Queenscliff gained a precious Geelong Bowls Region Premier Pennant double chance by finishing second on the ladder by the barest of margins after an exciting final home and away round of the season.
Queenscliff finished on 178 points with Highton third on 177, which means a free hit against top side Ocean Grove in the grand final qualifier this Saturday.
Queenscliff defeated the Grovers in both their meetings this season in rounds 4 and 11 and star skip Ray Butler said his side has what it takes to make it three.
“It’s going to be pretty hotly contested,” he said.
“I know we might have beaten them twice this year, but as of right now, it means absolutely nothing. Finals is a different ball game, so now everyone’s back to nil-nil.
“Hopefully we can bring our best and play like we have against them previously. We’ll give it a fair shake and see what happens.”
Queenscliff defeated Torquay by 25 shots and picked up 16 points on Saturday 14 February, but played at 10am, which meant the team had to wait for the Highton vs Lara results to filter through during the afternoon.
“We knew we had to at least give ourselves a chance with getting 16 points as a minimum,” Butler said.
“So once we got that done, a few of the guys were getting some intel throughout the day on how Lara were tracking against Highton. We just kept in the loop and when (Lara’s) Michael Kelly’s rink got up on the last couple of ends, we were pretty happy about that.
“We put in a lot of hard work this year and I think we’re deserving of second spot.”
Although Butler’s rink of lead Wayne Visser, second Adam Green and third Riley Cameron lost 17 to 28, every shot picked up was vital in the overall ladder result. His Torquay opponent Nelson Ball had not lost a rink all season.
“Nelson’s a permit player, but coming into that I knew I was going to have my hands full and boy, we did, but we did what we had to do,” Butler said.
“We sort of stemmed the bleeding. It could have been a hell of a lot worse, but going down by 11 shots in the circumstances with how well the opposition were bowling, I thought was pretty close to a win as a loss can get really, because it didn’t affect us overall.”
What did affect the result was Steve Sullivan’s rink of lead Richie McGovern, second Barry Gladman and third Seb Monahan winning 31-5.
“They only lost two ends for the day,” Butler said.
“Richie McGovern was an absolute standout and then also their second Barry Gladman set them up brilliantly and then Steve – they did what they had to do. I don’t think they (Torquay) got on the mat very often and that’s the goal in bowls.”
Geelong Bowls Region
Finals round 1, Saturday 21 February
Premier Pennant
Grand final qualifier: Ocean Grove vs Queenscliff at Ocean Grove
Elimination final: Highton vs Drysdale at Highton
Division 1
Grand final qualifier: Ocean Grove vs St Leonards at Ocean Grove
Elimination final: City of Geelong vs Belmont at City of Geelong
Division 2
Grand final qualifier: Ocean Grove vs Belmont at Ocean Grove
Elimination final: Anglesea vs Eastern Park at Anglesea
Division 3
Grand final qualifier: City of Geelong vs Ocean Grove at TBA
Elimination final: Queenscliff vs Highton at Queenscliff
Division 4
Grand final qualifier: Norlane vs Geelong RSL at Norlane
Elimination final: Highton vs Lara at Highton
Division 5
Grand final qualifier: Barwon Heads vs Torquay at Barwon Heads
Elimination final: Leopold vs Portarlington at Leopold
Division 6
Grand final qualifier: Torquay vs Geelong at Torquay
Elimination final: Highton vs Clifton Springs at Highton
Division 7
Grand final qualifier: Ocean Grove vs Anglesea at Ocean Grove
Elimination final: St Leonards vs Leopold at St Leonards
Division 8
Grand final qualifier: Drysdale vs Ocean Grove at Drysdale
Elimination final: Torquay vs Geelong at Torquay
Division 9
Grand final qualifier: Point Lonsdale vs Bell Post Hill at Point Lonsdale
Elimination final: Norlane vs Barwon Heads at Norlane
Division 10
Grand final qualifier: Geelong RSL vs City of Geelong at Geelong RSL
Elimination final: St Leonards vs Torquay at St Leonards
