IT’S the beginning of that time of year that all competitive bowlers love, pennant season.
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Matches were played right across Zone 11 in grades two to seven, with the No 1 grade to start on April 28. So here is a summary of the first round results.
Grade 2: A 10-0 win to Taree West over Wingham sees them with an early lead. Forster and Tuncurry Beach had 9-1 wins over Leagues and Old Bar respectively.
Grade 3: Gloucester were last year’s grade four winners and going up a grade has not fazed them, winning 10-0 over Forster. They are closely followed by Harrington and Leagues, both having 9.5-.5 wins over Palms and Tuncurry Beach.
Grade 4: Manning Point defeated Railway and Tuncurry defeated Forster 10-0 to be equal leaders. Black Head are in third with a 9-1 win over Harrington.
Grade 5: Sporties, 10-0 winners over Railway lead. West and Wingham both had 9-1 wins over Lansdowne and Forster to be equal second.
Grade 6/1: Forster with a 9-1 win over Old Bar lead from Leagues who despite only winning on one rink, had enough to carry the aggregate and win 8-2. Sporties had the bye.
Grade 6/2: Bulahdelah 9-1 over Sporties and Harrington 9-1 over Tuncurry are equal. Gloucester had the bye.
Grade 7/1: Equal leaders with 10-0 wins are Forster (1) and Harrington who defeated Black Head and Tuncurry. Lansdowne had the bye.
Grade 7/2: Tuncurry 10-0 winners from Forster (2) lead from Sporties who defeated Leagues 9-1. West had the bye.
The results that stand out to me are that Gloucester handled being elevated from No 3s to 4s very well. Railway won the State sixes and were runner up in the State sevens last year. Both sides were elevated but found the going much tougher.
It’s early days yet, we have lots of time for teams to turn things around or consolidate early form. Results in the next few weeks may start to show some trends, either good or bad. Good luck to all in round two.