Tarrom Fours packed out again
The Taroom mixed fours carnival has continued to grow with the 2018 event run over the weekend of September 15 & 16. The Taroom mixed fours carnival has continued to go from strength to strength with the 2018 event run over the weekend of September 15 & 16.
The carnivals’ reputation has grown to the point where the 16 team field often have to nominate their team straight after the event to ensure their place in the field for the following year.
The teams assembled this year were of high quality, many travelled from as far away as Sarina, Maryborough, Binjour, Kingaroy, Dalby and Tara, the carnival was also well supported by “locals” from Roma, Injune and Wandoan.
A good mixture of Taroom players were represented as well.
After the calcutta auction, the matches on Saturday were played in warm, blustery north-westerly winds, which made the conditions tricky.
After the first two rounds, there were only a handful of teams with two wins.
The third round saw most of the two round winners play each other, a heavyweight tussle between the two top fancies based on the calcutta auction saw Robert Hammond’s outfit defeat Nathan Appleton’s team to see them progress as the only three round winners.
Sunday morning saw a complete turn-around in the weather, with cool conditions and southerly winds greeting some weary soles.
Whilst there were no major upsets, most fourth-round games were closely contested and those on two wins scrapped home to ensure some exciting fifth round matches were on the cards, with only the margin separating three teams on three wins, Hammond’s team were the only one without a loss.
Appleton’s team, consisting of his Mum Margie (Dalby), and Roma’s travelling Caletti’s Greg and Melissa, battled it out for a win, but could not secure a big enough margin to finish any higher than fourth.
In third, also securing a narrow win in the last round, were the Sarina trio of Dennis Maddern, Margaret “Hoot” Rolfe and Jeff Reid, ably assisted by Kev Kelly of Taroom.
The surprise packet in the field, based on their $40 price tag in the calcutta, were the team skipped by Lynda Cecil of Kingaroy, her husband David who plays out of Wondai, Pat Darlington of Binjour and Mark Gee from Maryborough Services who played well together to record four wins.
As is the case in all carnivals, there can only be one winner and Robert Hammond’s team were the only team to record five wins for the weekend.
Hammond, a current QLD representative player from Roma, was well supported by talented Taroom players Jimmy Keleher, Delacey Kehl and Tara’s Matthew Prain.
Everyone who spoke heaped praise on the Taroom Club for their efforts in making the carnival such a success.
The club’s hospitality could not be faulted and the quality of the green was commended by all.
The 2019 event promises to be better than ever.
1st place – Matthew Prain (Tara), Jimmy Keleher (Taroom), Robert Hammond (Roma) & Delacey Kehl (Taroom)