City Memorial Red skipper Tim Jackway and City Memorial Gold Skipper Kenny Baton in action.
CITY Memorial Red will attempt a hat-trick of Western District Bowls Division top grade premierships.
The reigning premier annihilated clubmate City Memorial Gold by 63 shots in the preliminary final at the club’s Cramer Street greens on Saturday, giving it an opportunity to defend its title against Warrnambool Gold in the grand final.
City Red’s Gary Smart said while the 124-61 preliminary final win gave his side belief, Warrnambool Gold took ominous form into the decider.
“Our record against Warrnambool this year has not been great,” he said.
“We lost three games to Warrnambool but we are there and you have to be not confident, but optimistic.
“They have been the power team of the year.
“They’ve been on top of the ladder all year and we will have our work cut out to win on Saturday.”
City Red produced three convincing rink wins against City Gold.
Tim Jackway defeated Ken Batten 32-16, Kevin McMahon trounced William Square 31-8 and Ray Hoy crushed Les Hawkins 39-10.
Max Dalton was City Gold’s only winner, defeating Vince Moloney 27-22.
“We got off to a good start and were able to maintain and then extend the lead which was pleasing for us and disappointing for the Golds,” Smart said.
“It is like a local derby and the expectation is the two top teams produce a good, competitive game.
“Unfortunately for the Golds that didn’t happen on the day.
“Three of our rinks were very good and Max Dalton’s rink turned out to be very competitive and got over the line.”
Koroit will attempt a hat-trick of club premierships, with its division two, three and four teams in grand finals.
Koroit Blue will play City Memorial Green in division two, Koroit White clashes with Timboon Maroon in division three and Koroit Green meets Timboon Red in division four.
Smart said City Memorial Green produced a nail-biting 66-63 win against Warrnambool Red to book its division two grand final spot.
Timboon Maroon recorded a 20-shot win against City Memorial White in the division three preliminary final and club-mate Timboon Red earned its division four grand final spot after a thrilling 47-45 win against City Memorial Orange. All WDBD Saturday pennant grand finals are at Dennington Bowls Club on Saturday.
justine.mc@fairfaxmedia.com.au
