Bowls South Saturday Pennant Update
With less than a month remaining in the home and away regional pennant rosters we thought we would take a look at how each region is shaping up. We now have the Bowls South Saturday Pennant competition as reported by David Genford. With only 2 rounds remaining of the regular season, the Buckingham bowls club are poised to end their title drought this season as they continue to dominate the Saturday pennant competition. From the 16 rounds played so far, Buckingham have only lost one game and are +390 Shots up and have a 46 point lead over the second placed Kingborough team. The Buckingham team seem to have no weakness with all 4 rinks featuring from 2nd to 5th in the Skips Ladder, making it difficult for teams to get on top of them. But it’s not only their skips of Gene Ayton, Keghan Booth, Alvin Cooke and Darren Monks, that are performing, leads such as Grant Chamberlain and Don Holland have been playing well, three’s Josh Tyrell and Josh Mabb have provided great support and that’s just the tip of the depth the club possesses.
However, as well all know, finals are a new game and you don’t get any bonus points for how far you finish on top of the Ladder. There are some teams battling out for the finals spot who have some great finals experience who will be keen to burst the Buckingham bubble. Kingborough seem to have a spot sewn up with a 13 point lead and have been boosted by the return to the team of David McLean to their fold.
Then the fun begins, Defending Champions Glenorchy Rodman are on 121 but play Buckingham this weekend. Dover RSL are also on 121 but finish with matches against Sandy Bay and Kingborough. Sandy Bay are on 117 and in 5th but must defeat Dover RSL and then a tough match against Beltana. Rosny Park have come from last to 6th with 115 and play the bottom two teams in the last two weeks and then Beltana are on 105 but may have left their run a little too late to get into the four. A close finish indeed!
The bottom of the ladder sees Claremont safe from relegation and New Norfolk needing either 2 points or for Sorell to not win their last 2 games 14-0. Unfortunately for Sorell, it looks like their 1st season in the Premier League will see them relegated back down to Division 1.
In Division 1, last year’s team that was relegated from the Premier League, Derwent City, look certain to return to the top tier with a 13 point lead over Howrah and games remaining against the 8th and 9th placed teams. The team sat down at the end of last year and agreed to band together to get the team back into the Premier League and by not losing any players look to have achieved their goals. Howrah are certain to finish 2nd and look like a team that will be pushing for promotion over the next few years. Brighton have had an excellent run of form recently and are now in 3rd and assured of a finals berth. The fourth and final spot will come down to Buckingham (115), Beltana (113) & Geeveston (113). Cremorne looked likely for a finals spot earlier in the year have dropped off the pace and are now on 105 and need a lot of results to go their way to sneak into the finals. The relegation battle is now down to 2 as Rosny Park have 8th spot sewn up. St Johns Park are on 66 and finish with games against Buckingham (Home) & Derwent City (Away). Royal Hobart are on 64 and have to play Howrah (Away) & Cremorne (Home). Any points these teams pick up could prove crucial in deciding who stays and who goes.
In Division 2 the four seems set with Huonville (147), Kingborough (137), Glenorchy Rodman (136) & Orford (133) the teams to battle it out. Huonville should be able to virtually lock up promotion with a win against the bottom placed Taroona this weekend.
Speaking of Taroona they will either need to upset Huonville this week or defeat Franklin in the last round in order to give themselves a chance of catching Claremont who are 8 points in front of them.
Division 3 is set for an exciting finish with 3 teams having genuine chances of promotion. Glenorchy City are on 154, Oatlands 153 and Beltana 150. With Oatlands having to play both of the other two teams they hold their destiny in their hands but have the tougher run home. The hardest division to call here, all 3 teams would consider themselves a chance to finish the Minor Premiers.
Howrah should finish fourth and make the finals but Buckingham are 7 points behind and a chance to reel them in. Cygnet will need to add to their 4 wins if they don’t want to be relegated. They need to make up 14 points in 2 games playing against the two teams battling it out for that 4th spot.
Division 4 is almost as close as Division 3! Howrah (159), Sorell (155) & Sandy Bay (152) are all going to finish as the top 3 but what order will it be? Howrah and Sandy Bay play each other this weekend which will help decide what happens. Only 2 points separate Claremont & New Norfolk in the fight for fourth spot.
Only 2 points separate Rosny Park (73) and Huonville (71) at the other end of the ladder.
Division 5 sees a gap of 3 points between Glenorchy City (156) and Howrah (153). Both teams have similar runs home, so a rink win here or there may decide this one. Derwent City and Orford are currently in the four but only have a half game lead over St Johns Park who is on the outside looking in. Glenorchy Rodman will need a miracle to avoid the drop in this division.
Cremorne is on top of Division 6 with a 13 point lead, which should be enough for them to see off Sandy Bay. Oatlands and Dover RSL will more than likely round out the four. The Beltana/Claremont combined team are level on points with Howrah to decide who will finish last. These two teams will play off against each other this week, the result will more than likely decide the outcome of the season.
In Division 7 Buckingham lead Sorell by 11 points but play against each other this weekend. If Sorell can get a 12-2 or 14-0 result, they are every chance of taking out the Minor Premiership. Tasman and Cygnet are confirmed starters in the four against these top 2 teams.
Good luck to all teams in your quest for the finals and if you make it, bowl well!
