Two premierships in the space of 24 hours for Terry Thomson and her Campaspe weekend Division 4a rink signalled the start of a major celebration for the quartet of Moama lawn bowlers.
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Thomson, on Friday, had been part of the Campaspe midweek Division 2 premiership win against Tongala. And it was her rink that combined to influence the Moama Red win against Rochester in Saturday’s Division 4a victory.
Her lead bowlers, Lyn Snell, Yvonne Hinsley and Sandra Harvey, were all involved in a last-end win for the Moama Division 3 midweek team on Friday against Deniliquin.
And there was a repeat of that performance on Saturday as they won the final end for a 43-40 overall win.
Thomson, Snell, Hinsley and Harvey started the 62nd — and final — end of the grand final with the overall score 40 apiece.
Minutes earlier Rochester skip Greg Watkins had tied with his Moama opposite number Bob Neal after a spectacular comeback on the final two ends of the match.
Watkins and Neal finished on 19 apiece, but with two ends remaining Neal held a five-shot lead. The Rochester skip, on his home rink, collected two shots on the 20th end and three on the final end to square the match.
There was little between the pair in the opening 11 ends; in fact, only one shot before three wins on the next four ends gave Neal a six-shot lead.
Five shots for the Rochester skip on ends 16 and 17 reduced the margin to one before another change in momentum put Neal in charge.
All the while on the neighbouring rink there was a see-sawing battle between the competition’s two leading skips, Thomson and Rochester’s Jenny Major.
They had avoided each other all season, but when the draw was completed for the grand final they were pitted against each other in the most important match.
And there was no-one left disappointed at the end of 21 ends.
Major led 10-4 after eight ends, but a pair of three-shot hauls to Thomson and a bag of five shots on the 12th put the Moama skip six shots up after 14 ends.
Major responded with a five-shot haul of her own on the 17th end, which levelled the match again. Three shots for Thomson on the 18th end swung the momentum back in favour of Moama, prior to successive end wins squaring the ledger with one end to play.
Moama held the shot from the opening bowl and ended with three, Thomson electing not to put down her final bowl, and the team won by three shots.
• Three of Tongala’s most loved lawn bowls families paved the way for a drought-breaking Campaspe weekend Division 1 title on Saturday, all but three of the team carrying the Tinning, Lyon or Hammond name.
Along with Brad Belcher, Bill Hatzie and Wayne Cowley the Tongala team completed a thrilling one-shot win against Echuca after two rinks were tied and the other ended in a one-shot Tongala win.
The grand final day victory was Tongala’s third win against Echuca in a six-week time frame.
Tongala beat the minor premier in round 11, then again in the semi-final and finally at Rochester Bowls Club on grand final day.
It was Tongala’s first division one premiership since 2013-14 and first grand final appearance since 2016-17, but there was no lack of grand final experience in the line-up.
In fact, skipper Greg Lyon and lead Geoff Tinning both pocketed their fifth premiership medallions as a result of the Tongala 2021-22 victory.
The pair’s first win came in the 1983-84 season and almost four decades later they were on the dais again.
Tinning was one of five players bearing the famous surname in the Tongala outfit, with son Barry and grandsons Jaryd and Bradley all playing on the same rink.
The fifth member of the family, Peter Tinning, was leading for Jack Hammond’s rink.
Then there was the father-and-son combination of Sam and Greg Lyon, along with Steve and Jack Hammond.
Jack Hammond’s story will be re-told for generations as he went from a non-starter in season 2021-22 to the only skip who managed to win his rink on grand final day.
Hammond beat highly credential Echuca skip Dennis Compton by one shot, with his father, Steve, as third — the man chiefly responsible for him playing lawn bowls this season.
“I picked him in round one despite the fact he told me he wasn’t playing. I told him to help us out this week and then he could make up his mind after that,” Steve Hammond said.
Jack Hammond skipped his father’s rink in that round one match against Mathoura and hasn’t looked back. Now he has a Division 1 lawn bowls premiership at just 24 years of age.
Echuca was certainly no pushover, as the 54-53 scoreline indicates, the 63 ends of the afternoon resulting in 38 single shot results.
The three rinks ended in a one-shot win for Jack Hammond against Compton, a 20-all draw between Lyon and James Ferrier and a second tie, 17-all, between Bradley Tinning and Ian Page.
It was Page who sent down the final bowl of the grand final. His team was trailing by three shots overall after 62 ends, the referee called to the rink on the second last end to measure for a second Lyon shot.
Page and his rink needed three shots for a tie and four shots for an amazing victory. He collected two shots and the Tongala celebrations started.
• Phillip Cunnington’s Campaspe Division 3 weekend final series came to a climax on Saturday when he produced a come-from-behind tie to help his side to premiership glory.
Two weeks earlier it was Cunnington who took the lead for Lockington with a big semi-final win to allow it safe passage to the grand final. In a replay of that match with Moama the Lockington outfit walked away with a 58-50 victory.
Cunnington only managed a draw in the grand final, but with seven ends remaining he faced a six-shot deficit and produced an inspired 15th end, which swung the momentum of the match.
Pitted against Roy Jackson the Lockington skip had won just four of the opening 14 ends and faced a six-shot deficit. On the 15th end he wiped that margin out by taking six shots on the end to square the match with six ends to play.
Jackson responded by winning two of the next three ends before another three-shot haul for Cunnington squared the match again, with two ends remaining.
The skips took one shot each on those final ends for a 19-all draw.
Leanne McInnes’ five-shot win against Barry Cuttriss was the most significant result of the grand final. She won all but four of the opening 17 ends and was a 12-shot leader with just four ends to play.
Cuttriss produced a significant charge to end the match, winning all four of those ends to cut the margin back to five and lose 14-19 to the Lockington skip.
Graham Turner and Moama’s Tony Hawley did battle on the remaining rink, an early 5-1 lead for Turner cancelled when Hawley took four shots on the 11th end to square the match at 11 shots apiece.
Turner took three shots on the 12th end and built his lead to five before Hawley won successive ends and was just two behind with one end remaining.
Turner won that end, his 11th of the match, to win overall 20-17.
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