Funells fly flag for Wanderers in PNB pairs

By Bob Hayward

WITH the PNB pairs down to the semis, one hope remains for Wanderers Bowling Club in the shape of Graham and Craig Funnell who fought off a determined challenge from Wayne Johnstone and Eddie Steffens of Umhlali Country Club to prevail 19-12.

They earlier despatched Toti’s Greg McLeod and partner in a fine 30-11 win.

Next Sunday they will face the Stella Park pairing of Dion Audi and Wayne Rittmuller in the semis. Coincidentally, another Funnell team comprising brother of Graham and Craig, Derek, playing with his son Russell and representing Westville Bowling Club also made it to the semis and will face the Durban pair of Keith Orrel and John Horn. This means that in theory, there just could be an “all Funnell” final in this year's event.

Footnote: Richard Hendicott and Anthony Carr could not have come closer – their match again Alan Bird and Alan Finestone was peeled at full time, necessitating an extra end. Being two down with just his last bowl to go, Richard drew a perfect shot, nestling the jack, leaving Alan Finestone no option but to drive with his last bowl. The drive was true, and the jack was carried into the ditch, together with Richard’s toucher which ricocheted awkwardly, but there was an opposition bowl in a closer position.

Last Wednesday’s roadrunners pairs resulted in the following pairs getting prizes for the various skins: The first went to Greg McGuinness and Bill Addinall on plus 10; the second was won by Dave McCann and Eric Miller on plus 13 and Dennis Gericke and Eric Redman won the third on plus nine. The second best overall score of the day went to Derek Stevens and Terry Brown with a 10+27, but the overall runaway winners were the women pairing of Gerrie Jackson with Stella Park visitor Michelle Nortje who achieved a huge 10+41 to steal the show and take the main prize. Derek Stevens was also lucky with the meat raffle and Errol Pienaar (R40) and Willie Gericke (R20) shared the board draw spoils. One happy couple, Gladys Myburgh and Ken Thomas achieved an eight (perfect fluke) during their match. The lotto was a carryover.

In club competitions, an elated novice, Shaun McAlister trounced the experienced Andy Andraschko 21-9 in the men’s handicap singles, Clive Symons defeated Mike Flack 21-11 and Arnie Harper defeated Dennis Gericke in the 'seniors'. Lofty Cawthorne and Chantal Hearnshaw beat Joan Bruce and Ken Koch 23-15 in the drawn mixed pairs. Two matches in the men’s drawn pairs resulted in Peter Prenger and Terry Brown beating Archie Fisher and Russell Shepherd by nine shots or so, and Steve Van Rooyen and Shaun McAlister won 29-14 with ends to spare against Jeff Bolt and Colin Howes.

Upcoming events: Next Wednesday is Lyn Wild’s open pairs, Saturday is club competitions day and Sunday is the PNB pairs semis and finals. Note that the breakfast trips has been postponed to Sunday, 29 September owing to the clash with the PNB pairs. On Friday evening Jeff Sausage will entertain members in the bar after the snowball and raffle. The snowball was not won last week, so goes to R700. This time Mrs Salton was not present when her number was drawn.

The various meat winners were: Lamb pack,PJ Sparks; chicken pack, Thomas Simpkins; rump steak, Carole Lauderdale; pork ribs, Maggie (Mitty); chicken, Wayne Unger.

Snippet: Foot fault: This bears repeating. It is quite remarkable how often one will notice a bowler foot faulting one way or another. Law 20.1 is clear: “Before delivery a player should be standing on the mat with one foot fully on the mat. At the moment that they deliver a jack or a bowl, the player should have all or part of one foot on or above the mat”. So those toes or heels hanging over the mat before delivery do constitute a foot fault, and however slight this infringement may be, the potential penalties still apply. These are laid out in Law 21.1-21.4 which in summary could result in a warning for the first occasion, and if repeated after such warning is given, the umpire may have the player’s bowl stopped and declared dead. “If (21.3) it is not possible to stop the bowl before it disturbs the head, the opponent should choose whether to a) Replace the head, b) leave the head as altered, or c) declare the end dead”. Note the potentially serious implications of this law. The opponent has all the say, and will obviously choose the situation which suits his team the most. Let’s all take more care with how we stand on the mat as currently, this law is the most frequently breeched of all.