Julea Morgan and her Wiseman Park side moved a major step closer towards playing a next year's NSW State Championships after beating Warilla in the final of the Illawarra District Triples at Fairy Meadow BC.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wiseman Park won 25-12 to set up a clash against the champion Southern Highlands Triples team in the Regional Playoff decider at Albion Park BC on November 5.
The District final was a rematch of last year's decider with one personnel change with Mary Thomas (Wiseman Park) replacing Helen Hallenan and partnering Carol Owen (second) and skip Morgan against the defending champion Warilla combination of Shirley Berry, Pam Willetts and Trish Orgill.
The Regional Playoff winner advances to the State Triples finals at Club Malua in February.
''It's great to make the final here and even better to have a win,'' Morgan said.
''Last year they had a win over us, so it was good to get a victory this time around.''
Morgan said it was an excellent team-based performance to clinch the District crown against a top-class opponent.
Warilla skip Trish Orgill was also proud of her rink in qualifying for back-to-back District Triples finals.
''It's been a really good competition and we played well in all the matches,'' she said.
For Julea Morgan and Carol Owen it was the second District triumph in 2020 after winning the Senior Pairs competition.
The duo went on to continue a winning run for Illawarra in the Regional Playoff decider against Southern Highlands and booked a spot at the 2020 State Championships next February.
This season Illawarra's champion Singles, Open Pairs, Senior Pairs and Fours representatives all won their Regional Playoff matches.
The Wiseman Park Triples team will try and complete a full list of Illawarra representatives at the State Championships when they face the Southern Highlands champs next week.
Wiseman Park head into the Regional Playoff in great form after five wins to claim the District crown.
The District Triples featured 17 teams from seven clubs with Thomas, Owen and Morgan reaching the final after picked up eight shots on the last three ends in a hard-fought 22-12 win over Woonona's Michelle Fellows, Gail Banks and Vicki Bott.
In the decider, Morgan and partners led 5-3 and then won five of the next six ends to extend their advantage to 13-4. Orgill rallied and only trailed 13-11 before Wiseman Park won five of the last six ends in a 13-shot victory.
Orgill and partners had a tight 19-17 victory over clubmates Vicki Turner, Shirley Lindsay and Leone Barnett (skip) in their semi-final.
Wiseman Park, Corrimal, Figtree RSL, Woonona, Albion Park and Towradgi hosted knockout matches through to the quarter-finals.
Final four in Champion Pairs
Wet weather and trying conditions failed to halt the march of four teams into the semi-finals of the Zone 16 Champion of Club Champion Pairs.
A washout of round two last Saturday afternoon means the semi-finals and final will be played together on November 7 at Fairy Meadow BC.
Jackaroos teammates and Warilla Pairs champions Corey Wedlock and Aaron Teys are the team to beat after accounting for Bellambi champions Phil Bartrim and Mick Horrell 32-10 and Corrimal's Carl Morgan and Ron Miller 24-19 to qualify for the last four.
Warilla take on Oak Flats' Garry Sampson and Alan McDonald, beat Berkeley's Bernard Kelly and Martin King 26-16.
On the other side of the draw, Dapto Citizens take on Woonona for a spot in the decider.
Citos champions John Sperring and Rod Taylor were leading against Towradgi when the match was called off, with Sperring-Taylor then beating Kiama's Andrew Stewart and William Davies 21-9 to reach the semi-finals.
John Ritchie and Warren Hamilton (Woonona) had a strong 28-9 win over Bomaderry's Eric Lane and Geoff Tracey in round two and then beat Kembla Heights duo Clem Haywood and Bob Upton 21-14.
Kembla Heights featured in the best contest so far in beating Shoalhaven Heads' Rob Percival and Steve McMahon 15-14.
Shoalhaven Heads' Phil Power and Mick Anderson won the Zone Champion of Club Champion Pairs last year while the 2018 winners Geoff Walker and Mark Larsen had their bid a second crown end against Kiama champs Stewart and Davies in round two.
Nineteen club champion pairs teams nominated for the 2020 Zone Champion of Club Champion Pairs.
Classy field for singles battles
Some of the elite bowlers in the region will clash in the Zone Champion of Club Champion Singles at Fairy Meadow this weekend.
The event features 16 club Singles champions from Zone 16 chasing a Zone title and the chance to play for a state crown next year.
The field includes Irish international and Warilla singles champ Gary Kelly, plus Senior Jackaroo Robbie Warren (Wiseman Park), top Woonona bowler Barry Martin and duel Zone 16 Singles winner Brett Pieper (Albion Park).
All matches are at headquarters Fairy Meadow with the opening two rounds on Saturday, plus quarter-finals and semi-finals on Sunday. The final is November 7.
Club champions like Nobby Clark (Bellambi), Don Barnes (Kembla Heights) and Mark Halsey (Fairy Meadow) will also feature, while Grahame Cook won the Figtree Singles as a Grade 3 pennant bowler.
Brett Pieper has his sights on a second Zone 16 Champion of Club Champion Singles after winning the title in 2016 while at Dapto Citizens.
