BENDIGO East has won a hat-trick of BBD division one midweek pennant premierships after beating Golden Square for the third year in a row on Friday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
East triumphed 85-54 in the stand-alone grand final at Woodbury, winning all three rinks to cap a season in which it had earlier finished on top of the ladder after the home and away rounds.
The game became one-way traffic after Golden Square lost its way following an injury to Mardi Chisholm after the lunch break.
Chisholm, who had been bowling well, chased a bowl down the green, but injured her hamstring and then fell, breaking her wrist and being taken by ambulance to hospital.
Chisholm’s fall knocked the wind out of Golden Square’s sails as East dominated the rest of the match to run away with the 31-shot victory.
“Mardi going down the way she did knocked us around a bit… but these things happen and we just hope Mardi is alright,” Golden Square side captain Ruth Pearce said.
“It had an affect on all our rinks… it’s disappointing how it finished because we had been nip and tuck with East up until then.”
Following the injury to Chisholm, who had been playing third to Patti Pain, Pearce had to switch from playing second to third and substitute Shirley McDonald needed to be called on.
Bendigo East side captain Susan Howes said the injury to Chisholm put a dampener on East’s victory.
“The incident after lunch with Mardi certainly threw Patti Pain’s rink off its game,” Howes said.
“I felt awful after it, but across the board after it the Bendigo East girls bowled beautifully for the rest of the game.
“I’m very proud of all the girls… it’s what we’ve worked for all season.”
Howes’ rink finished 29-14 victors over Pain, while East also won the other two rinks – Ann Borham defeating Julie Ross 30-20 and Sharon Wharna beating Heather McLeod 26-20.
Bendigo East will now go on to play Moama in the region pennant finals, with the winner to qualify for Bowls Victoria’s Champion of State Pennant tournament to be played at Moama in May.
With the division one midweek pennant premiership secured, Bendigo East now has the opportunity to complete the double.
Bendigo East’s division one weekend pennant side is in Sunday’s grand final against Bendigo at Kangaroo Flat.
Result:
Bendigo East 16/85 d Golden Square 0/54
S. Howes 29 d P. Pain 14;
A. Borham 30 d J. Ross 20;
S. Wharna 26 d H. McLeod 20.
