Blues poised to sweep series
Queensland’s U-18s need two big wins to stop Blues test series whitewash in Taren Point New South Wales are on track for a clean sweep of their annual Under-18 clash with Queensland, following another round of defeats for the Maroons at Taren Point Bowls Club last night.
After dropping tests one and two of the three-test series, Queensland had no hope of capturing the boys or girls titles.
However, with state pride on the line, the Queenslanders came out gunning in test three, hoping to make the final score a little more respectable.
That looks unlikely to happen now, with NSW clocking up wins in both the boys and girls pairs and triples.
Once again Nic Gosley’s triples outfit of Hayden Vogler and Cohen Litfin came tantalisingly close to beating their NSW rivals, going down by just two-shots 19-21.
Blues duo Greg Jeans and Dylan Skinner enjoyed a much more comfortable win over Brendan Wilson and Braidan Leese in the pairs, beating the Queenslanders 24-9.
The 15-shot defeat means Queensland will need two pretty big wins in this morning’s singles and fours games to have any hope of salvaging the third and final test.
Leese’s fours outfit of Vogler, Litfin and Gosley have already shown they can go the distance with Cory Wedlock’s NSW side.
After dropping their first test clash by one shot, 16-17, the Queenslanders went one better in test two, drawing 14-14 with their Blues rivals.
Leese will be hoping he can better that result in test three and take an outright win.
Wilson will also be chasing his first singles win of the series against Dylan Skinner, although Skinner looked comfortable in the first two tests, beating Wilson 21-15 and 21-10 respectively.
It was a similar story in the girls’ event, with Rikki-Lee Kemp’s side suffering a blowout defeat in the triples, while April Wilson and Taleah Putney just missed out in the pairs.
Wilson and Putney, who enjoyed and three-shot win over NSW duo Lauren Shaw and Ellen Ryan in test two (15-12), were on the wrong side of the scoreboard in test three, going down 18-16.
Meanwhile, Kemp’s side of Connie-Leigh Rixon and Kali Visentin were outgunned in their triples clash, suffering a 15-shot defeat, 23-8.
Like the boys, Queensland’s girls can still salvage the third and final test, but only with two big wins in this morning’s singles and fours games at Taren Point.
