Lawn Bowls
3 March, 2025
Coughlin Park take home two premierships
The Coughlin Park Bowling Club won the Division Two and Three premierships in the Wimmera Playing Area Lawn Bowls Pennant competition.
In division two, they upset Nhill 70-59, and in division three, they defeated Nhill in a thriller by one shot, which came down to the final end of one rink.
Nhill finished the season as the standout team on top of the ladder with 12 wins, four ahead of Coughlin Park and entered the grand final as favourites.
Coughlin Park dominated two of the three rinks on their way to victory. Rink three skippered by Zac Stephan, featuring Shirley Schorback, Adrian Besselaar and Damien Bryan won 27-17 over the rink skippered by Colin Alexander, featuring Jeff Fritsch, Mary Blackwood and Shaun McDonald.
Rink one, skippered by Daryl Dumesny and featuring Dennis Wade, Graeme Scobie, and Vincent Antonucci, won 30-14 over the rink skippered by Larry Bywaters and featuring Michelle Robins, Barry Cramer, and Bob Schneider.
Nhill's winning rink, skippered by Philip Henseleit and featuring Pam Cramer, Daryl Leyonhjelm, and Barry Schultz, won 28-13 over the rink skipped by Paul O'Shannessy, featuring Robert Mewburn, Wendy Sleep, and Graeme Bryan.
In Division Three, Nhill and Coughlin park were the best all season, winning 10 and 9 games and finishing first and second on the ladder, respectively, so a thrilling match was always in store.
Nhill won two of the three rinks on the day, but it was rink two that Coughlin Park did the most damage. Skippered by Stephen Schorback, featuring Mark Schumann, Beverly Phillips and Christopher Oliver, they won 19-11. Clint Beattie skippered Nhill's rink, which featured Matthew Morrison, Ian Marra, and Ronald Beer.
The thrilling rink in the match was a 19-18 win for Nhill, skippered by Colin Pryor and featuring Carl Thiele, Bruce Beacom, and Peter McDonald. Coughlin Park's rink featured Linda Thompson, Raymond Watson, and Faye Anderson and was skippered by Judy Bryan.
Nhill won the other rink 16-10. It was skippered by Maurice Haby and featured Nicholas Robins, Bruce Muller and Kelvin Deckert. Coughlin Park's rink was skippered by Colin Weir and featured Veronica Muller, Vincent Mellington and John McDonald.
Coughlin Park Bowling Club president Anthony Woodhead said it's a reward for the hard work everyone has put in during the season.
"Given the amount of players that we have gone through, with approximately 29 in Division Three and 25 in Division Two, it's a reward for everyone and the hard work they put in," Woodhead said.
"Due to those numbers, we could swap the players throughout the season to get the mixture right and we did that well.
"For the members that didn't get a game, it's a reward for their hard work and what they have done on and off the greens."
"To win two out of three is a credit to the entire club and the organisation."
Woodhead described both games as "exciting".
"Division Two has done very well in the last few months and the match was close throughout," Woodhead said.
"One rink was down a bit early, and another one was up a bit, so they cancelled each other out. The third rink was up and down and a couple of shots were in it at the break.
"After the break, that rink started to sneak away a bit, and the other rinks also started to change, but in the end we held on."
"In Division Three, Judy Bryan's rink was the last to finish. They had a comfortable lead early in the game and then Nhill came back and got right back into it and it was shot for shot."
"On that last end, Nhill were holding four shots which could have given them the game but Faye Anderson bowled a brilliant bowl when needed, and then Judy finished it off and even though they lost the end, they managed to secure the win."
