By Eric Markham
Monbulk Bowling Club had all three Saturday pennant sides in their division final, a record for the club.
Monbulk 1 played Upwey-Tecoma at the neutral venue of Mooroolbark.
The match was tight early with very little separating both teams.
Upwey-Tecoma gained the upper hand just prior to the break and took a seven shot lead.
Monbulk tried hard to get back on even terms and closed within three shots, but were not able to grab the lead eventually going down by 9 shots, 69 to 78.
Monbulk 2 played Cranbourne at Berwick and was able to win a close contest by 9 shots, 96 to 87.
Eric Furby’s rink took control from the start winning fifteen of the twenty-one ends to win by 13 shots, 26 to 13.
These results meant that Monbulk 2 had won their section final and had now qualified for the metropolitan section finals.
Monbulk 3 played Bennettswood at Mooroolbark and in a close contest went down by 6 shots, 31 to 37.
Peter Hiscox’s rink played well after a slow start winning 7 of the last 8 ends to record a victory by 3 shots, 17 to 14.
On Tuesday 19 March, Monbulk 1 advanced to the metropolitan division quarter final where they played Keysborough.
Monbulk struggled across all rinks and were no match for their strong opponents losing by 34 shots, 47 to 81.
Eric Markham’s rink fought hard losing on the last end by 3 shots, 21 to 24.
Andrew Bell’s rink lost by 13 shots, 13 to 26 and Richard Cookson’s rink went down by 18 shots, 13 to 31.
