It’s a wrap! 2021 District Sides
By Kelsey Cottrell
Leading into the 2021 District Sides Championships you could not be faulted for thinking the Gold Coast were favourites to claim both titles, especially after a glimpse of the honour roll showed some five straight victories for the men and four consecutive wins for the women.
After missing the 2020 event due to COVID it was great to see some 500+ bowlers back proudly representing their districts.
The final game of the day at Cleveland between Gold Coast and Cunningham would decide our 2021 Division 1 men’s champions with both sides defeating Mackay and Gateway to put themselves in a position to take out the title.
A third of the way through and only 2 shots were separating the top sides on the big board; but the powerhouse Gold Coast were just too consistent on all four rinks and without registering any big margins, and in fact going down on one rink, Gold Coast were all class claiming their 6th straight division 1 flag.
Cohen Liftin 16 def by Steven Tong 17
Josh Greenhalgh 14 def by Aron Sherriff 19
Graeme Hooper 22 def Sean Ingham 19
Des Cann jnr. 11 def by Barrie Lester 18
In the women’s competition we were expecting a close encounter when the Gold Coast District took on the Sunshine Coast in the second game of the day; however, Bolivia Millerick was all business taking down Julie Keegan’s rink 28-7, Ellen Ross (SC) got the better of Dee-ann Robertson (GC) 18-12, Serena Matthews (GC) and Jane Bush (SC) had just a couple of shots between them.
Cunningham were their opponents in the final round, and they weren’t phased by the big names and form of the Gold Coast ladies; however; they had a mammoth task ahead of them, not only did they need to beat the Gold Coast but beat them by over 21 shots.
They managed one part of the equation, a victory on the big board, although it was not enough to knock Gold Coast out of top spot.
Mackay District Men were thrilled with their appearance in division 1; the first time their district had qualified for top division in 20 years. “You little beauty”, Peter Balderson captioned in the tournaments best Facebook selfie!
GATEWAY STORM HOME IN DIVISION 2
Heading into the final round of the day it could not get much closer than the division 2 ladies who were sitting on one win a piece. Fraser Coast had a 15-shot advantage over Brisbane; however, they were a green away taking on Bundaberg, whilst the Fraser Coast would have their work cut out for them playing against the formidable Gateway District (maroon) side.
With all the managers and spectators keeping a close eye on both games, the players were doing their best to focus on the task at hand.
Gateway (maroon) started to jump the Fraser Coast, but would it be enough to hold out Brisbane who were also compiling a margin on Bundaberg?
It was more than enough; Gateway finished on 2 wins +20 whilst Brisbane were 2 wins +9; a remarkable achievement to come from 3rd place with a negative margin after 2 rounds.
It could have been a different story had Gateway not managed to secure a victory over Brisbane by 1 shot after the bell in round 1, courtesy of Karen Goldsworthy’s cracking final bowl.
The Sunshine Coast men were in the box seat with a 24-shot buffer over their final opponent of the day, the gents from the Downs District.
Sunshine Coast had all the star power with new recruits Brett Wilkie, a former Australian representative, and Ryan Burnett, a Scottish U’25 Champion skipping two rinks. Some other familiar faces for the Sunshine Coast, Peter Carmody, Paul Hendricks and Jay Dawe were also going to be hard to beat.
The Downs District were holding their own on three rinks, but Kurt Brown’s team was doing the most damage shaking hands with 23-8 on the scoreboard.
Results in other divisions were as follows-
Women
Division 1 Winners- Gold Coast
Division 3 Winners- Mackay
Division 4 Winners- Port Curtis
Division 5 Winners- Burnett
Men
Division 1 Winners- Gold Coast
Division 3 Winners- Brisbane
Division 4 Winners- Condamine
Division 5 Winners- North West
Thank-you to all the host clubs, Belmont Services, Cleveland, Logan City, Manly and Wynnum who did a sensational job hosting 560 bowlers, officials, and spectators across the 4 days of play.
At the presentations it was announced that next year’s District Sides Championships would be held on the Gold Coast.
On Tuesday, the Queensland State Championships commence in the Gateway District kicking off with Mixed Pairs and finishing with the blue-ribbon state singles on May 17.
Thank you to sponsor Exodas for their support of this event.
You can watch the livestream videos of this event here: https://www.bowlsqld.org/2021-state-district-sides/
SCORES
DISTRICT SIDES CHAMPIONSHIPS (Men)
Saturday 1 May 2021
Division 1 at Cleveland Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Gold Coast Tweed 76 def Gateway 54
Mackay 65 def by Cunningham 66
Round 11 at 12.00pm
Gold Coast Tweed 85 def Mackay 59
Cunningham 88 def Gateway 47
Round 12 at 2.45pm
Gold Coast Tweed 73 def Cunningham 63
Gateway 64 def Mackay 53
Division 1 winner: Gold Coast Tweed
Division 1 runner-up: Cunningham
Division 2 at Logan City Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Downs 65 def Bundaberg 54
Sunshine Coast 80 def Moreton Bay 57
Round 11 at 12.00pm
Downs 57 def Moreton Bay 59
Sunshine Coast 70 def Bundaberg 58
Round 12 at 2.45pm
Downs 44 def by Sunshine Coast 78
Moreton Bay 83 def Bundaberg 48
Division 2 winner: Sunshine Coast
Division 2 runner-up: Moreton Bay
Division 3 at Belmont Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Brisbane 69 def Fraser Coast 55
Nth Qld 77 def Tropical Far North Qld 64
Round 11 at 12.00pm
Brisbane 54 def Tropical far north 52
North Qld 63 def Fraser Coast 45
Round 12 at 2.45pm
Brisbane 79 def North Qld 45
Tropical Far North Qld 50 def by Fraser Coast 93
Division 3 winner: Brisbane
Division 3 runner-up: North Qld
Division 4 at Wynnum Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Port Curtis 59 drew Burnett 59
Condamine 96 def Central Qld 35
Round 11 at 12.00pm
Port Curtis 74 def Central Qld 42
Condamine 66 def Burnett 57
Round 12 at 2.45pm
Port Curtis 60 def by Condamine 65
Central Qld 51 def by Burnett 75
Division 4 winner: Condamine
Division 4 runner-up: Port Curtis
Division 5 at Manly Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Nth West Qld 65 def Southern Downs 48
Maranoa Warrego 52 def by Leichhardt 65
Round 11 at 12.00pm
North West 67 def Leichhardt 57
Maranoa Warrego 51 def by Southern Downs 57
Round 12 at 2.45pm
Maranoa Warrego 57 def by North West 87
Southern Downs 61 def Leichhardt 65
Division 5 winner: North West Qld
Division 5 runner-up: Leichhardt
2021 Women’s District Sides
DISTRICT SIDES CHAMPIONSHIPS (Women)
Saturday 1st May 2021
Division 1 at Cleveland Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Gold Coast 71 def Tropical Far North Qld 31
Cunningham 53 def Sunshine Coast 39
Round 11 at 12.00pm
Gold Coast Tweed 53 def Sunshine Coast 43
Cunningham 45 def by Tropical Far North Qld 51
Round 12 at 2.45pm
Gold Coast 39 def by Cunningham 46
Sunshine Coast 75 def Tropical Far North Qld
Division 1 winner: Gold Coast Tweed
Division 1 runner-up: Cunningham
Division 2 at Logan City Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Gateway Maroon 41 def Brisbane 40
Fraser Coast Blue 57 def Bundaberg 41
Round 11 at 12.00pm
Gateway Maroon 50 def by Bundaberg 52
Fraser Coast Blue 41 def Brisbane 42
Round 12 at 2.45pm
Gateway Maroon 59 def Fraser Coast Blue 38
Bundaberg 45 def by Brisbane 54
Division 2 winner: Gateway Maroon
Division 2 runner-up: Brisbane
Division 3 at Belmont Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
North Qld 64 def Central Qld 38
Moreton Bay 33 def by Mackay 50
Round 11 at 12.00pm
North Qld 33 def by Mackay 37
Moreton Bay 53 def Central Qld 24
Round 12 at 2.45pm
North Qld 44 def by Moreton Bay 55
Mackay 50 def Central Qld 41
Division 3 winner: Mackay
Division 3 runner-up: Moreton Bay
Division 4 at Wynnum Hill Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Fraser Coast White 33 def by Port Curtis 55
Downs 58 def Gateway Gold 41
Round 11 at 12.00pm
Fraser Coast White 33 def by Gateway Gold 57
Downs 46 def Port Curtis 38
Round 12 at 2.45pm
Fraser Coast White 48 def Downs 47
Gateway Gold 34 def by Port Curtis 54
Division 4 winner: Port Curtis
Division 4 runner-up: Downs
Division 5 at Manly Bowls Club
Round 10 at 8.50am
Burnett 65 def Maranoa Warrego 38
Southern Downs 45 def by Condamine 50
Round 11 at 12.00pm
Burnett 87 def Condamine 32
Southern Downs 42 def by Maranoa Warrego 60
