With a three-shot victory in today's prestigious George Lynch Men's Fours Classic final at the Moama Bowls Club, the composite team of young Essendon stars Aaron Wilson and Mathew Rennex along with Matt Wilson from Bendigo and Altona's Peter Condon, closed the curtain on this year's Moama 20,000 May Carnival.
They defeated Kyneton Golf's Steve Taylor, Adrian Plowman, Barry McKimmie and Greg Dwyer in a hard-fought main event after a knockout series of six-end roll-offs to claim the major share of the Classic's $11,000 purse. To qualify for the play-offs the composite side totted up four wins and 22 shots-up from their five sectional rounds. A total of ninety-six teams commenced hostilities yesterday at the Moama, City of Echuca and Rich River clubs.
It is the Lynch Fours, which was first conducted back in 1975, that traditionally brings the nine days of Carnival competition to its conclusion. This year's extravaganza attracted no fewer than 1600 entries for the potpourri of men's, women's and mixed pairs and fours events, and although thermal underwear was more the rule than the exception, it was still widely complimented as one of the best in recent years.
A comprehensive coverage of this Carnival will appear in the June-July edition of Bowls In Focusmagazine.
Moama 20,000 May Carnival at Moama Bowls Club
Day 1-2: Mixed Fours
1st Trevor Eastwell, Judy Eastwell, Rob Clough, Helen Clough (Bendigo East) 10 points +27 shots, 2nd Wayne Roberts, Donna Hill, Ray Brown, Robyn Barker (Yarraville Footscray) 9 +51, 3rd John Harford, Val Neil, Bill Neil, Lyn Harford (Montmorency) 9 +43.
Day 3: Women’s Pairs
1st Melissa Roberts (City of Echuca), Donna Clarke (Shepparton Park) 8 points +56 shots, 2nd Jean Sprague (Rushworth), Bev Cahill (Shepparton Park) 8 +31, 3rd Caroline Reilly (Cobram), Joy Johnson (Yarrawonga & Border Golf) 8 +28.
Day 4: Men’s Pairs
1st Stewart Carra (Moama), Graham O’Brien (Rochester) 8 points +44 shots, 2nd Dennis Compton, Dave Burgess (Moama) 8 +32, 3rd Mick Reilly, Don Ellis (Cobram) 8 +27.
Day 5-6: Mixed Pairs
1st Ron Hayes, Lesley Hayes (Blackburn) 12 points +62 shots, 2nd Lance Berryman (Queenscliff), Wendy Ballentine (Highton) 12 +42, 3rd John Fry, Lorraine Kirk (Ocean Grove) 12 +23.
Day 7: Bob Gilmour Memorial Mixed Fours
1st Les Awty, Gwen Awty (Queenscliff), Brian Trengove, Bev Trengove (Moama) 8 points +14 shots, 2nd Joy Johnson (Yarrawonga & Border Golf), Don Ellis, Caroline Reilly, Mick Reilly (Cobram) 6 +39, 3rd Max Bighood, Bernie Johns, Alan Linquist, Betty Linquist (Rich River) 6 +26.
Day 8-9: George Lynch Invitation Men’s Fours
Section winners (skippers named): L Spencer (Yarrawonga & Border Golf) 8 points +33 shots, T Williams (Woodend) 10 +29, A Wilson (Essendon) 8 +22, S Collett (Box Hill RSL) 8 +28, B Smith (Lara) 6 +18, D Hurford (Kyneton) 6 +10, T Sharkey (Rochester) 8 +21, S Dawson (Trafalgar) 7 +3, K Brennan (Rochester) 8 +28, D Compton (Moama) 10 +48, B King (Darebin City) 10 +44, S Taylor (Kyneton Golf) 8 +28, L Williams (Eltham) 10 +41, K McMahon (City Memorial) 10 +31, G Thatcher (Tatura) 10 +44, S Shuttleworth (Geelong West) 10 +35.
Round of 16: T Williams d Spencer 9-0, Wilson d Collett 9-2, Hurford d Smith 7-4, Dawson d Sharkey 5-4, Compton d Brennan 5-4, Taylor d King 11-7, L Williams d McMahon 7-3, Shuttleworth d Thatcher 9-2.
Quarter finals: Wilson d T Williams 6-4, Dawson d Hurford 8-5, Taylor d Compton 7-4, Shuttleworth d L Williams 8-5.
Semi finals: Taylor d Shuttleworth 9-2, Wilson d Dawson 5-4.
Final: Aaron Wilson (Essendon), Mathew Rennex (Essendon), Matt Wilson (Bendigo), Peter Condon (Altona) d Stephen Taylor, Adrian Plowman, Barry McKimmie, Greg Dwyer (Kyneton Golf) 7-4.
Pictured: George Lynch Fours winners Peter Condon, Mathew Rennex, Matt Wilson and Aaron Wilson with the host club's event co-ordinator Daniel Butcher.
Note: article originally appeared on Bowls Australia website (www.bowlsaustralia.com.au)