In spite of several players being away with pennant commitments, another 34 committed bowlers enjoyed their morning at the RSL Combination Bowls on Sunday, March 1, at Sporties Club, North Dubbo.

Phil Knight continued to show good form this week, leading Greg Brown and Mary Perry to a 26-9 win over Ron McCauley, Glennis Hannigan and Gaye Cottee. Steve Kelly, Dick Whitford and Ronnie Weigold took second place for the day with 21 shots from Ros Joseph, Roger Sherwin and Mel Giddings bowling 11 shots.

Despite the scores being level at the end of the first eight, the team of Julie Brown, Ray Strawhan and Paul Goodstat had a strong second half to beat Sue McCauley, Terese Gaio and Col Cottee, 16-8, and claim third place.

The team of Ken Whittaker, Ruby Stocking and Rob Pheiffer won their game bowling 19 shots from Tim Moore, Tom Kennedy and Bryan O’Sullivan on 9 shots.

It is often said that bowls is a game of two halves and the battle on rink fouir today was no exception. In spite of confusing direction from their skips Graham Ross and Peter Sinclair, Shirley Marchant and Chris Castlehouse, along with Maurice Wallace and Brian Sinclair, enjoyed a good game. Peters team had a strong lead after the first eight ends but Graham's team fought back in the second half. It was a case of "nearly but not quite" as Peter's team hung on to win 18-13.

A game of doubles took place on rink seven, with Jenny Spratt and Peter Bennison coming from behind to beat Gary Huggins and Gordon Lummis, 16-13.

Three resters were won by Phil Knight, John Kennedy and Graham Ross, and lucky numbers went to John Kennedy, Terese Gaio and Graham Ross.

The RSL Combination bowls lost one of our fellow bowlers this week. Alan Stratford was a valued member of our community and will be deeply missed. We extend condolences to his family and friends.

As always, new players are welcome. For club contact details see our entry under Sunday in the Dubbo Photo News Community Diary.