23/06/2026
Gundagai Bowls News
by Matt Armstrong
Club Championships - Women’s Pairs
Sharon Armstrong and Gail Rowland played a great game on Tuesday to become the Women’s Pairs champions for 2026, as they scored a 6-shot victory (24 - 18) over Jess Wright and Lynne French, in the final. Sharon and Gail were first to score but Jess and Lynne began their scoring with a bang, as they followed up on the 2nd end with the maximum 6 shots and a single scored on the 3rd end to quickly lead (7-1). However, their spree came to an abrupt halt, as for the next 10 ends they were kept scoreless while Sharon and Gail compiled 16 shots to lead
17-7 by the 13th end. The onslaught was thwarted by Jess and Lynne with a tourniquet applied to stop the bleeding. They won the next three ends with singles to move to double figures, while Sharon and Gail won the next four ends 5 shots to 1, to take their lead out to 11, (22-11) with 5 ends remaining. The opposition duo of Jess and Lynne may have been down but were certainly not out. They dug their heels in for the next 3 ends and added 7 shots to their tally to find themselves trailing by 4, and within striking distance with two ends remaining. However, their spectacular late surge was thwarted by Sharon and Gail as the pair remained composed and won the remaining two ends with singles to claim the Women’s Pairs championship for 2026.
Club Championships - Open Triples Quarter Finals
Kick-starting the Open Triples championship for 2026 with a total of 7 teams entered, the campaign begun on Saturday 20th June, with the first quarter final with the Tom French skipped trio against the Mark Niemkiewicz skipped trio. Tom’s team consisting of Di Brennan and Noel Cotterill were simply brilliant in their 17-shot (29-12) win over Mark’s team comprising of Pete Smith and Joan Dunn. For their first 6 ends it was virtually one-way traffic as Tom, Di and Noel hit their stride leading (13 - 1). The next 5 ends saw Mark, Pete and Joan find their tempo and notch up 7 shots but still trailing by 7 (8-15). Tom’s side continue to apply pressure by adding 4 shots and by the 13th end held an 11-shot lead (19 - 😎. Mark’s trio won the next two ends ,but could only do so in singles, taking them to double figures and trailing by 9 (10-19). The match was pretty much put to bed over the next 6 ends as Tom, Di and Noel racked up 10 more shots taking their score to 29, while Mark, Pete and Joan could only manage 2 shots on the 21st end moving to 12 on the scoreboard.
In the second quarter final, the combination of Sharon Armstrong, Ben Reichel and Tom Wright proved to be a good one as they scored a good 6-shot win (23-17) over Joe Bond, Jasper Smith and Lesley Attwood on Saturday. Joe’s side had the early advantage, leading (4-1) after only 2 ends, but was quickly overtaken by Sharon, Ben and Tom as they scored 8 shots over the next 4 ends to lead (9 - 4). That lead was overtaken over the next two ends as Joe; Jasper and Lesley scored a 5 and a 2 to lead (11-9) by the 8th. The scores were level on the next end, while from ends 10 to 13, the match lead went back and forth with Joe’s team holding a slender 1 -shot lead (15-14) by the 13th. From this point on, Sharon whipped her trio into a frenzy and the three of them ran away with the match over the remaining 8 ends. They put on 9 shots to their opponent’s 2, to progress to the semi’s after their 6-shot victory.
In the third quarter final, Bob Smart, Pete Gailey and Mitch Peterson, held against a spirited comeback by Wayne Carthew, Matt Armstrong and Mitch Goodsall, ultimately with a 5-shot victory (25-20), in which they won on the final end of the match. Wayne, Matt and Mitch G had the better of the exchange with the opening volleys, leading (10 - 2) after 5 ends. By the 10th end, Bob, Pete and Mitch P had squared up on the scoreboard at 11-all. Prior to their scores being level on the 10th end, from ends 8 to 15, the trio dominated those 8 ends, by winning all of them and compiling 15 shots in the process to lead (20 - 11). Trailing by 9 and with a fair hill to climb, Wayne, Matt and Mitch, rolled up their sleeves and got to work. from ends 16-18, the three men, tallied 7 shots to trail by 2 (18 -20). Bob’s side picked up 2 shots on the 19th end to give them a 4-shot buffer (22-18). 2 shots to Wayne’s team on the penultimate end, saw them go into the final end trailing by 2 shots again (20-22). But the trio of Bob, Pete and Mitch P played the final end just that little bit better, and the three of them secured 3 shots and total victory.
Club Championships - Open Triples Semi Finals
With the quarter finals out of the way, four teams battled it out to see which two will qualify for the final.
In the first semifinal played on Sunday 21st, Bob Smart, Pete Gailey and Mitch Peterson, pretty much, according to the scoreboard, gave Tom French, Di Brennan and Noel Cotterill a shellacking by 23 shots (31-8). But despite the score, Tom’s side played well, it’s just the opposition played better. For the first 5 ends, the teams were pretty well even, resulting in a 3-all score, but a 3-end cluster of 8 shots to Bob, Pete and Mitch put them in the lead (12-3) by the 8th. The next 3 ends were scored in singles, 1 to Bob’s team and 2 to Tom’s, but Tom’s side was still trailing, this time by 7 shots (5-12). Disaster then struck for Tom’s team, as Bob’s men inflicted heavy damage with a 4-end and costly cluster of 12 shots to move to a 19-shot lead (24-5). Tom, Di and Noel continued to fight hard and managed to compile 3 shots, but after 17 ends they were still trailing by a large deficit of 16 shots (8-24). With 4 ends left in the match, It was all over bar the shouting when Bob’s side won the next 3 ends adding 7 more to their tally to move to 31, including what is arguably the shot of the year if not the decade from Mitch “in the ditch” Peterson. Having won the mat on one of the remaining ends, Tom had Noel throw a full-length jack, and Noel’s first bowl was a pearler - jack high with a gap of about 6 inches. Mitch’s first bowl was off target, but his second was online, coming down with absolute precision in grass and weight, he picked up the kitty (wink wink) smoother than James Bond in a nightclub, and rode it all the way to “Bondi” (what bowlers refer to as the sand in the ditch) and sat as a resting toucher in the ditch, absolutely impossible to beat. This shot virtually broke the hearts of his opposition with the final end not needing to be played.
In the second semi-final, it was a fairly similar scoreline with Sharon Armstrong, Ben Reichel and Tom Wright booking their spot in the final with a big win over Mick Houstein, Neil Armstrong and Lynne French, with a 21 shot victory (28-7). Sharon’s team began well scoring 7 shots in the first 5 ends, while Mick’s trio scored 3. Then the surge meter hit overdrive for Sharon, Ben and Tom as they piled on 12 shots to their oppositions lone shot, to race out to a 15-shot lead (19-4). The scoring tightened up over the next 2 ends with Sharon’s team adding 2, while Mick’s side added 1 to their tally. By the 15th end with 3 added, Sharon, Ben and Tom had increased their lead to 19 shots (24-5). From the 16th end to the 19th end, all Mick, Neil and Lynne could do was manage 2 more singles to their tally and watch as Sharon, Ben and Tom moved further beyond reach and into the finals with their impressive display of teamwork. The white flag was raised upon completion of the 19th end with Mick, Neil and Lynne conceding that their opponents were just too good on the day.
In Social Bowls
On Tuesday 16th June, Lesley Attwood and Joan Dunn defeated Jann Brooke and Leonie Maynard 28-11. Di Brennan, Pip Fitzpatrick and Mary McCormick defeated Terri Craig, Robyn Hockey and Wendy Nicholson 16-15. On Thursday 18th June, Tom French and Matt Armstrong defeated Sharon Armstrong and Joe Bond 22-15. Di Brennan, Tom Wright and Col Harris (2 bowls) defeated Neil Armstrong, Graham Luff and Col Harris (2 bowls) 17-15.
What’s Coming up for Bowls:
Open Triples Championship Final Sunday 28th June at 11am
Bob Smart, Pete Gailey & Mitch Peterson vs Sharon Armstrong, Ben Reichel & Tom Wright
Bowls NSW 2026 State Championships Open Reserve Pairs
The Gundagai Services Bowling Club wish Tom French and Matt Armstrong all the best as they make the journey to Dubbo next week to compete in the State Open Reserve Pairs Finals after becoming the Riverina Murray Regional Open reserve Pairs champions back in September of last year. The event will be played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week, with the semifinal and final being played on the Thursday. The best of luck to both men as they go up against pairs from the other 15 regions in the state.
Weekly Social bowling days are:
• Tuesday - 10am for 10:30am start, names in by 10:15am
• Thursday - 12:30 pm for 1:00pm start, names in by 12:45pm
• Saturday - 12:30 pm for 1:00pm start, names in by 12:45pm
