Sunshine on a rainy day
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Mooloolaba Men and Club Kawana Ladies lifted the Super Challenge Gold titles at a rainy Algester this afternoon.
In true spectacular Grand Final fashion, an extra end lead to a last bowl victory for Moolooaba, who looked almost dead and buried earlier in the day, but came back to snatch a climatic 3-2 victory over a defiant Burleigh Heads.
Musgrave Hill Ladies also had their opponents on the ropes, but Kawana’s talent shone through for a 2-0 victory on a dismal day.
The Silver section had no less excitement despite the one sided score lines.
Bribie Island Men made a clean sweep, brushing aside Musgrave Hill 5-0, even with tight rinks late in the afternoon.
West Toowoomba Ladies triumphed over a determined Paradise Point 2-0 in a match played with passion.
Troy Somerville, who lifted the trophy for Mooloolaba was very pleased with his afternoon’s work.
“Tremendous. That’s what bowls is all about.”
He felt the crowd played their part in the victory.
“Very good supporters, a great crowd. Both sides were very vocal and that’s what you want.”
On the receiving end of Somerville’s dramatic last bowl win was Burleigh’s Gary Pearson.
“They were too good and came back too strong for us.”
“We’ve won on the last end before, so, perhaps, it’s about time it went the other way.”
The pivotal rink was the pairs with Peter Worth and Paul Henricks.
“It looked like we were gonna get beat 5-0,” said Henricks.
“We knew if we didn’t win our pairs rink were gonna lose overall. We hung in there and got over the line.”
Delighted to win her sixth Super Challenge was Kawana’s Julie Keegan.
“Musgrave started well, so I told the girls to pick a good weight and a nice line.”
Louise Witton’s rink was also under pressure early, but the skip told her team how it needed to be played.
“At the beginning we were down 10-2 after six ends, we decided to take it in four different stages as 28 ends overall is a lot of bowls in this event.”
Piling on 17 unanswered points gave Kawana’s famed noisy ringside support something to cheer about.
Musgrave Hill’s Rosie Lovelock, on the other hand, was almost lost for words.
“I was really happy to make the final, but disappointed. It was our first loss this season.”
The battle for Silver was no less intense as the rain continued to fall all day.
The might of West Toowomba gave them an edge over their Paradise Point rivals.
Lining up against Tracy Foster, Jo Worsley and Imelda Brumpton may have sent shivers down the spines of the Paradise Ladies, but an unnerving start emerged as a fierce struggle, which only relented in the final ends.
“It’s fabulous the way the girls have performed,” said Queensland rep Foster.
“We’ve a great camaraderie and we all support each other, today that gave us the push to finish it off.”
Jo Worsley felt the performance matched yesterday’s semis.
“It was steady, as it has been all season. Everyone has played their part to get us here.”
Julie Dean of Paradise Point knew the opposition would be hard to beat.
“We always knew it was going to be tough, but we’ve had a wonderful campaign. The Toowoomba girls outplayed us today, so it’s well deserved.”
Bribie Island’s Ken Laverty was so pleased with his team’s whitewash nothing was spoiling his day.
“Everything was fantastic. The rain, everything.”
Gary Symons was another who was enjoying the day.
“Excellent. It was excellent.”
Feeling the pain of defeat was Musgrave Hill’s Eric Blackburn.
“It was our first loss of the competition so it’s a bit hard to take, but I think we’re taking it well.”