Father and son Trent and Corey Thompson savoured their first Albion Park championship triumph together after winning the Club Fours recently.
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With Trent as lead and Corey as skip, plus Tony Murphy (second) and Rod Raftery (third), the rink beat giant-killers Dennis Hollier, Keith Coombes, Rob Claypole and Russell Shephard (skip) 22-14 in the final.
Shephard and partners only trailed 10-9 after 10 of the scheduled 21 ends before their more favoured rival won six of the next eight ends for a match-winning 20-13 advantage.
It was a great effort by the new champions and a special victory for Trent and Corey Thompson.
The finalists will also long remember their brilliant run in which they were underdogs in every round and had the biggest of upsets in the semi-finals, beating a rink skipped by Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Eagles legend Brett Duprez 23-18.
Meanwhile, the June long weekend featured one of Albion Park BC's most important annual events - the 52nd Don Hallett Snr Diggers Day of Bowls, supporting Legacy.
Roman Le, Warren Turner, Bryan Greenhalgh and David Walsh (three wins, +42) played brilliantly to be crowned champions with Tony Murphy, Mick Palmer, Ross Foran and Don Hallett Jnr (three wins, +36) runners-up.
The three-game winners were Daryl Rushworth, Vinny Ong, Ray Axam and Dean Chesher (G1, +7); Jesse Godfrey, Troy Green, Chris and John Bancroft (G2,+13); and Daryl Muolo, Paul Jones, Josh Childs and Chris Childs (G3,+11). The event was run by Albion Park BC and Albion Park RSL.
Continuing a massive few weeks for the club was an excellent turnout for its 24th Doug Miller Mixed Pairs.
Diane Costello and Gary Crittenden enjoyed their first competitive triumph, finishing unbeaten on three wins, with the best margin of +35.
The composite team of Vikki Wilson and Mark Hobil (3wins+30) were the only other three-game winners to be narrow runners-up, with Albion Park couple Amy and Corey Thompson third on (2.5 wins, +21).
The three individual game prize winners were Game 1: Debbie and Warren Kelly (Oak Flats, +19); Game 2: Angela and Chris Smith (Composite, +16) and Game 3: Sue and Tom Moore (St Georges Basin, +15). Special thanks to sponsors One Agency and Sam Neill and Renee Jones for their attendance.
Finally, the Eagles' Major Minor Pairs is down to the final with Di Costello and Warren Turner to face Dean Chesher and Chris McLay, following two excellent semi-finals.
Costello and Turner beat Tess Godfrey and Rod Raftery 22-19 to book their final's berth, while Chesher and McLay had a thrilling 23-22 win over Danny Srbinovski and Rick Beringer.
A date for the decider has yet to be finalised.
Warilla rise to the occasion
A top Warilla ladies rink skipped by Leone Barnett emerged victorious in the prestigious Illawarra District Carnival at Warilla Bowls.
Barnett was partnered by her sister Shirley Lindsay, plus Raewyne Black and Kath Douglas and were the best of just two three-game winners from a field of 22 Illawarra club sides.
The Warilla foursome had three wins and a +20 margin to edge out another Warilla side skipped by Diane Davis (three wins, +15). Woonona's Vicki Bott and partners were held to an 11-11 draw in their third game to finish third overall on 2.5 wins (+6).
Fourth-placed Marion Skinner (Warilla) was in contention to win the event after a five-shot win in Game 1 and seven-shot win in Game 2 but was held to a 9-9 draw in Game 3.
Oak Flats' Margaret Berk and partners were fifth but also had their hopes of victory slip in Game 3 with a five-shot loss after winning Game 1 by 11 shots and Game 2 impressively by 13 shots.
A total of 11 clubs nominated for the District Carnival, one of the top events on the Illawarra Women's calendar, after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID.
The next big event on the women's schedule is the return of the popular representative competition - the Anderson Irvine Shield on July 29.
Soldiers Point's state triumph
Soldiers Point duo Jan Sutherland and Betty Herbertson proved unstoppable in an unbeaten run to the 2021 Women's Champion of Club Champion Pairs title.
The top-class combination beat Kurri Kurri's Eugenie Muncaster and Leisa Morgan 22-14 at Merrylands BC with the final on the same day the Men's Champion of Club Champion Singles decider won by Macquarie Dubbo's Jono Davis at South Tamworth BC.
It was the second State Champion Pairs title for Herbertson, who joins bowls legend Karen Murphy (Cabramatta) and Genevieve Delves (Raymond Terrace) as two-time champions, one victory behind Natasha Van Eldik.
The Soldiers Point duo won three sectional matches, plus the round of 16, quarter-final, semi and final to claim the 2021 Champion Pairs title.
Sutherland and Herbertson were in fine touch in a 26-7 semi win over Cowra's Dawn Dye and Sharan Hubber, with Kurri Kurri edging a fast-finishing Merrylands 17-14 to make the final.
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