Competitions

Ivanhoe Division 2 Premiers

Ivanhoe are the 2020-21 Metropolitan Division 2 Premiers.

Congratulations to all players involved.  Many thanks also to the supporters from Ivanhoe and other clubs who turned up to encourage the side.  In addition thanks to all of the host clubs for providing excellent greens, umpires and making us feel welcome at your clubs.

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(Back L-R): Bruce Latimer, Alan Willocks, Eddie Hart, John Angus, Bob Morgan, Max McGuire, John Hymet, Cliff Lynch

(Front):  John Higgins, Duane MacDonald, Graeme Bertram, David Purves, Terry Wallis, Adrian Ballinger, Brayden Ellis,  John Mehan, Stan Blight

The side played and won six finals to secure the premiership.

The Grand Final was played against Mitcham at Moonee Ponds Bowling Club.  Ivanhoe 88 to Mitcham 84.

Grand  Final vs Mitcham  at Moonee Ponds

This final was a hard fought game with the lead changing several times.  Mitcham got out to an early lead 30-17 and seemed to be handling the windy conditions well.  Ten shots across 3 rinks at the same time for Ivanhoe brought the score back to a 3 shot difference.

Ivanhoe then went on the take the lead only to be pegged back to again trail by 10 shots at around end 60.

Ivanhoe came back again and went on to win 88-84.

 

Getting to the Final – The Finals Story

Division Semi Final vs Richmond Union at Noble Park

Our top side is through to the divisional grand final after a convincing win in cold, wet and windy conditions at Noble Park.   A raincoat and warm clothing needed for both players and spectators.

Although the final margin was 23 shots, Ivanhoe was behind for the first half of the game.

After 24 ends we’d only won 9 of them with just 1 rink in the lead (by 2), another was square and the 2 others both down 9.  There was some improvement after 44 ends with the deficit back to 12 and 2 rinks in the lead.
From thereon the match swung decisively and scores were level after 52 ends.  The ascendancy continued despite heavy rain (which we mostly played through as you got just as wet scrunched up in the tiny shelters) resulting in an 85/62 win.
Rink scores:
Eddie 19/15 – after being scoreless for the first 6 ends, won 9 of the last 15 ends including a 6 on the 13th which put us level at that stage
Brayden 14/24 – was getting belted at 2/18 after 11 ends but stayed positive to make a significant contribution in winning 7 of the last 10 ends
Bruce 23/11 – started well although fell behind for a few ends.  A 5 on the 9th end was the start of an impressive run to the finish.
Cliff 29/12 – losing 4 on the 1st end was followed up with a winning 4 on the 2nd and was not headed thereafter. Full credit to John H in playing out the game with a very crook back.     

 

Semi Final Qualifier vs Donvale at Bentleigh

In the 2nd round of the division 2 sectional finals our side again came out winners,  by 5 shots.

We seemed to be in control for most of the match before it got uncomfortably close around the 78th end mark.

In a normal season winning your section in division 2 would be enough for promotion but this season is different.  With 10 sections of 8 rather than 8 sections of 10, there were 10 division 2 section winners vying to be among those 5 to be promoted. Five promotional finals were played  in the divisional playoffs established.   Three of the 5 sides got a bye but Ivanhoe and Donvale, had to play off for advancement to the semi-finals.

 

Promotion Final vs Port Melbourne at Doncaster

Ivanhoe is back in division 1 after a convincing 80- 61 win over Port Melbourne at Doncaster.

After 20 ends we were 14 shots up – Eddie down by 6, Bruce up by 9 (actually 9/0), Brayden by 11 (11/0) and Cliff’s was square.  Things were closer after 40 ends (+6) then back out to 12 after 60 ends.  We were safely home at 80 ends and the 84th wasn’t played as we were up by 19.

Looking for the rink scores here they are:

David/Max/Alan/Bruce 24/8 – a brilliant game by Bruce at just the right time

Duane/Stan/Bob/Eddie 20/21 – another excellent comeback after trailing 7/17 mid game

Gangus/Terry/Hymie/Bam Bam 26/6 – conceded just 6 ends of 1 shot

Higgo/Adrian/Graham/Cliff 10/26 – completely outclassed, did well to only lose by 16

Section Final vs Moonee Ponds at Bundoora

Ivanhoe played Moonee Ponds at Bundoora in the section final.  The side had a  over Moonee Ponds with a convincing 93/69 win.  Bruce’s rink got a 7 on the 1st end.  Eddie’s rink, though, surpassed this with two 6’s for the day and a 34/8 win.  

Section Semi Final vs Kingbury at Ivanhoe

The finals campaign began with a 77-67 win over Kingsbury.

Kingsbury got off to a great start and continued to build their lead throughout.  Things were not looking good at around the 60 end mark – over 20 shots down and 2 rinks struggling.  The first rink to finish was Cliff’s.  He was close all day with the lead changing several times.  The 16 end mark was one of the times we were behind.  However, with a change of length following a jack rolled into the ditch, we then had the day’s longest winning streak with 5 straight and 9 shots gained for a win by 8 to give us the hint of a sniff of victory.

Brayden’s rink had been our best all day and was playing against (probably) their strongest rink.  I was able to watch their last few ends.  They lost a 2 on the 19th which cut their rink lead back to 7 and it was out to 9 down on the big board.  Being only 1 down prior to his last bowl on the 20th and holding 4 seconds, he blasted out the shot and chased his to the far end (the bowl won) in a loudly vocal display of youthful exuberance.

Ivanhoe was back in the game..  The next end was even better.  Faced with being 5 down with 3 of them really good ones his options were limited; he could either belt them a little bit or a lot.  He went for the lot and cut it back to 2 down, the closest under a foot.  With his last he drew shot.  Beautifully played.

Bruce’s rink had been behind from the start.  With 4 ends to go they trailed by 9 and improved things slightly to lose by 8.

Just 2 down overall with 5 ends still to be played on Eddie’s rink.

This rink was not travelling well at 7/21 with just 4 ends won.  Looking on the bright side you could say they were due to win one.  And they did so with a 3 to put us 1 ahead.  Another 1 followed by a 4 then yet another 4 giving us an unbeatable lead of 10 shots with 1 end to go; a fantastic comeback win and a testament to the adage of never giving up.