The Illawarra District champion Open Pairs and Senior Pairs teams won tough Regional Playoff matches to seal a spot at the 2021 Women's State Championships.
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Julie Woods and Kay Gill became Towradgi's first District Pairs champions last February, while in June Oak Flats' Sharman Clark and Vicki Brown played brilliantly to claim the Senior Pairs title.
The four-month COVID lockdown meant the Regional Playoffs against Southern Highlands Association champion Bowral were postponed until last Thursday at Oak Flats BC.
The champions in Open and Senior Fours and Pairs, plus Triples and Singles from Illawarra and Highlands meet to decide a spot at the Women's State Championships, with the 2021 championships rescheduled to next March. In the Senior Pairs playoff Clark and Brown beat Bowral's Patricia Pierson and Julie Hayden 20-16 over 21 hard-fought ends in steamy, humid conditions.
There was not more than four shots between the teams with the momentum shifting several times.
A Bowral three on the 11 th end tied the score 9-9, but the Oak Flats ladies, playing in front of their home supporters on their home green, picked up four shots on the next two ends to lead 13-9.
But just as Oak Flats edged clear 15-12 with six ends remaining Bowral had their best spell of the match.
The visitors picked up a single shot on four straight ends to lead 16-15 with just two ends remaining; their first lead since 6-5.
Oak Flats found their stroke and poise just when they needed it and picked up a two and then a final-end three to win 20-16 in a memorable playoff final.
The Open Pairs decider over 18 ends was just as dramatic with the Towradgi ladies triumphant over Bowral's Lynne Boshier and Erin Brown (skip) 19-16.
There was little between the teams with the result in dispute until the final end.
Woods and skip Gill led 7-3 before Bowral picked up a two and a four to claim their first lead, 9-7.
But in a critical phase Towradgi struck back winning four of the next five ends, including a four on the 14 th to lead 17-12; the biggest advantage of the match.
Bowral picked up a three on the next end and a single on the penultimate end, but Towradgi remained resolute in a gritty three shot triumph.
The Towradgi and Oak Flats teams along with 2021 District Triples champions Figtree RSL and Open Fours winners Windang and Senior Fours champions Warilla - the reigning NSW Senior Fours champions - will take their places at the 2021 Women's State Championships.
The championships will be hosted by South Tamworth and West Tamworth bowling clubs from March 30 to April 8. The 2021 Illawarra Mixed Pairs Championship which was cancelled in July due to COVID has been rescheduled for January 30 at Windang BC.
Windang eye BPL Cup spot
Three Windang bowlers have their sights on a trip to Victoria in February and a place in the coveted Bowls Premier League Cup finals.
The BPL Cup is a national club-based tournament, a two-bowl triples event with each match played over two five-end sets and one end tie-break if required, with state and territory winners a spot in the main draw at Moama,
Windang's Gary Sampson, Steve Sprod and Dave Tyrrell are among just 12 teams to qualify for the NSW State Finals - the last knockout stage - this Saturday at St Georges Basin BC; with a team from Zone 16's Warilla, Jamberoo and Fairy Meadow also represented.
Only the winner from the St Georges Basin playoff qualifies for the Cup main draw.
Sampson, Sprod and Tyrrell sealed their place in the State Finals with a straight sets victory over two Warilla teams, plus a tie-break win over Figtree Sports at the Cup's Regional Finals last Sunday week at Warilla.
The goal is now to win their section or be the best second-placed side, and then win a semi-final and final to earn a coveted place at Moama BC from February 21-25.
Fairy Meadow's Thomas Webb and Warilla's Geoff McGillivray and Brian Suckley are among a host of top bowlers from Zone 16 also just one step away.
Brown, Irwin Pairs champs
Vicki Brown's run of excellent form has continued at club level after partnering Joanne Irwin to win the Oak Flats Women's Major Pairs championship.
Brown and Irwin beat Dianna Knowles and Margaret Berk in a hard-fought final, while last May, Brown reached Oak Flats Women's Major Singles final, with Ladies president Christine Coen winning the title.
Last week Brown and Sharman Clark earned Oak Flats a shot at the NSW State Senior Pairs crown after winning a Regional Playoff thriller 20-16 against Bowral.
Read more: Who is the next Dapto Megastar?
Brown and Clark won the Illawarra District Senior Pairs last June defeating former District champions Carol Owen and Julea Morgan in the final. Brown and Clark showed no nerves in an accomplished display in their first District decider.
Oak Flats' great season in District bowls continued in pennants by winning the Grade 3 flag and runners-up in Grade 2. The Grade 3 triumph confirms Oak Flats' place at the 2021 Women's State Pennants Finals in March at Forster BC.
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