South Coast backed up their thrilling eight-shot home victory at Milton Ulladulla BC in 2017 to retain the time-honoured Shield with a convincing 144-116 away win.

Illawarra District Women’s Association president Millie Randall said there was no stopping the powerful South Coast this year.

“Full credit to our neighbours as they were too strong,’’ Randall said. 

“We tried hard and did our best, but they were a different class overall.

“They have some state representatives who showed how good they are, and we found it a bit difficult to match them.

“But it was a fantastic day of bowls played in wonderful spirit with the Anderson Irvine Shield remaining a great initiative between the two associations.

“We had some new players to rep who performed well, and it was great to see some many Illawarra clubs having a player in the squad.

“We’ll come back hard next year and hopefully win back the Shield on their home green.’’

Wiseman Park’s Kim Suckley and Warilla Julea Morgan skipped Illawarra’s only two winning rinks on the day. Morgan and partners finished as the host’s highest margin winners.

The Anderson Irvine Shield is a prestigious annual event played between neighbouring Illawarra and South Coast Associations since 1966.

The Shield was formed by Ethel Anderson and Ivy Irvine following the separation of the two associations. 

The officials wanted to ensure that life-long friends could catch up at least once a year and play a game of bowls.

From 1966 Illawarra and South Coast have played annually with each association alternating as the Shield host.

The format is 18-end Fours and while the number of bowlers in each squad has changed over time, this year each association selected eight rinks of their top available players.

Among the Illawarra District clubs to have a representative were Windang, Warilla, Albion Park, Towradgi, Corrimal, Dapto Citizens and Wiseman Park Wollongong City.

And while Illawarra have dominated the Shield over the more than six decades of matches, South Coast have now won the past two years and are clearly the stronger association at the elite rep level. Since 1972, Illawarra have now won the Shield on 26 occasions with South Coast enjoying 17 victories, while five contests have been washed out.

Earlier this year the South Coast association showed their class with Bomaderry’s Judy Croft and Debbie Wilson part of the rink skipped by Australian star Sarah Boddington to win the prized State Carnival at Warilla BC.

The South Coast-based Milton Ulladulla team of Cherilyn Brace, Robyn Taylor, Sandra Crimmins and Jan Winter lost a tight final to Boddington and partners in an event which featured 192 teams and ran for five days.