State Fours 2008/9

----------------------------- STATE FOURS CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS 2008

------------------------ L/R: Pat Caffell, Gordon King, John Goddard, Gary Caffell

---------------------Pat Caffell, Gordon King. John Goddard, Gary Caffell


-------------------------------------------RUNNER UP 2008

----------------------L/R: Gary Carberry, Sam Perica, Joe Galipo, Steve Srhoy

---------------------Gary Carberry, Sam Perica, Joe Galipo, Steve Srhoy


December 29, 2008

FINAL

J. Goddard (sk) P.Caffell, G. Caffell, G. King Osbrn Prk---------------20
defeated
G. Carberry (sk) S. Srhoy, J, Galipo, S. Perica, Cockburn--------.--- 17


A terrific day today at the Osborne Park Bowling club.The greens were in absolutely tip top condition and all players were singing the praises of greenkeeper Richard Cox for having such quality greens to play on. Osborne Park is definetly the home of good grass

Four very good teams to contest for the State Fours title for 2008/9

To pick a winner was very hard to do as all teams had excelled in the previous two days. Each team had that something special about them to get to the semi finals.
The steadiness and skill of Neale Griffin, The brilliance of John Goddard, the oustanding form of Gary Carberry and the skill of Russell Hughes, who would bring the title home to their club?

FINAL

The final between John Goddard's rink and Gary Carberry's rink was not clear as to who might win the game. Gary Carberry was spectacular yesterday while John Goddard was at the top of his game.

This was a rip snorter of final and once again it showed what a beaut game Lawn Bowls really is. This game held the attention of A good crowd till the very last end.
It started out in windy conditions but quite playable and it was John Goddard's rink to make a great start to lead 8/2 after eight ends. Gordon King was winning his dual with Sam Perica to give his rink the edge.

The highlite of the game up to this stage was the 5th end where the shot changed 6 times, with John Goddard drawing the shot with so little room to do so, he was two down(Gary Carberry's bowls) . A better end you will not see with all players contributing to it.
Up to this stage John Goddard was the best player of the 8.

From here on the wind picked up in velocity and became very strong with it gusting and fishtailing and so did Cockburn pickup and they roared back into the game with Sam Perica lifting his rating and getting them close. Gary Carberry started to have an influence with Joe Galipo playing a great seconds game. Steve Srhoy was always busy, his years of experience showing out in these very hard conditions.

This period of the game saw Pat Caffell who had been in stellar form for most of the day get caught out in the wind for a while but he still managed to play some vitally important bowls .

Storm back into the game Cockburn did to lead 13/8 on the 13th end, which showed their dominance to score 11 shots to nil. Along the way there were some very special bowls played by all players.

From here on Osborne Park players found that something extra with John Goddard showing the way forward with some great saves and top shelf draw shots.

The 17th end was about as good as it can get. Sam Perica puts 2 on the jack, Gordon King drives them off to be one up with the jack has shooting out near the boundary on a long end.

Joe Galipo put his two bowls in the well. Gary Caffell who had been playing a pretty useful game plays two whoppers to make the OP boys 3 up Steve Srhoy put one near the ditch, still 3 down. Steve drives and misses by a whisker, Pat Caffell draws one.
Gary Carberry is too strong with the first and goes in the well. John Goddard is too strong and into the well also, Gary Carberry send his last bowl out toward Rottnest and it came back on the breeze to draw shot and save four shots.
John Goddard plays his last bowl and sits Gary's bowl perfectly to stay in the count for a huge 5 to lead 17/14 and get right back into the game. Perhaps the most telling bowl to determine who the winner would be

Gary Carberry's rink keep coming at OP and snares a good two so the tension is back on again at 17/16. Gary Caffell and Gordon King nail the jack and stay there for the rest of that end OP now 18/16.

The last end was full of drama with Steve Srhoy dragging the jack to make it 2 plus a measure. John Goddard cut it back to one and they become the new State fours titleholders.

This was such a good game played by 8 brilliant players that I am sure they will never forget this game.

Gordon King has a heart as big as W.A. he is like an ever ready battery, he never stops and showed what an asset he is to any team.
Sam Perica was a little slow to start but certainly did a very good job for his side but was shaded by Gordon

Gary Caffell played a good role in this game and was there quite often and played a valuable role in the win.

Joe Galipo was solid and played many fine bowls for his side and won his position I thought

Pat Caffell had an amazing day and displayed just what a terrific bowler he is, his efforts over the whole day when the pressure was right on, paved the way for the team to win the title.
He also played a beauty in the final, Pat has demonstrated that he is the best third in W.A and I wonder why his efforts have not been rewarded with a State squad berth, no one is playing this position better than Pat Caffell

Steve "the Slammer" Srhoy is just one of those players that the bowling scene only sees every now and then. A true legend and people in the crowd remarked on how good he has been and that he still has what it takes. No game for the opposition is ever secure while the "Slammer" has a bowl in his hand. A great game for Steve whether drawing driving or playing a bit over..

Gary Carberry is a rare talent and he fought tooth and nail to give the side every chance of victory today. Has all the skills and performs under pressure extremely well and top class performance by Gary

John Goddard was the best player on the green in the final and he is a champion. His draw shot is the best going around, how many times John drew the almost impossible shot throughout the day I didn't count.

Two players who can handle windy conditions better than anyone I have seen play this game are Geoff Oakley and Steve Srhoy, and now John Goddard joins them.

John is a great leader who has the respect of all and a great performance playing a vital role for his side to ensure victory would be theirs

Without doubt John Goddard is right up there with the best of the best to play in W.A. over my time watching and playing the game



SEMI-FINALS

J.Goddard J (sk) P.Caffel G. Caffell, G. King Osbrn Prk------------21
----------------------------defeated
R. Hughes(sk) , S. Bainbridge, T. Mitchell G. Quann, Vic Pk -----16
A crakerjack game where it was bowls at its best in a fiercly contested semi-final. The pressure was enormous with neither side able to make a clear and decisive break throughout the game.
Thomas Mitchell was clearly his sides best player with a standout performance playing as a second. His game would have won it 99 times out of a 100 in any other game.
Enter Pat Caffell who produced the magic needed to nullify the brilliance of Thomas Mitchell. Pats game was awsome and it is doubtful if you will ever see such a game from a third with so much pressure to bear than that of Pat Caffell.
If that was not enough John Goddard again was simply brilliant, fixing up what Pat might have missed or if the head had changed.
Going into the last end the OP boys led 17/16. Gordon King who had had a great dual with Greg Quann landed in the best place possible with his second bowl, on the jack.
Thomas Mitchell missed with both drives, likewise for Stew Bainbridge and Russell Hughes in their attempts to kill the end.
A great game of bowls by all players and it is games like this that make bowls such an exciting game

G. Carberry (sk) S. Srhoy, J. Galipo S. Perica, Cockburn--------- 25
--------------------------defeated
Griffin N (sk) Biglin M Anderson F Pringle R Kalamunda-------18

I am sorry to say but I didnt get to see much of this game but for the most part it was Cockburn who held the whip hand but the had to withstand a great finish by Neale Griffin and his rink who got back into the game to be 16/20 down with 3 ends to play.
Congratulations to Neale and the boys for making the semi-finals