Doubly sweet victory
Queensland finish Day 1 of the Under 25s Inter-state Test Series with a win for both the men’s Side and the women’s side, setting themselves up for Day 2. It is never an easy game against a well trained New South Wales side but Queensland was able to deal a decisive blow on day one of their Test Series campaign, both the men and women’s sides produced a test win at Kallangur Memorial Bowls Club in the U25s QLD v NSW Interstate Test Series.
In the men’s competition, Musgrave Hill’s Nick Gosley was first off the blocks to secure a rink win for Queensland, defeating New South Wales’s secret weapon Jono Davis in emphatic style with a comfortable 21-11 win.
Queensland capitalised on Gosley’s with a win in the pairs and fours, the combo of South Tweed’s Scott DeJongh and skip Cohen Litfin put the pressure on Billy Johnson and Mason Lewis in the pairs to come away with a 23 – 13 win.
Debutant Joel Andersen (Caloundra) worked with team mates Jesse Turnbull (Hamilton), Dale McWhinney-Shillington (Sth. Tweed) and skip Brendan Wilson (Sth. Tweed) to secure a close 16 – 14 victory and hand the Queensland men a clean sweep for Test 1.
New addition Andersen says he was extremely happy with the result of the first test and says the team had worked well together to land themselves a win.
“I was a bit nervous at first as it was my first game representing the state, but to come away with a clean-sweep in all the disciplines was great,” Andersen said.
“It felt like the entire team worked well together and the boys were always there to encourage and help lift each other’s game throughout the match.”
The QLD women were not going to be out by the men and pulled off a double win to secure the first test in the Maroon’s favour as Natasha Jones (Helensvale) was there to pick up her sides first rink win defeating Samantha Noronha 21-18 with just four ends left to go.
In the women’s fours Kirsty DeWaard (Pialba), Jacinta Weier (Hervey Bay), Lauren Wilson (Helensvale) and skip April Wilson (Helensvale) were able to prove their dominance over the NSW’s fours team skipped by Maddison Fennell with a 14-11 win to take out the first test.
It was almost a clean-sweep for the girls too but Tin Can Bay’s Julia Allen-Best and Hamilton skip Angie Earle fell victim to the blues’ pairing of Jodie Marshall and Molly Wilton who were able to steal an 18-15 win after pulling off to an early lead.
Tomorrow’s second test will kick off once again at the Kallangur Memorial Bowls Club and will begin at 9 am and Queensland sides will be looking to clinch the next test and secure both shields.
The lineup for tomorrow’s second test will be:
Men
Singles:
Joel Andersen vs Billy Johnson
Pairs:
Dale McWhinney-Shillington & Brendan Wilson (sk) vs Jono Davis & Haydn Bojkowski (sk)
Fours:
Scott DeJongh, Jesse Turnbull, Cohen Litfin, Nic Gosley (sk) vs Jack Lewis, Beau Prideaux,
Corey Wedlock, Mason Lewis (sk)
Women
Singles:
April Wilson vs Jessica Hogan
Pairs:
Angie Earle & Lauren Wilson (sk) vs Cindy McGrath & Maddison Fennell (sk)
Fours:
Julia Allen-Best, Kirsty DeWaard, Jacinta Weier, Natasha Jones (sk) vs Briana Graham, Jodie Marshall, Samantha Noronha, Molly Wilton (sk)
If you would like to see the draw and full scores of the first test click on the link below:
https://www.bowlsqld.org/Events/State-Events/QLD-vs-NSW-Under-25-Test-Series#Draw-Results-652
