Lakes Entrance’s reign as Gippsland Bowls Region (GBR) midweek division one pennant champions has come to an end.
They travelled to Heyfield last week hoping to make it five in a row, but went down to minor premier Bairnsdale, 55-43. Bairnsdale opened a 14-shot lead after just 15 ends, with Lakes Entrance chipping away to reduce the margin to six after 45 ends, but Bairnsdale held firm in the final stages.
Lakes’ best rink result was a 17-17 tie, achieved by Wallace, Mason, Jack Light, Bill Rowley and Kevin Brown, who recovered from being 11-0 down after five ends. They took the lead several times in the final 10 ends, only for Glynis Bugeja, Jeff Watts, Geoff Aitken and Neil Watts to score on the final end and level the contest.
Other Bairnsdale winners were Colleen Smith, Bradley King, John Clark and Stewart Pyers (22-15), and Timothy Kennedy, Peter Baylis, Adam Easton and Christopher Mackintosh (16-11).
Bairnsdale will now represent the GBR at the State pennant championships in April.
