HBA FOURS OPENING ROUND

The opening rounds of the HBA Championship Fours were held at Gumeracha Bowling Club on Friday 20th  January 2023.

A preliminary knockout round was held the previous evening – with the Woodside team victorious in a close encounter with Lobethal.

The main draw on Friday night was held in cool conditions.  Some players and spectators continued to criticize the twilight format – however, with Bowls SA State events taking up every Sunday (bar one) in October, November, December, January, and February – the committee would be pleased to hear ideas about how day Champ of Champ events could be conducted.

The opening round saw previous winners Oakbank tackle Hahndorf.  As expected, a close tussle ensued, with scores tied at 14 all after the completion of fifteen ends – with an extra end required to decide the outcome.  Hahndorf second Cheryl Thompson gave her side the upper hand, drawing a bowl to within 12 inches of the jack.  However Oakbank managed two second woods, and with his final delivery, Oakbank skipper Paul Yeates was able take out the Hahndorf bowl, to give his side the shot and the match.

Gumeracha played their club fours final on the preceding evening – alongside the knockout match between Woodside and Lobethal – so both sides had been given the opportunity to size up their opposition.  However given the home ground advantage, Gumeracha came in a slight favourites.  In a reversal of the odds, Andy Alberd skippered Woodside to a 15-9 win over Butch Mik’s four.

The Mt. Barker vs Uraidla match was expected to be tight – and scores were locked at four shots all after eight ends.  But John Corner helped his side pick up numbers on the ninth, tenth, and eleventh ends – to run away from Mike Guerin’s team 17-8.

The final opening round match saw Lenswood rebound from their one shot loss in the previous week’s triples, to take an 11-4 lead after seven ends.  Lenswood looked well in control holding six shots on the eighth end, only to have them taken away when Meadows skipper Nick Ingram killed the end.  This gave the Meadow’s team renewed confidence, scoring on six of the next seven ends to draw level at 12 shots all going into the last end.  Meadows drew an early shot, and despite two valiant attempts by Terry Stephen to reclaim the shot, a luckless Lenswood went down 12-13.

Oakbank continued their good form going into the second round, defeating Woodside 15-9.  Unfortunately, Meadows ran out of steam, and despite the enthusiastic support of the spectators, went down to the experienced Mt. Barker side 6-22.

Well done to the Gumeracha club for hosting the event – many thanks to umpire Tony Mik, bar staff Jo and Alan Dunn, and the catering crew and all helpers.

Next week the grand finals of the Triples and Fours will be played at Hahndorf.  Matches will commence at 5.30pm sharp, with the triples between Mt. Barker and Woodside played first on rink 1, followed by Mt. Barker vs Oakbank in the fours on rink 2.

The HBA Committee will liaise with players over the coming days about practice arrangements.