2020/21: Karl Schuller, Ellaine Jopling, Lindsay Marsh, Lyn Sibson
Championship sponsored by Biotune
DESPITE an outstandng individual performance from the departing Lionel Peacock, his team were forced to play second fiddle to Ellaine Jopling's blend of experience and potential. And it was Ellaine herself who probably played the pivotal shot of the match just as the opposition were creeping back into contention. Having created a handy gap of six shots (15-9), Ellaine, the promising Karl Schuller, Lyn Sibson and the grandmaster, Lindsay Marsh, were about to be pegged back to 15-12, when the shot bowl was taken out and instead of 15-12 it was 18-11. Lionel, Gayle Harding, Fay Stanley and Steve Appleton did not win another end, trailing 24-11 when the players shook hands after the 20th end. Lionel and wife Christine fly back to England on December 6 and he should prove a tough opponent when he returns to playing crown green bowls. Plate final: Lyn Ker, Clive de Ridder, Elizabeth Jackson, Barry Whinfield beat Alex La Corte, Ronda Macgregor, Sergio Sanabria, Marj Morton 25-13. LIONEL PEACOCK gets the chance of the perfect send-off back to England after his team of Fay Stanley, Gayle Harding and Steve Appleton comfortably booked a place in the final. The final will feature the current men's and ladies singles champions, Lionel and Ellaine Jopling, who will be skipping against each other. Ellaine, Karl Schuller, Lyn Sibson and Lindsay Marsh had a much tougher time in seeing off the in-form Springbok quartet of Veronica Thysse, Norma Futter, Ronnie Futter and Owen Thysse. Veronica and Norma were bidding to make a second final, having already won through to the pairs against Kaye Gedling and Barbara Wilkins, which takes place on Wednesday (November 25). Owen's rink won ten of the 18 ends but were 15-10 adrift before winning the last two ends to go down by a single, 16-14. Lionel's rink virtually had the game sewn up against May O'Neill, Dee Winsor, Graeme Winter and Steve Szonyi in the opening four ends, building up an 11-0 lead. They were pegged back to 15-9 before pulling away again for a 20-12 win. LIONEL PEACOCK'S last championship at Merriwa before he and his wife Christine return to England after 14 years in Australia may end in another triumph for the current singles title holder. His hastily-assembled team of Fay Stanley, Gayle Harding and Steve Appleton got the better of the defending champions - Lyn Ker, Clive de Ridder, Elizabeth Jackson and Barry Whinfield - by two shots, 18-16. A significant moment in the win came on the ninth end when a count of six took them into a13-6 lead. The champions hit back in the closing stages by winning six of the last nine ends, while beaten finalists Bob Gillian, Joy Gillian, Julia Barron and Brian Barron also made a gallant but vain attempt to force a win from 9-16 with just three ends to play against Ellaine Jopling's team. The skip was undoubtedly the key player as she continually overturned a deficit into an advantage in the early stages. Her interventions gave Ellaine, Karl Schuller, Lyn Sibson and Lindsay Marsh an 11-5 lead and with one end to play they led by four, 18-14. The Gillians rose to the challenge by holding four shots but Ellaine had the last word by getting third shot to ensure there was no extra end. Alan Arter was an 11th hour replacement for Hans Fiege as lead for Wal Welyky, Ann Walsh and Marilyn Bradbury. But in the opening half of the game they were no match for Veronica Thysse, Norma Futter, Ronnie Futter and Owen Thysse, who led 16-4 Seven of the next eight ends took Marilyn's team to 14-18 before the South Africans closed out the game with a single. The one runaway win came from May O'Neill, Dee Winsor, Graeme Winter and Steve Szonyi They opened up a 22-5 lead over Kaye Gedling, Alan Turner, Barbara Wilkins and Kevin Adams, eventually winning 26-9. Plate: Alex La Corte, Ronda Macgregor, Sergio Sanabria, Marj Morton beat Helen Paterson, Roberta Creswell, Danny Macfarlane, Len Paterson 25-15. TWO alignment round games produced wildly fluctuating results with one going to the wire and the other ending prematurely. In the tightly contested game, Karl Schuller, Lyn Sibson Lindsay Marsh and Ellaine Jopling came from behind to win 17-15 against Alex La Corte, Ronda Macgregor, Sergio Sanabria and Marj Morton. The first half of the game belonged to Marj's side but a five on the tenth end took the opposition into an 11-8 lead and they hung on to their advantage. The other game was a landslide 27-6 victory for Bob Gillian, switched to lead for last season's beaten finalists, Joy Gillian, Julia Barron and Brian Barron against an inexperienced Len Paterson rink of Helen Paterson, Danny MacFarlane and Roberta Creswell.