After two days of battle it was the home side of Central Coast that ended up victorious in the 2019 Veteran's (Over 70) Inter Zone Sides Championship held at The Greens The Entrance on the 31st October and 1st November.
Competition was very close. In Section 1, Zone 9 (Sydney North Shore) won by only one point over Zone 13 (Sydney South & Central). Zones 2 (Newcastle) and Zone 3 (North west NSW) fought hard on the 2nd day to only allow the other Zones two rinks to one wins.
Overnight in Section 2 all four Zones (Zone 4 Mid-Western NSW), (Zone 6 - Hunter), (Zone 10 Sydney North West) and (Zone 15 Central Coast) had won one game each. It was Zone 15 who emerged section winners on the 2nd day due to a 3 rink to nil win over their neighboring Zone 6. Zone 10 were only able to defeat Zone 4 by two rinks to one. It was notable that Zone 4's winning rink was skipped by Lindsay Wilding who actually skipped a rink for Central Coast last year, but during 2019 moved to Forbes. Lindsay still remains one of the Central Coast's favorite bowlers.
The final between neighboring Zones 15 Central Coast and 9 Sydney North Shore was a fluctuating affair with Central Coast leading early but Northern Sydney came back strongly. However, Central Coast held on to its lead until the finish. It was a great game suitable for a final. It included a strategic wrong bias by Miro Perovic which his team members assured me was intentional as Miro did not want to disturb the head, but did not want to declare the head. Such loyalty to the skip resulted from the team winning all four of their games with their 23 to 8 win in the final being the backbone of the Central Coast's win. Congratulations to Miro Perovic, Kevin Bowcock, Warren Smith and David Cameron (Yes, our Chairman of Selectors played in the side and played very well)..
Thanks are extended to The Greens the Entrance for their hosting of the event in particular Bowls Manager Beth Quinlan, Chef David Hallam and Peter Bowler. Also, to the Zone 15 Chairman of Match, Garry Ellis who acted as Controlling Body and posted the progress scores on the Zone 15 web site during the games.
For more info on results click progressive scores
Joyous winners (back row l to r): Peter Hamill (Toukley Dist), Kevin Bowcock (Avoca Beach), Ray McDarmont (Bateau Bay), Fhil Flippence (The Entrance), Neil William's (The Entrance), Miro Perovic (The Entrance), David Buttery (The Entrance) and Brian Emms (diggers - manager)
Front Row: Grahame Smith (Halekulani), Michael Bell (The Entrance), Alan Lewin (Ettalong), Dick Thornton (The Entrance), David Cammeron (Gosford City) and Warren Smith (Halekulani).
