Stanhope father and son combination Austin and Jorge Maxwell "low five" on the way to a rink win against star Tongala skip Brad Tinning.
A pair of father-son combinations have contributed strongly to Stanhope’s dream start to the Campaspe Playing Area’s division one pennant bowls season.
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Austin and Jorge Maxwell were two parts of Greg Fitzpatrick’s lead bowling combination, while Barry and Ben Fletcher did their bit toward a 24-shot win (16-nil, 64-40) on the adjoining rink.
As last year’s division one wooden-spooner, in its first season back from the Goulburn Valley competition, Stanhope was a significant underdog before the first bowl was sent down.
And while the side may have been pitted against a competition powerhouse the scoreboard told a different story. Tim Hancock beat Glenn Fields by four, Ben Fletcher returned to Stanhope in a blaze of glory with a nine-shot win against last year’s leading Campaspe skip Brad Tinning and Fitzpatrick won his match with Tongala premiership star Steve Hammond by 11.
Tongala, who has contested the last three grand finals in the top flight (winning two of them), had four new faces in its ranks - Lee Turner, Steve Tinning, Fields and Hammond.
Returning Stanhope skip Ben Fletcher deep in conversation with his father Barry on the way to a rink win against Tongala's Steve Hammond.
Fitzpatrick led the charge early, pocketing six shots on the fifth end of his match with Hammond to lead by eight after 11 ends. Another five shot haul on the 17th end put the result beyond doubt and he won 24-13.
Fletcher led five-nil after two ends and with nine shots in a three-end surge was a 14-shot leader after 15 ends against Brad Tinning. Tinning secured four shots on the 16th end and despite finishing with shot bowl on three of the final four ends was beaten 22-13.
It was much closer between Hancock and Fields, the Tongala skip leading after 10 ends by a single shot. Hancock won six of the next eight ends to lead by four, but only one shot separated the pair with an end to play.
Hancock secured three shots for an 18-14 win and a complete shut down by Stanhope of the decorated Tongala team.
Champion Stanhope veteran John Patterson signals his skip, Ben Fletcher, on the way to a nine shot rink win against Tongala.
– Tongala and Stanhope also contested the opening round of the division two and four seasons on Saturday.
Tongala won the division four game by 13 shots in a high scoring contest, 13-3 (77-64).
Beth Vistarini was the difference between the teams, winning her match with Peter Harris by 23 shots. The win came after she collected seven shots (almost the maximum as all but one of her team’s bowls finished closest to the jack) on the first end.
Another five shots on end eight gave her a nine-shot lead and then she achieved the “maximum” on the 15th end - a very rare eight-shot haul - to lead by 18.
Vistarini bowled with Tanya Kesson, Brian Crilly and Frank Walsh for the 41-18 win. It was Tongala’s only win, although Robert Hosking drew 25-all with Kenneth Hoppner and the other result went the way of Stanhope skip Mark Summers - 21-11 against Peter Kesson.
Ky Valley View’s division four team opened the season against Mathoura and Stanhope had Deniliquin in its division five opener.
Beth Vistarini achieved the ultimate in a single end on Saturday when her Tongala Division four rink collected eight shots on a single end.
In the division two match Tongala skips Noel West and Kelvin Walsh did enough on their rinks to give the Bulls an eight-shot victory.
West had the experienced Geoff Tinning as his lead bowler, with Geoff Vistarini and Stuart Reid also in support. They beat Jennifer Crilly’s four by nine and then Walsh had a two-shot win against Andrew Morris.
David Millard put Stanhope on the board in the 2-14 (49-57) loss when he accounted for Danny O’Brien 20-17.
– Ky Valley View has gone straight to the top of the ladder with a 46-shot win (16-nil, 82-36) against Mathoura on Saturday.
Graham Topp has set a high standard, winning by 23 shots in tandem with Rob Varcoe, Frank Findlay and Dave Clavell. Ken Black led his rink to a 10-shot win, while Rod Donohue completed the whitewash with a 13-shot win.
– Ian Douglas’ 18-shot win for Stanhope in its division five opener against Deniliquin was enough to influence the final result in the two-rink competition.
Douglas, John Gibbs, Thomas Burgess and David Grant won 31-13 and cancelled out the four-shot loss of Geoffrey Mulcahy. Stanhope won overall 12-2 (50-36).
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