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Geraldton sides take first and second division bowls titles

Joe CriddleMidwest Times
Shane Giudice-Nairn, centre, in shorts with sunglasses, with the victorious Geraldton Blues at the Batavia Bowling League grand finals.
Camera IconShane Giudice-Nairn, centre, in shorts with sunglasses, with the victorious Geraldton Blues at the Batavia Bowling League grand finals. Credit: Reuben Carder/Geraldton Guardian, Reuben Carder

It was a photo finish at the premier men’s pennants bowls in the Mid West, with Geraldton sides running out first and second in the top-division Batavia Bowling League grand final earlier this month.

Denison and Mullewa were strongly represented as the clubs clashed at Geraldton Bowling Club, where a surface running at 18 seconds allowed for confident play.

Geraldton Red and Blue locked horns in the top division twice over the series, with both encounters going down to the final bowl of the match before Blue ultimately won.

Geraldton Gold ran out with the second-division gong, beating minor premiers Denison in a high-standard match where just five shots separated the combatants.

Geraldton Red were successful in the second semifinal against Blue, only to meet them again in the decider in a dramatic reversal of the result.

Wes Jones, along with Trevor Smythe, Dave Hunt and Peter Batten provided a similar result in the preliminary final against defending Denison, with the quartet displaying another grandstand finish. Jones’s second-last bowl of the encounter drew a first-time lead in the match, and Denison’s Joel Leeson narrowly missed the conversion attempt on two occasions to send the Blues through by the narrowest of margins.

Blue and Red were level for the first 20 ends of the final before the Reds gained a 10-shot lead that they held on to until the final 10 ends. Blue then closed the gap, and Wes Jones turned a two-shot deficit into a five-shot result to deliver the flag for his side.

The Golds required multiple results in the second division.

Those started with a 10-shot win in the knockout first semifinal over surprise package Mullewa, who were in the first finals in club history. Gold repeated the outcome in the preliminary, against a quality Wonthella Maroon side who had finished the season in second.

The final match resulted in the rinks being shared between the two, with Gold taking the result on aggregate thanks to Scott Haleen, Noel Davey, Ali Roach and Jim Taylor.

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