Scotland Series to go down to the wire
The BCiB Australian Jackaroos encountered a new opponent during the fourth day abroad at the 2019 UK Tour overnight, in one of their fiercest traditional rivals, Scotland.
The highly credible Scots ‘rolled’ into Leamington Spa with the team laced with talent and enthusiasm, albeit without some of the big names synonymous with the Blue & White contingent, and immediately flexed their muscles with classy performances.
It was evident the Scots came to play with purpose against the Jackaroos, particularly in the opening two rounds, handling the greens and at times tricky breeze better than the Southern Hemisphere opponents.
Prior to the last round, the Jackaroos took stock to reflect internally, and in turn, produced a more determined effort to round out the first test, despite giving Scotland the upper hand.
The evening session had it all on the line; 10 singles matches to determine the second test.
For the most part, the overall ledger wavered on a knife’s edge, however the Jackaroos ended up prevailing with seven wins to three, primarily courtesy of some heroic fight-backs from Natasha Scott, Ray Pearse and Ben Twist, in addition to sublime winning performances from Chloe Stewart, Karen Murphy, Corey Wedlock and Aaron Wilson.
As a result, the test series is level at 1-1, with a further four rounds to be staged across the weekend to determine the Series’ outcome.
Bowls Australia would also like to extend its appreciation to Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) for supporting and funding the BCiB Australian Jackaroos’ tour of the UK, in preparation for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Overall Test 1 and 2 results:
Test 1
Australian Women: 4 points (-17 shots) v Scotland 8 points (+ 17 shots)
Australian Men: 3 points (-7) v Scotland 9 points (+7 shots)
Overall: Australia 7 points (-24 shots) v Scotland 17 points (+ 24 shots)
Test 2
Australian Women: 6 points (+20 shots) v Scotland 4 points (-20 shots)
Australian Men: 8 points (+22 shots) v Scotland (2 points (-22 shots)
Overall: Australia 14 points (+44 shots) v Scotland 6 points (-44 shots).
The third test between these two proud nations extends over Saturday and Sunday (UK Time), including:
Saturday:
Rnd 1
Women’s Pairs & Triples
Men’s Pairs & Triples
Rnd 2
Women’s Singles & Fours
Men’s Singles & Fours
Rnd 3
Women’s Pairs & Triples
Men’s Pairs & Triples
Sunday:
Rnd 1 only
Women’s Singles & Fours
Men’s Singles & Fours
As is the case with all tests, the victor will be decided on rink wins – 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and if level on points, the result will be decided on shots for and against – promising an exciting and tough as nails decider.
Just as exciting is the adjoining Para-Sport Series, which includes Vision-Impaired Mixed Pairs and Bowlers with a disability Triples.
Australia’s Commonwealth Games Gold Medallists Lynne Seymour (with Director Bob Seymour) and Jake Fehlberg (with Director Grant Fehlberg) continue to gain momentum on the foreign English greens, accolades rolling in for their Scottish opponents, who secured their first two fixtures in fine style.
Unfortunately the third rubber, Lynne and Bob were forced to rest due to ill health and injury, however the show went on, courtesy of great sportsmanship by the Scots allowing Jackaroos Bowler with a disability representative Barry Brennan to step in to partner Jake Fehlberg.
In the Bowler with a disability Triples, following three hotly contested rounds, Australia holds the slightest of advantages, leading head to head 2-1.
Overall Para-Sport result:
Rnd 1 – Australia by 2 shots
Rnd 2 – Scotland by 1 shot
Rnd 3 – Australia by 4 shots
The Para-Sport series has a slightly different schedule to see their series out, including:
Test 2
Saturday:
2 x Vision Impaired Mixed Pairs
2 x AWD Triples
Test 3
Saturday Afternoon (1 rnd) & Sunday morning (1 rnd):
2 x Vision Impaired Mixed Pairs
4 x AWD Pairs
Results from Test 1 and 2:
Australia v Scotland Test Series
Test 1
Session 1
Women’s pairs: Kelsey Cottrell/Chloe Stewart lost to Dee Hoggan/Lauren Baillie 13 – 15
Women’s Triples: Karen Murphy/Samantha Shannahan/Natasha Scott def Emma McIntyre/Rebecca Houston/Carla Banks 16 – 13
Men’s Pairs: Ben Twist/Aaron Wilson lost to Darren Weir/Connor Milne 13 – 15
Men’s Triples: Corey Wedlock/Aaron Teys/Ray Pearse lost to Jason Banks/Alan Air/John Fleming
Vision-impaired Pairs: Lynne Seymour/Jake Fehlberg lost to Scotland 7 – 19
Bowlers with a disability Triples: Josh Barry/Tony Bonnell/Barry Brennan def Scotland 15 – 13
Session 2
Women’s Singles: Karen Murphy lost to Dee Hoggan 14 – 21
Women’s Fours: Chloe Stewart/Kelsey Cottrell/Samantha Shannahan/Natasha Scott lost to Emma McIntyre/Rebecca Houston/Carla Banks/Lauren Baillie-White 11 – 21
Men’s Singles: Aaron Wilson lost to John Fleming 5 – 21
Men’s Fours : Ray Pearse/Ben Twist/Aaron Teys/Corey Wedlock lost to Alan Air/Jason Banks/Darren Weir/Connor Milne 12 – 13
Vision-impaired Pairs: Jake Fehlberg/Lynne Seymour lost to Melanie Innes/Robert Barr 9 – 25
Bowlers with a disability Triples: Tony Bonnell/Barry Brennan/Chris Flavel lost to Billy Allan/Glen Livingston/George Guthrie 10 – 11
Session 3
Women’s pairs: Chloe Stewart/Natasha Scott lost to Emma McIntyre/Carla Banks 15 – 19
Women’s Triples: Samantha Shannahan/Karen Murphy/Kelsey Cottrell def Rebecca Houston/Dee Hoggan/Lauren Baillie-Whyte 16 – 15
Men’s Pairs: Aaron Wilson/Corey Wedlock def Jason Banks/John Fleming 22 – 7
Men’s Triples: Ray Pearse/Ben Twist/Aaron Teys tied Alan Air/Darren Weir/Connor Milne 19 – 19
Vision-impaired Pairs: Barry Brennan/Jake Fehlberg lost to Melanie Innes/Robert Barr 13 – 9
Bowlers with a disability Triples: Chris Flavel/Tony Bonnell/Josh Barry def Billy Allan, Pauline Wilson/George Guthrie 19 – 15
Scotland win Open Men/Women’s Test 1
Test 2
Women’s singles:
Chloe Stewart def Rebecca Houston 21 – 12
Sam Shannahan lost to Lauren Baillie-Whyte 18 – 21
Natasha Scott def Emma McIntyre 21 – 16
Kelsey Cottrell lost to Dee Hoggan 20 – 21
Karen Murphy def Carla Banks 21 – 11
Men’s singles:
Ben Twist def John Fleming 21 – 17
Ray Pearse def Connor Milne 21 – 20
Aaron Wilson def Darren Weir 21 – 6
Aaron Teys lost to Jason Banks 13 – 21
Corey Wedlock def Alan Air 21 – 11
Australia win Open/Men Women’s Test 2
