Dumbleyung Tennis Club
Grand final day had dawned and the Dumbleyung crew were off on a road trip – from the Dumbleyung Roadhouse to Tarin Rock. Travelling in Clem Henry’s bus with capable driver Chris Ramm at the wheel, the rest of the ‘dream team’ (as the Captain calls us) were collected and onboard.
Spirits were high after making the Grand Final last season will all hoping for a back to back win. The day was perfect for tennis and the courts were magnificent, with ‘Eddie the Eagle’ Naisbitt, getting the day started with a stirring speech.
The end of the doubles and singles, Dudinin had their necks in front by a 4 set margin, 13 to 9. The mixed was going to be a ‘humdinger’ to end the day. Mention must be made of the two men who halved their doubles, Jamie Dare and Glenn Ball and with the mixed, the one and only set won by Tom Pearce and Jane Smith.
The Dudinin team did ask to mention that Bevan and Deb blotted their copy books by losing a set (not my words). An awesome display by Dudinin in the mixed, the games were hard, fast and furious - just like a racing car wanting to finish and be the 1st past the chequered flag!
Congratulations to Dudinin defeating Dumbleyung 24sets to 10sets. Further congratulations to the wonderful Dumbleyung Team and all players who participated over the season to get us to the Grand Final - you are all worth your weight in GOLD.
Well done to Matthew "Chaffy" Orchard for winning the Cricket and Tennis Grand Finals. The scribe was given a few notes by the opposition and even a short poem.
"There once was a club called Dudinin, Who played Dumbleyung year out and year in,
Some loved to play on the grass and pulled plenty of shots from their A___s,
But it was Dudinin who came away with the win"
The presentation of the Owen and Liz Dare Shield (presented by son Jamie), saw an extremely close tussle between two ladies from Dudinin vying for the honour. Commiserations to Deb Doney and a big congratulations to Helen Kirby - who has regularly placed runner-up previously, though at last has the honour of having her name on the shield. The great honour, is awarded to the player who wins the most sets during the season - so consistency plays a huge part in this. .
The hardest part was President, Darran Kirby having to keep it under close raps from his inquisitive wife - saying that he did throw out a few red herrings to keep himself sane. A big thank you to all players! Tarin Rock crew, you all rock and helped us all to party hard after. We all enjoyed the amazing afternoon tea, nibbles and sausage sizzle to finish – thank you!
The bus trip home eventually saw the real diehards continue celebrations at the Dumbleyung Tavern – music, the occasional drink, dancing, smoking, tall stories of the days tennis and of years gone by were shared and enjoyed!
The scribe would like to thank Tarin Rock for their piece of history - taken home to have as a practice tee (a bit of synthetic grass from their old courts) for the upcoming golf season .
Article by T.Bartram
Junior Coaching
Mr O’Brien will coach for two sessions this term, on the
morning of Sunday the 18th and 25th of March. The younger children will
start at 9am, with the older children at 9:45. These sessions will be charged as
usual at $20 per session, half price for Dumbleyung Tennis Club Junior members.
Junior membership of the
Dumbleyung Tennis Club is $20 for the season.
Names to Tara Ball on 0427634048 or dumballs1@bigpond.com
Championship Men’s and Ladies Singles
Singles will be played on Saturday the 24th of March. Starting time is 3pm. BBQ tea will follow, please bring a salad to share.
Please get your names to Glenn or Tara by Friday night prior.
Championship Mixed Doubles
To conclude the season we will hold our Championship Mixed Doubles on Saturday 7th of April. BBQ tea will follow, please bring a salad to share. Please get names to Glenn or Tara for this final event for the season.
Friday Night Social Tennis
Social tennis will conclude on Friday the 23rd March.
AGM
The AGM will be held on Tuesday the 10th April at 7pm at Stubbs Park. All welcome.
Kukerin Bowling Club
As the game progressed one Kukerin rink continued to dominate and two others were now involved in a dour struggle, the fourth rink was fighting to stay in touch. The end of the match saw three rinks completed and Kukerin holding a three shot lead. However, the last rink had three ends to play. Kondinin scored two and one on next two ends, tying the scores - it was game on for each club to secure the win!
Kukerin’s second drew shot just behind the jack, the tension was growing on the bank and on the green. Kondinin bowlers tried to dislodge the bowl and Kukerin’s skipper was calling the shots to make things more difficult for the opposition. Four running shots by Kondinin, failed to hit the target which left Kukerin winners by one shot to advance to next week’s Grand Final. It is five years since we last played in a Grand Final and having never won a pennant, we are hoping to break the long drought.
Sunday March 18, saw the semi-finals and final of the Men’s Championship Singles. In a family shootout Ross Ditchburn defeated brother in-law Peter Davidson in one semi, and Matthew King won from neighbour Ian Faulkner.
The final between Matthew King and Ross Ditchburn was of a high class, in almost perfect conditions. King jumped out of the blocks early and Ditchburn kept closing the gap. In the latter part of the contest King moved away to what looked likely to be a comfortable winning margin. Ditchburn again closed the gap, and in what proved to be the last end with King on 30 and Ditchburn on 27 - either player could have won. Ditchburn held three shots. King changed hand and with a perfectly directed bowl drew onto the shot bowl. Ditchburn was unable to dislodge the bowl which left Matthew King as the champion for 2018! Matthew King will now represent the club at the League championships in April. Phil Adams won the plate final from Clive Bahr.
There will be pennant practise for all who can be there this Friday March 23, commencing at 5.00 pm - hope to see a full attendance.
Good bowling and luck to our ladies team who have travelled up to Perth for the annual Ladies Country Week Championships.
Article by P.Adams