Tassie Teams Overcome Early Scare
Both our Men’s & Women’s teams have started off the Over
60s Sides Championships with victories against the Northern Territory. Both
teams were challenged early by the Territorians but were able to finish
strongly and take momentum into Day 2 of the tournament, held in Osborne Park
Western Australia
The Women were able to register 2 wins and a draw in their
20 shot win. After 32 ends they found themselves down 23-32 with all three
rinks finding themselves behind in the early stages of the match. Although
Gaylene Elsworthy’s rink were the ones to register a draw, their fight back
from 19-6 down to end up 24-24, helped the overall fight. A 6 on the 15th
end made it an 8 shot deficit and scores of 2, 3 & 4 from ends 18-20 actually
saw Elsworthy up by 1 with 1 to play. The NT side secured the shot on the last
end which saw the draw eventuate.
Lyn Triffitt’s score of 23-15 was actually a more
comfortable win then it suggests. 7 ends won in a row from end 6 to 12 saw the
scoreboard read 19-4 and was crucial in the overall turn around. The score
continued this way until at 23-7, Triffitt lost the last 3 ends, 8 shots to
give the final score line. Little lapses like that at the end of the games
cannot happen against some of the tougher teams if the ladies are to have a run
at a podium finish.
The big winner of the day was Kim Saunders. A 12 shot
victory didn’t look likely when the score line was 5-9 but a strong run of form
that saw 6 ends won including 3 multiples of 3 in this time span saw Saunders
take a commanding lead and ran away winners. Saunders rink of Barbara Smith,
Leonie Price & Judy Hope must be very pleased with their efforts and will
hope to continue in this vain of form for the remainder of the tournament.
This win sees the Women lead the competition after Day 1.
The Men’s side wasn’t in as much trouble as the women, only
down by 4, but once again all 3 rinks fought hard to turn the tide and ensure an
8 shot victory of 61-53 meant the men could rest easy tonight.
Trevor Docking’s rink won 23-16 with Peter Zoon playing very
well in the 3 position. The rink got off to a great start picking up a 4 on the
first end and a 3 on the third end. The opposition fought back well but Docking
ensured that any losses were kept to a minimum. This continued for the whole
game highlighted by the fact that Docking lost the battle of the ends 8 to 13!
Five scores of 3 or 4 proved to be the difference.
Wayne Manson was also a winner on the day with a 20-14 win.
The match never saw a margin higher than 3 until the later stages of the match.
At 11-12 after 16 ends Manson’s rink was able to win 4 ends in a row, including
a 5 on the 18th end which took the wind out of the sails of not only
his opposing rink but the entire Northern Territory side. Grant Allford played
very well for Manson as a 3 and hopefully this tandem will continue to be in
form for the rest of the week.
The only rink to go down for the day was Barry Bone’s rink
who lost 18-23. It was a match that went in runs with both teams able to gain
momentum from the other. Unfortunately for the Tassie team, Northern Territory
had the momentum at the end of the game, winning the last 4 ends. Tony Hack as
lead played well for Bone.
Here are all the results from Day 1
Men
Vic def Qld 62-52 (6-0)
WA def ACT 78-44 (6-0)
SA def NSW 57-56 (5-1)
Tas def NT 61-53 (5-1)
Women
NSW def SA 71-67 (4-2)
Qld def Vic 66-50 (5-1)
ACT def WA 69-48 (5-1)
Tas def NT 72-52 (5.5-0.5)
Tomorrow will see both teams play ACT in the morning
followed by Qld in the afternoon. The greens today ran between 13 and 14
seconds but with the weather forecast, it looks like the greens will likely get
quicker and quicker. This will be a good test for our teams, let’s hope they
can get over the line and continue their good start from today.
By David Genford
