Plenty to play for
A second loss may have cost Queensland’s women the Marj Morris trophy, but the over-all state title is still very much alive. Queensland’s girls still have plenty to play for at the 2014 Australian Sides, despite this morning’s loss to Victoria making a trophy win extremely unlikely.
The Queenslanders struggled from the get go against an in-form Victorian outfit at Tasmania’s South Burnie Bowls Club, eventually going down two rinks to one, 53-64.
“It makes it very difficult for us to win now,” Queensland skip Lynsey Clarke conceded after the match.
“If we hadn’t gone down to Tasmania yesterday we’d still be in with a good chance, but with two losses and some really tough games still to come, it doesn’t look good.
“We need to win all our remaining games and hope a couple of other results go our way, so it’s not impossible, but it’s unlikely.”
Clarke and fellow skip Louise Witton struggled to get on the scoreboard in the early ends, with Pam Rowe’s four the only thing keeping Queensland in the hunt against Victoria.
Rowe’s team of Natasha Jones, Christina Pavlov and Rosie Lovelock raced out to a double-digit lead over Elise Cowan’s Victorian side.Queensland even took a one-shot lead after 23 ends, thanks to Rowe’s 10-shot advantage over Cowan (13-3).
When Clarke’s rink of Kristy Thatcher, Bolivia Millerick and Charlie Harkness started to fight back against Carla Odgers (Clarke’s Comm Games teammate), it looked like Queensland were in with a real chance.
Unfortunately Clarke wasn’t the only one fighting back, with Cowan closing the gap on Rowe, while Vic’s Samantha Shannahan kept turning the screw on Witton.
By the 34th end, Victoria had jumped out to a 10-shot lead, which grew as the game went on.
Rowe held Cowan at bay for a 28-8 win, while Clarke got within three of Odgers, 14-17.
But a 16-shot blowout on Witton’s rink, 11-27, sank Queensland’s hopes of a come-from-behind win.Despite the loss, state coach Bill Cornehls is determined to keep the girls focused.
“We still have the overall state title to play for, but to have a chance the girls will need to put in some big performances in their remaining games,” Cornehls said.
“And who knows, if some other results go our way, the Marj Morris trophy isn’t an impossibility.”
Queensland are currently running sixth in the women’s event, ahead of the winless ACT and NT, while Victoria’s win cements their place at the top of the table.In other Round 3 results NSW beat WA 61-54, SA defeated ACT 54-48, while Tasmania overcame NT, 70-54.
