Women’s State Pennant Finals – Day 3 Wrap

by Billy Johnson

What a day of bowls! The Grade 1 and Grade 3 BCiB Women’s State Pennant Finals have been completed, with Cabramatta and hometown heroes Tuncurry-Forster Sports emerging as State Pennant Champions. Across the two finals, all players put on an absolute show for the crowd, gripping them from start to finish.

In Grade 1, Cabramatta came up against Charlestown, a side that had flown under the radar all competition despite having won all five of their sectional matches. Keen to continue their great run of form, the Newcastle side jumped out to a 16 – 5 lead courtesy of some fantastic play from Kay Shuttlewood and Gayle Gannon. Undeterred, the classy Cabramatta side clawed their way back into the match, eventually leading 30 – 29 after 33 ends.

What followed in the final ends were world class bowls, fitting of a Grade 1 State Final. Both teams traded blows, desperately trying to claim the lead. But as the old adage goes, there can only be one winner, and on this occasion it was Cabramatta, who have now won the Women’s Grade 1 State Pennant Final five times in the last nine years. The win was particularly fitting as it also marked the last game that club stalwart Kay Moran would play as a Bullant. Now playing at Figtree Sports, the Scottish International could not have dreamt of a better way to finish her time with the powerhouse Sydney club.

It was a similar story in the Grade 3 final between Tuncurry-Forster Sports and The Rules Club Wagga. For the first three quarters of the game, very little separated the two sides with the lead changing multiple times. The quality of bowls put down by both sides was incredible, entertaining the rinkside crowd. The pivotal moment came with six ends to go, when both Tuncurry-Forster Sports rinks picked up scores of four and five to catapult them into a ten-shot lead. From there, they stormed home to claim a 53 – 36 victory, and the first Women’s State Pennant in the club’s history.

All four teams playing in the afternoon’s finals proved what a spectacle bowls can be, encapsulating the crowd and putting on a show to remember!

To re-live all the action from the Grade 1 final, watch our live stream on the Bowls NSW Facebook page.

Click here to view the full Grade 1 Results

Click here to view the full Grade 3 Results