A composite team skipped by evergreen Brian Harriott was one of only two unbeaten sides in the annual Dapto Flyaway Triples at Dapto Bowling Club.

Harriott and partners John Ritchie and Ted Clarke finished with five wins and a massive +73 shot margin to win the 28-team event.

Harriott was in second place heading into the final round but capitalised on a loss by Paul Majkowycz's composite team who had the best margin leading into the final match.

The defeat by Majkowycz and partners Robbie Clayton and Ron Draper left them with four wins+40 and opened the door for Harriott and partners to take the top prize of $1500.

The Dapto team of Ernie Ellis, John Brewer and Billy Schultz were runners-up and played well under pressure to win five tight games with a +21 shot margin. The Dapto team shared the second prize of $745.

The five game winners were Brian Whitford (Dapto, Game 1), Greg Stevens (Shellharbour, Game 2), Tom Gillespie (Dapto, Game 3), Peter Kendall (Composite, Game 4) and John Holloway (Composite, Game 5).

With virtually the end of the club and Zone 16 championships and pennant season for 2014, the Dapto Flyaway Triples is one of the biggest events on the calendar.

Supporters make playoffs fun

Illawarra's women’s teams didn’t win a NSW pennant but still did  Districts proud with some fine performances at the state playoffs recently.

The Warilla No 1 pennant team were the defending champions and finished third in the finals at Soldier’s Point.

Heavy rain meant the finals were moved to the indoor surface and Warilla was unlucky to be beaten on countback by the highly rated Taren Point in their  first match.

Warilla finished third out of nine teams with St Johns Park winning the prestigious No 1 state flag.

In Grade 2, Shellharbour were bidding farewell to pennants with no pennants club in 2015.

In atrocious conditions, Shellharbour finished second in their section to eventual winners  Kotara.

Shellharbour had great wins over Commercial Albury and Sussex Inlet but just missed out on the playoffs.

‘‘Team Shellharbour’’ consisted of around 30 players, officials and supporters who enjoyed their farewell as a club in Illawarra pennants.

Meanwhile, it has been many years since Illawarra Grade 3 champions Thirroul had represented the Districts in the state playoffs.

Thirroul beat Goulburn Railway in a thrilling Regional playoff at Picton BC and while they didn’t make it through to the business end of the state finals they had an enjoyable time.

Thirroul made their presence felt  with a 22-strong cheer squad for the  finals at Nelson Bay.

Finally, Illawarra Grade 4 champions Dapto had to adjust to playing on a synthetic green at Raymond Terrace BC with the finals dogged by rain.

Dapto were beaten 41-28 by Port Macquarie in their opening match before beating  Bateau Bay 39-35 in round two.

Dapto won an exciting game three against Cooma 39-37 to finish second in their section.

The team enjoyed  support with 23 club members and fans travelling to Raymond Terrace for the week.

Teen champ leads quality team

Dylan Skinner will spearhead the Illawarra under-25 team in a representative series at Raymond Terrace this weekend.

Several of the top players, including Aaron Teys and Kyle Johannes, are unavailable for an event featuring six zones but Illawarra still has a strong team led by Skinner, who will play singles.

The Wiseman Park-based Skinner was part of the Illawarra 7-a-side under-18s team that won the NSW Inter-Zone 7-a-side Series at Figtree RSL last month.

Joining Skinner in the under-25s team is Dapto Citizens’ Corey Thompson and Troy Ford, who will play pairs in Newcastle.

Warilla’s Ryan Burgess and Wilson Patuwai, with partners Liam Dun  (Towradgi Park) and Danyon Christie (Fairy Meadow), will team up in the fours.

Rookies chase Pairs success

A big field of less-experienced bowlers are chasing a place in the NSW State Finals by winning this weekend’s Illawarra Rookie Pairs title.

Eight sectional rounds will be hosted by Thirroul and Dapto bowling clubs on Saturday  with post-sectional play including the final at Thirroul on Sunday. 

Back-to-back Illawarra Rookie Singles champion John Bonham is chasing a Singles-Pairs double.

Bonham is partnering his Dapto clubmate Brad Fuller and plays his sectional rounds at his home club.

The Bowls NSW Rookie Singles and Rookie Pairs tournaments is for bowlers with less than 30 months’ experience. 

The tournaments have proved a huge success with the 16 zone winners to advance to the state finals  at Raymond Terrace BC on November 1 and 2.