Tweed Ospreys Pairing ‘Hobble’ to Memorable Victory
By Kelsey Cottrell & Wendy Wilson
They say beware of the wounded bowler and that was proven these past two days at the Champion of Club Championship Pairs at Souths Suburban Bowls Club in Mackay.
The Tweed Heads pairing of Claire Turley and Lynsey Clarke sensationally claimed gold despite Claire playing in a moon boot to protect the two broken bones in her foot; being pushed along in a borrowed wheelchair by a local bowler Laura Andersen.
A huge injury a few days out would have sent most packing, but with a state title on the line and not enough time to find a substitute, these two good mates weren’t going to die wondering.
They progressed through their section with ease, three strong wins but they had to face a tenacious duo from Airlie Beach who had also qualified for the final undefeated in sectional play.
Carol Crosbie and Betty Nicolle had nothing to lose playing a current and former Australian Jackaroo; however, given the injury cloud over Turley they must have backed their chances for a big upset.
At 7 a piece we were in for a cracking game, however Tweed Heads quickly strung together 9 unanswered shots to lead 16-7 after 10 ends. Tweed Heads continued to apply the pressure and the biggest margin of the game was established at the 18-end mark, 26-16.
Turley and Clarke went on to lift the trophy, adding another state title to their impressive resumes and no doubt this event will be one these mates will be talking about for years to come!
In the men’s competition we were treated to a top-level final with Broadbeach’s Chris Lanham and Sean Ingham taking on Nic Gosley and Mark Armstrong from Pialba. Both teams had qualified for the final with three from three wins in their sections, taking down some big scalps along the way.
The start of the match was a see-sawing battle with plenty of close heads for the skips to play at, a few big drives and conversions by Armstrong and Ingham was entertaining for all, but at the half-way mark it was the boys from Pialba who were in the box seat.
In the end the consistency of Gosley and Armstrong proved too good, and the pair went on to win in commanding style 24-8.
It was an all-round top effort for the Airlie Beach Club walking away with a silver in the women’s event and fourth in the men’s pairs.
Airlie’s Shane Spann and Armando Isgro were defeated on an extra end 16-17 against young guns Joel Smith and Stephen Savage from Tara.
On the neighbouring rink Bargara’s Jennifer Hearn and Adele Pershouse were relentless in their pursuit of a medal with a 23-10 victory over sisters Fiona and Nicole Williams from Boonooroo- Sandy Straits.
Tomorrow we’ll see the men’s and women’s singles competition commence with names such as Wendy Wilson (Hamilton), Kira Bourke (Tweed Heads), Aron Sherriff (Broadbeach) and Glen Pitts (Algester) to keep a look out for.
Thank-you again to the Mackay Council for your sponsorship of the State Champion of Club Championships and good luck to all 16 singles competitors.
To view all results, click here.
