Blown away
Wind and New South Wales give Queensland a case of the blues It’s been a bad afternoon at the office for Queensland, with the Maroon’s title hopes taking a bashing in Round 2 of this year’s Australian Senior Sides.
After a confidence-boosting win over Tasmania in this morning’s championship opener, the Queenslanders were blown away in their clash with New South Wales at Tweed Heads Bowls Club.
“The conditions were very trying this afternoon, even worse than in the morning match,” said state coach Bill Cornehls.
“The wind was very blustery, and we struggled to get bowls in the area right across the green.
“We didn’t have a lot go our way, and in fairness to NSW they put us under the pump.”
There were very few high-points for Queensland in what was undoubtedly their toughest fixture of the championships.
Neville Jenkins’ crew scratched out a four-shot win over former national coach Rex Johnson, 28-24, but that was where the good news ended for Queensland.
Ken Luck’s four went down 20-30 to Wayne Lambourne, while Geoff Hawken’s team suffered a disappointing 15-shot loss at the hands of John Roberts, 30-15.
The final score was 84-63 to NSW men.
Women
It was an equally tough outing for Queensland’s women, who are chasing their maiden title at the Senior Sides.
The Maroon girls also went down on two rinks for an 80-42 loss to the Blues.
Patty Elliot couldn’t repeat the heroics of this morning, when she steered her team to a 12-shot win over Tasmania, instead suffering a massive 20-shot loss to NSW’s Julea Morgan, 30-10.
Sue McKenzie’s team dropped their second game of the day, beaten 29-17 by Betty Herbertson’s four.
Jenny Blundell’s girls offered the only ray of light for Queensland, beating Jan Rolph’s team, 21-15, to save some face for the home side.
“It was a tough afternoon all round,” said Cornehls.
“We dropped a few multiple-shot ends, which gave their confidence a boost.
“At the end of the day, NSW just managed the conditions better than we did, they had more bowls in the area and were more consistent overall.
“We just have to pick ourselves up for tomorrow and get some wins on the board.”
Queensland are running third on the women’s leader-board at the end of Day 1, behind WA in first and NSW in second.
In the men’s event, NSW and ACT lead the field on four points apiece, with Queensland and SA joint third on two points and four rink wins each.
Next up tomorrow is WA in the morning (8.45am Qld time), followed by ACT in Round 4 (1.15pm).
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