WELL, Christmas and the New Year are well and truly over.

This month has seen plenty of bowling at Nambucca – many having a go for the first time, enjoying barefoot and twilight bowls, and the return of our usual bowling members. Ladies have resumed our Thursday morning social bowls, weekend mixed bowls and Thursday Twilight bowls as well.

It has been wonderful to see lots of family groups, teenagers and those in their twenties really enjoying both the bowling and social aspects of our game.

Last week we had seven newcomers sign up for a ‘Have a Go’ day, but unfortunately the weather worked against us – don’t worry though we will reschedule and let you know when we will run that day with some of our club coaches.

Last Thursday the District President, Roe Martin, visited from South West Rocks and played with us before presenting last year’s Grade 2 Pennants winning team with their badges. Our Pennants flag has been updated so we could pose for a nice photo with it out on our green too.

Results from 18 Jan were: Ann Marie Johnson & Nerida Blackford defeated Roe Martin and Margaret Flagg 17-15; Alma Reid, Marg Duffus and Gloria Richardson won over Janice Cedelland, Tina Ryan and Fletch 17-11; Deb Mann, Bev Jones and Karen Liddell had a win over Joan Haigh, Ava Power and Manor Smith 18-10, and in a blow out for the day Kim Porter, Pam Jones and Teresa Meehan won 22-3 over Kim, Rosemary Dugdale and Sandra Seckold.
The Club Mixed Pairs Championships has been unfolding over the past two weeks with some great match ups and a few surprises, as usual. Saturday saw some excellent matches played in the semi finals. In a nail biting finish, Eliza Brown and Aaron Cedelland found a win against Peter and Teresa Meehan in the last ends.

On the nearby rink, Mark Blackford and I overcame a slow start and being 7-0 down to win against Marg Duffus and Brendon Ruane 21-17.

In very hot conditions on Sunday morning I had the pleasure of pairing up with my hubby Mark in the final and we had a win over Eliza and Aaron. Mark continued his good form of late, and I managed to help him out in a 22-7 win. Eliza led very well, and though Aaron was not happy with his game we will never forget two ends when he managed to take away 5 shots we were holding to score 1, and then later cut 5 shots down to 1. Well done to all who had a go in the comp.

This week the Ladies Major Singles Championships have begun with the following results:

Arlene Duffus forfeited to Nerida Blackford but the other games played had some terrific bowling by new and more experienced players- a sign of how healthy our club is at the moment. In a great close match, worthy of a final in any other year, Manor Smith defeated Kim Porter 25-23; Deb Mann (now known as Deadly Deb) beat Rosemary Dugdale 25-7; coming back from time away from the greens, Margaret Flagg took no mercy on Tina Ryan, winning 25-7, and then in the last match, with some great shot making, Ava Power defeated Karen Liddell 25-17. The next round next Tuesday will have more great match ups- worth coming down to watch.

Tonight- if we aren’t rained out- mixed teams will be playing the third round of the Royal Tar competition. Ray will let you know those results in his report.

The ladies of Nambucca Bowls Club have been starting our Thursday games by 8.30, and in the heat we’ve been experiencing, we’ve hit the clubhouse a bit earlier than usual to cool down.

Results for games on 25th Jan were- T. Meehan, K. Dale, M. Duffus and E. Fleming def T. Meehan, T. Ryan , M. Dwarte and N. Blackford 17-12; A-M Johnson, B. Jones & G. Richardson def D. Mann, M. Flagg & A. Power 16-11; and J. Haigh, K. Liddell & Fletch def A. Ried, S. Seckold and P. James 15-11.

Last week the first round of the Ladies Singles Championships was completed on Friday when Eliza Brown defeated Teresa Meehan 25-11.

There were plenty of great bowls going down the rinks again in this round.

On Tuesday 30 January, in very hot and humid conditions, the next round was played. Marg Flagg, coming back from months away is not wasting any time getting back into winning form. Ava Power won the first end, but then Marg got the mat and didn’t look back. Both had multiple shots on ends, and Ava got within 1 shot by the 22nd end but Marg stayed cool and won 25-20.

Elaine Fleming had (unusually) a sound start and was ahead 4-0 over Pat Fletcher, but from the fourth end Pat found her groove and stayed ahead for the match, winning 25-15.

In the third match on Tuesday it was a hard fought game to the very last bowl. Nerida started well and got the first 3 ends, but by the eleventh end, Deb’s shot making to own the head put her in the lead. Nerida finally crawled back to 16-16, then was down 24-20, and then got back to 24-all . On the last end, Nerida finally got a shot bowl, only to watch Deb land a beauty and win by an inch. A great game by one of our newest bowlers.

The final game for this round will be played Friday- Manor Smith against Eliza Brown. If you’ve got a free morning, come on down to watch.

By Nerida BLACKFORD