Gisborne wasn’t in a mood for mucking around in Central Highlands Bowls Division’s top grade, doing a demolition job on Bacchus Marsh Blue.
Coming off a loss to Kyneton Golf the week before, Gisborne was firing on all four cylinders on Saturday.
With the closest of the rink results being 19 shots, Gisborne won by a massive 100 shots, 158 (18)-58 (0).
Graham Quaife’s rink won 41-18, that of Sam Boslem won 32-13 and Darren Fletcher’s rink won 37-16. The rink of Matthew Bacon had the biggest win of all – 48-11.
Gisborne president Ian Ball said it was a good performance.
“You have to make sure you have to get the wins on the board no matter who you play,” he said.
“We had to come back and regroup after last week otherwise we would have looked a bit foolish.”
Gisborne finds itself playing a different role – that of being the hunted – after winning first division 1 premiership last season.
Ball said that while the players thought they would be up there with the top sides, they were by no means the favourites.
“We’re enjoying the ride,” he said. “We’re still confident we will be around the top. Kyneton Golf [which Gisborne lost to] will be among the mix and they know how to win the big games.
“On a neutral green, we think we can match it with them. We’re more than happy and just bumping along nicely.”
Ball said the club had managed to keep most of the premiership side in place. Glenn Johnston jr has joined Glenroy, while John Bell decided not to play.
Ball said one of the biggest things for the club was depth. It is the only club to have two second division teams. It also has a third division side, making it the only club in the competition with four sides.
“We’re very fortunate to have that depth,” he said. “Each week we’ve got two or three players missing … we get people to step up and you don’t miss the other players.
“Since we changed our green to synthetic we’ve been able to attract players a lot easier.”
Gisborne is one of three teams with a 3-1 record as a gap between the top four and the bottom four opens up.
In other results, Kyneton Golf remained undefeated with a 105 (14)-97 (4) win against Bacchus Marsh Gold. The loss was Bacchus Marsh’s first of the season.
Romsey won three rinks in its 105 (16)-95 (2) win against Trentham and Kyneton won a thriller against Lancefield.
Just one shot separated the two teams, with Kyneton winning 94 (14)-93 (4).
Gisborne Yellow, Macedon, Woodend and Gisborne Red were the winners in division 2.
Tara Murray
