Gallery | Mooroopna Golf sneaks home in tight tussle with Merrigum as weekend pennant action returns

By Zac Standish

Oct 2, 2022

Perfect form: Mooroopna Golf’s Noel Halden. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

After a long and gloomy winter, weekend pennant bowls made its much-anticipated return to the Goulburn Valley Playing Area on Saturday.

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Greeted by perfect conditions, division five bowlers were the only ones that opened their campaign at the weekend due to the league’s staggered start to the season.

Eyes on the ball: Mooroopna Golf’s Judy McDonald. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

But there was still plenty of drama that unfolded across the greens, with four of the five scheduled matches going ahead.

A tense clash between Merrigum and Mooroopna Golf served as the headline act of the round one proceedings.

In the game: Merrigum’s Colin Capes. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

In what was a bizarre match of bowls, Merrigum won three of the four rinks, but was still unable to come away with the victory ‒ as the final score read 12-75 to 6-68.

This was due to the herculean effort of Noel Halden and his rink two squad, which produced a stunning 35-8 victory.

Fun time: Mooroopna Golf’s Ken Maude. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

Giving Golf a 27-shot buffer, Merrigum was unable to peg back the lead, with winning margins of 12, six and two in the remaining rinks leaving it seven shots short.

Elsewhere, Dookie prevailed in a tough contest against Seymour VRI 16-75 to 2-64.

Concentration: Mooroopna Golf’s Jason McConkey. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

A tight tussle across the green, Jason Mulkeen (22-15), Gary Lowe (21-15) and Des Thorp (17-15) would provide the necessary victories for Dookie to get over the line.

VRI would salvage some points courtesy of the efforts of Mario Furletti, who orchestrated a 19-15 triumph in rink three.