With Saturday’s Gippsland Bowls Region competition completely washed out, attention quickly returned to Sunday’s finals of the prestigious Gippsland Bowls Region state triples final at the Heyfield Bowling Club.
The semi finals were played in the morning and the grand final in the afternoon.
Lakes Entrance combination of Jo Martin, Marg Brandhoj and Julie Simpson won a hotly contested ladies’ finale over the Paynesville trio of Rhonda Sadovsky, Glynis Bugeja and Margery Nathan.
In a game for the ages the Lakes team was just ahead for most of the game, before the Paynesville ladies edged ahead on the 16th end after picking up an important five.
A see-sawing battle then ensued which resulted in scores being level after 18 ends.
In the extra end, with spectators glued to the game, Martin played one of the shots of the day to turn around a potential two-shot loss to a three-shot victory, with the final scores 18-15.
The West Sale combination that was skipped by former Lakes Entrance star, Brendan Addison was successful in the men’s final, in a much more clear-cut result.
Addison teamed with David Hogan, and Russell Lambourn to defeat the defending champions in the final, Paynesville’s Michael Better and Peter Baylis from Lindenow 16-9.
The winners of the men’s and women’s finales will progress to the state championships in Bendigo during April 2025.
THIS WEEK
Sale 2 v Orbost 1; Howitt Park v Bairnsdale; West Sale v Lakes Entrance 1; Maffra v Stratford; Paynesville v Metung; Heyfield v Lindenow; Lakes Entrance 2 v Sale 1.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENT
The Stratford Bowling Club will host a two-day tournament on January 25-26, 2025. Day one will feature mixed fours, with day two including mixed triples and singles.
