a resounding 29-15 win.
Mount Gambier Red will clash with Mount Gambier RSL Red in the final round of the season next week.
The Blues in Division 3 South played host to Penola and for the first time this year, won consecutive games after their narrow 72-70 victory.
The rinks skippered by Glen McCallum and David Holland saw the Blues over the line.
The 10 points secured was enough to lift them up to ninth spot and they will look to end their season with a third consecutive victory when they face Mount Gambier RSL Blue at home in Round 18.
