Sport
21 December, 2025
Woodies are rolling clear
INGLEWOOD’S weekend Division 1 bowls team is on a roll, with a five-shot win over Bendigo last Saturday.
The win sees the Woodies seventh on the ladder, two matches and 25 points ahead of bottom side Golden Square.
In a tense contest, Inglewood won three of the four rinks, which more than compensated for one heavy loss.
Overall, the Woodies won by 82-77 shots, and took away 16 points to Bendigo’s two.
The best rink was Blake Smyth, David Whitehead, Lindsay Kelly and Craig Kelly (skip), with a 12-shot win.
Division 5 lost 97-53 at Castlemaine on the host’s difficult synthetic green, with a massive 36-3 loss by one rink the overwhelming reason for defeat.
All four rinks were beaten, but the other three losses were by two, four and five shots respectively.
The closest-run rink was Edna Patterson, Dionne Roberts, Brendan Hopcott and skip Christine McEwan’s two-shot defeat.
Inglewood’s midweek Division 4 team forfeited to Strathfieldsaye, with many bowlers attending Howard Rochester’s funeral.
Division 1 remained at the bottom of the ladder after losing to Kangaroo Flat 80-39. All three rinks were beaten, with that of Simon Laird, Blake Smyth, Lindsay Kelly and Pam Lewis (skip) going down by just six shots.
BRIDGEWATER
The weekend Division 5 team won 93-75 against Campbells Creek to stay at the top of the ladder going into the Christmas break.
Once again, all rinks got off to a solid start and held a 13-shot lead at the half-time bell.
They held their nerve to extend the lead to 18 shots at the end of the day, despite one rink’s 27-14 loss.
Two rinks came away with 11-shot wins, including the legendary ‘Dad’s Army’ side of Peter Short, Bob Smith, Nick Saunders and skip John Fagan.
The other best-performing rink was skippered by Curtis Mangan, with Lachlan Catto, Vern Wilson and Rae Broadbent in support.
The Goldfields side travelled to play Dunolly Green and managed to get the chocolates with a thrilling one-shot win, 37-38.
Ian Clutton’s rink prevailed by two shots to secure victory.
The team now has a 4-6 record for the season and is sixth on the ladder.