IN THE NSW Pennant Finals, played at the Warilla Bowling Club, Tea Gardens came within an ace of winning a State Championship on Sunday afternoon.

There was plenty of excitement recently when our Club pulled off the amazing and historical feat of winning two Newcastle and District Bowling Association Pennants in Division 3 and Division 4, in one season.

It was to see both sides progressing to play in the NSW Pennant finals with Division 3 travelling to Dubbo and Division 4 heading south to play at the prestigious Warilla Bowling Club near Wollongong.

To be crowned State Champions in either Division would be a dream come true.

But first they had to play a series of elimination matches against some of the best sides in the State to challenge for that heady prize.

Games began in earnest on Friday with each side expected to play two matches each day until eliminated.

Division 3 started well with a good win over Gwandalan 71-55 in their morning game but fell 5 shots short against Grenfell in the afternoon 71-76.

Similarly, Division 4 managed a good first session win accounting for Tathra Beach 74-41 and in the afternoon succumbed to Miller Park 51-60.

This meant that both sides had to win their Saturday morning games to progress to the quarter finals.

At this level, every shot counts and Division 3 ‘s hopes were dashed when they had a 62-62 draw against Camden.

That one shot would have made all the difference and it allowed Camden to go forward based on their for and against record.

Meanwhile at Warilla, Division 4 made the quarter finals by defeating Ettalong 59-48, on Saturday morning and then down to the last four with a single shot victory in the afternoon against Tuncurry Beach 51-50.

Sunday dawns with the realisation that our small Club, Tea Gardens, the place we locals keep a closely guarded secret, “somewhere on the coast of Australia,” has a real chance of winning a State title.

Wallacia is the next to fall, 62-50, to the Tea Gardens Dolphins, the Dolphins into the final.

History is made again.

Tea Gardens is a State bowls finalist.

They played Miller Park for the title but fell short 46-67.

Both Divisions, sponsored by our local First National Real Estate, played their hearts out and deserve the sincere congratulations of all of us in the bowling fraternity.

Congratulations also to our Management Committee, who somehow found the funds to send the two sides off on their quest, the sole Selector, Peter Gurney, who did an amazing job and our home base the Tea Gardens Country Club, who keeps us bowling every week.

The Club will be holding a ‘Dolphin Day’ commemoration early next month and this will be combined with the raising of the three Pennant title flags from the masthead.

By John SLATER