Two local sides advance to next round of BPL Cup following Gisborne qualifiers
Gisborne & District Bowling Club hosted BPL Cup qualifying matches on Saturday, 5th August 2023 with two local sides making it through to the next round.
The event fielded teams from Gisborne (3), Brunswick, Altona, Romsey, Glenroy and Sebastopol with teams split into two groups of four and sets play the order of the day.
Teams in each group played each other once with the winner of each section earning a berth in the next round of BLP Cup qualifiers.
It was a tricky day for bowlers with weather conditions changing throughout the day and the green running around 18 and very slick.
In Section 1, the Gisborne & District side of Tim Rogers, Terry Kelly and Peter Williams got through by the narrowest of margins over the Sebastopol outfit of Brian Johnson, Gary Shepherd, and Paul Lovell.
Despite losing 8-11 to the Sebastopol team in Round 2 of sectional play, the Gisborne & District side clinched it on their final bowl of the day courtesy of an outstanding last bowl by Peter Williams against Brunswick in their Round 3 game.
Gisborne and Brunswick were tied 3-3 in the second set with one bowl to play, after Gisborne won the first set 11-4, and required victory to win the section.
Up stepped Peter Williams to draw shot and snare a 4-3 set win and secure victory for the local team.
Sebastopol won their first two matches against Brunswick and Gisborne before losing their third game against Altona in a hard-fought tiebreaker.
Both sides finished on 6 points each in their group and it would be the Gisborne side advancing to the next round courtesy of a slightly better sets margin.
The Gisborne & District side of Damian Morgan, Frank Perich and Roland James finished on top of Section 2 with 9 points and advanced to the regional rounds.
They scored wins against Romsey and Glenroy and managed to dispose of fellow club competitors in Alan Higgins, Ethan Higgins and Russell Walker.
Congratulations to both Gisborne sides and good luck in the next round.