Carnival Carnage As Favourites Falter

Illawarra Mercury

Monday December 29, 2008

By JOEL RITCHIE

UPSETS were the name of the game on day one of the 50th South Pacific Bowls Carnival, when early favourites Matt Sargeant and Eric Johannes were dumped out of the fours competition.

Sargeant's composite crew of John Green, Brett Pieper and John Ritchie was drawn in the same section as Johannes' high-powered Warilla foursome of Rocky Stone, Wayne Crane and Jesse Noronha, setting up a mouth-watering first round match-up.

Most pundits expected one of those sides - both littered with representative talent and past South Pacific champions - to emerge from section 10 at Kiama.

However, both were upstaged by a foursome skipped by Towradgi's Dave Wakeling that included his father Dal and brothers Brian and Noel Davis.

Wakeling defeated Sargeant 21-12 in wet conditions after a storm flashed across the Illawarra on Saturday afternoon, to progress to the next stage.

Earlier, Sargeant defeated Johannes 16-12 to take what was thought to be a major step towards post-sectional play, which will be held at Albion Park on Tuesday.

"I was really happy with the way we performed against Eric's team first-up," Sargeant said.

The defending player of the carnival was not shocked at his side's early demise at the hands of the unheralded Towradgi Park outfit.

"Wako (Wakeling) is a good player and he has been in the Zone 16 side ... I didn't know a lot about his second and third players," Sargeant said.

"It shows anything can happen in bowls. We just got outplayed ... at the end they got some good results and we didn't take our opportunities."

Meantime, three-time player of the carnival Troy Somerville needed a last-gasp effort to make it out of section 1 at Albion Park.

Somerville's Dapto Citizens crew were facing elimination at the hands of a Wiseman Park outfit skipped by Glen Taylor, but scored a winning margin with the last bowl of the last end of their match to scrape through.

Fellow heavyweights Shane Garvey (Engadine), Geoff McGillivray (Warilla), Mick Wolter (WPWC), Scott Bateup (Oak Flats) and defending champion Tom Ellem also progressed.

Day One results

Fours section winners, Saturday:

Section 1: T. Somerville (Dapto Citizens) 2w+21

Section 2: A. Duncan (Albion Park) 3w+20

Section 3: Z. Bosev (Wollongong RSL) 2w+27

Section 4: C. Roberts (Dapto Citizens) 3w+48

Section 5: P. Thelan (Dapto Citizens) 2w+20

Section 6: B. Constable (WPWC) 3w+20

Section 7: B. Hazlegrove (Thirroul) 2.5w+23

Section 8: G. McGillivray (Warilla) 3w+44

Section 9: G. Armstrong (Dapto) 3w+14

Section 10: D. Wakeling (Towradgi) 3w+28

Section 11: M. Wolter (Dapto Citizens) 2w+27

Section 12: R. Warren (Corrimal) 2w+29

Section 13: C. McCauley (Wollongong RSL) 2.5w+28

Section 14: S. Bateup (Oak Flats) 2w+14

Section 15: G. McIntyre (Kiama) 3w+21

Section 16: J. Tully (Bulli) 3w+33

Section 17: T. Ellem (Towradgi) 3w+23

Section 18: S. Garvey (Engadine) 2w+24

Section 19: G. McKirdy (St Marys RSL) 3w+35

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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