Sebastopol vs Victoria 23-24 BHBR Division 1 Grand Final
Sebastopol Bowling Club and Victoria Bowling Club are set to do battle in the 23-24 BHBR Saturday Pennant Division 1 Grand Final for the Ballarat district playing area on Sunday, 10th March 2024 at the Ballarat Bowling Club.
Sebastopol defeated BMS 103-69 last Saturday to advance to the grand final, while Victoria beat Webbcona 86-79 in the first semi final, before backing up the following day to defeat BMS 98-73 in the preliminary final, earning back-to-back grand finals in the process after winning over BMS last year.
When: Sunday, 10th March 2024
Where: Ballarat Bowling Club
Time: 11:00am
BHBR Div 1 Grand Final Teams
Rink 1
SBC: Anthony Beacham, Brian Johnson, Tim Beacham, Scott Roberts (Skip)
VBC: Kane Silbereisen, David Leeson, Anthony (Tony) Wood, Craig Ford (Skip)
Rink 2
SBC: Kevin Lynch, Alan Jones, John Garvin, Will Matthews (Skip)
VBC: Paul Tudorovic, Michael Cunningham, Noel Verlinden, Barry Clark (Skip)
Rink 3
SBC: Bruce Carter, Gary Green, Ian Warner, Rob Baker (Skip)
VBC: Kevin Haintz, Kevin Coad, Wayne Lynch, Brenton Coad (Skip)
Rink 4
SBC: Fred Reus, David Ellis, Greg Brown, Paul Lovell (Skip)
VBC: Donna Leeson, Michael Curtis, Sunni Haynes, Stephen Britt (Skip)
View Div 1 teams and results here.
Due to the forecast hot weather predicted, the grand final is starting at 11am in the morning.
Head to Head this Season
Statistically these sides are evenly matched, with one win apiece and Sebastopol scoring 163 shots in their two meetings and Victoria 157.
Victoria won 4 rinks, Sebastopol 3, and one drawn rink.
Round 4 @ Sebastopol
Sebastopol 78-3 vs Victoria 87-15
R1: Sebastopol (S. Roberts) 17-23 Victoria (B. Clark)
R2: Sebastopol (W. Matthews) 23-15 Victoria (S. Haynes)
R3: Sebastopol (R. Baker) 24-24 Victoria (C. Ford)
R4: Sebastopol (P. Lovell) 14-25 Victoria (B. Coad)
Victoria won two rinks by 11 and 6 shots and drew another in the Round 4 clash at Sebastopol, while the home team managed one rink win courtesy of Will Matthews rink.
View Round 4 results here.
Round 13 @ Victoria
Victoria 74-4 vs Sebastopol 85-14
R1: Victoria (B. Coad) 24-10 Sebastopol (S. Roberts)
R2: Victoria (S. Britt) 19-14 Sebastopol (W. Matthews)
R3: Victoria (S. Haynes) 9-34 Sebastopol (P. Lovell)
R4: Victoria (C. Ford) 18-27 Sebastopol (R. Baker)
In the return match (Round 13) at Victoria, it was two rink wins each, with Sebastopol managing 25 and 9 shot rink wins, while the home team managed 14 and 5 shot wins.
View Round 13 results here.
It’s worth noting that Brenton Coad’s rink for Victoria won both times by 11 and 14 shots respectively, and the in form Rob Baker rink will need to quell that rink’s dominance on Sunday.
The Scott Roberts rink for Sebastopol went down both times by 6 and 14 shots and will be looking for redemption against Craig Ford’s rink.
Skip’s Player Ladder
Below are the Skip’s player ladder for the 18 round home and away season
| Rink 1 | Team | Played | Wins | For | Agst | +/- | Shot % | Ave For | Ave Agst |
| S. Roberts | SBC | 18 | 11 | 354 | 298 | 56 | 118.79 | 19.7 | 16.6 |
| C. Ford | VBC | 17 | 10 | 355 | 299 | 56 | 118.73 | 20.9 | 17.6 |
| Rink 2 | |||||||||
| W. Matthews | SBC | 18 | 12 | 330 | 297 | 33 | 111.11 | 18.3 | 16.5 |
| B. Clark | VBC | 15 | 9 | 328 | 236 | 92 | 138.98 | 21.9 | 15.7 |
| Rink 3 | |||||||||
| R. Baker | SBC | 17 | 11 | 351 | 294 | 57 | 119.39 | 20.6 | 17.3 |
| B. Coad | VBC | 16 | 13 | 387 | 230 | 157 | 168.26 | 24.2 | 14.4 |
| Rink 4 | |||||||||
| P. Lovell | SBC | 17 | 10 | 346 | 265 | 81 | 130.57 | 20.4 | 15.6 |
| Stephen Britt | VBC | 3 | 3 | 67 | 41 | 26 | 163.41 | 22.3 | 13.7 |
Victoria appears to have a decided advantage on Skip player ladder averages for shots gained and conceded by their skips over the season.
All four Victoria rinks average 20+ shots for, with two rinks conceding less than 15 shots on average, which are impressive figures to take into a grand final.
On average, Sebastopol’s four rinks concede around 15 to 18 shots, with only two rinks averaging more than 20 shots gained.
View Div 1 Player Ladder here.
In what looms as an enthralling contest between two in form teams, the emerging Sebastopol outfit with its blend of inexperience and wise old heads taking on the experienced reigning champions in the battle for Division 1 premiership glory.
Good luck to both teams!
Featured photo: Grand final skippers – Victoria’s Craig Ford, Sebastopol’s Scott Roberts, Victoria’s Barry Clark, Sebastopol’s Will Matthews, Victoria’s Brenton Coad, Sebastopol’s Rob Baker, Victoria’s Stephen Britt, Sebastopol’s Paul Lovell. (Picture by Lachlan Bence)