Jackaroos wrap up Ireland Test Series
There was no resting on laurels for the BCiB Australian Jackaroos, who concluded their opening Test Series against Ireland with a third successive test victory overnight.
Despite the untarnished record at the host venue for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Royal Leamington Spa, it’s on good report that the final scoreline isn’t completely reflective of the closeness of the series, with both countries formidable and most matches going down to the wire.
The Australian women’s team notched up four wins from as many starts on the final day, but demonstrating the closeness of the competition, finished off with an overall margin of just 12 shots from these four hotly contested matches.
Once again, as far as match wins, the men came out square on day three, with the only difference being a 2 shot margin in favour of the Jackaroos.
When the dust had settled, 15 matches had been contested between both countries in the able-bodied disciplines, with Australia winning eight, Ireland seven and the Jackaroos finishing with a margin of just 1 shot.
When combined with the Para-Sport disciplines, the result was a little bit more emphatic, with Australia secured the overall series trophy 41 points (+55) to 19 points (-55) after 30 fixtures.
Whilst Australia may lay claim to a slightly higher win ratio, once again all matches were hotly contested, with National Coach Steve Glasson detailing some “exquisite performances”.
“Bowls Australia and the BCiB Australia Jackaroos sincerely thank Royal Leamington Spa Bowls Club, the Warwick District Council, Bowls England and of course Ireland for making this series possible, hotly contested and most enjoyable,” Glasson said.
“Apart from bearing witness to amazing qualities from all contestants, the highlight is certainly the display of inclusiveness Bowls provides and to see the Open and Disability compete as one is the biggest winner of all.”
The Jackaroos will now commence a three-day Test Series against Scotland at Royal Leamington Spa, before heading to Wales.
Bowls Australia would also like to express its appreciation to Commonwealth Games Australia for supporting and funding the BCiB Australian Jackaroos’ tour of the UK, in preparation for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Click here to view the itinerary for the Jackaroos’ UK Tour.
Overall standing after three tests:
Australia won the overall series trophy 41 points (+55) to 19 points (-55) after 30 fixtures.
Results from Australia v Ireland Test 3
Session 1
Women’s pairs: Kelsey Cottrell/Natasha Scott def Shauna O’Neil/Catherine Beattie 15-14
Women’s Triples: Karen Murphy/Chloe Stewart/Sam Shannahan def Ashleigh Rainey/Megan Devlin/Paula Montgomery 19-13
Men’s Pairs: Ray Pearse/Aaron Wilson lost to Stephen Kirkwood/Stuart Bennett 15 -16
Men’s Triples: Ben Twist/Aaron Teys/Corey Wedlock def Jack Moffatt/Ian McClure/Marty McHugh 15-12
Vision-impaired Pairs: Jake Fehlberg/Lynne Seymour def Eng 16-13
Bowlers with a disability Triples: Tony Bonnell/Chris Flavel/Josh Barry lost to Eng 16-17
Session 2
Women’s Singles: Natasha Scott def Shauna O’Neil 21-20
Women’s Fours: Kelsey Cottrell/Sam Shannahan/Chloe Stewart/Karen Murphy def Ashleigh Rainey/Megan Devlin/Paula Montgomery/Catherine Beattie 12-8
Men’s Singles: Ray Pearse lost to Stuart Bennett 19-21
Men’s Four’s : Ben Twist/Corey Wedlock/Aaron Wilson/Aaron Teys def Jack Moffatt/Stephen Kirkwood/Ian McClure/Marty McHugh 14-12
Vision-impaired Pairs: Lynne Seymour/Jake Fehlberg tied Eng 12-12
Bowlers with a disability Triples: Chris Flavel/Barry Brennan/Josh Barry def Eng 17-12
Session 3
Bowlers with a disability/Vision-impaired Pairs: Barry Brennan/Jake Fehlberg def Eng 26-4
Bowlers with a disability Triples: Tony Bonnell/Josh Barry/Chris Flavel def Eng 18-7
