Today marked the start of a new season for Bowls North Saturday Pennant.
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The beginning of the year can produce some unpredictable results for clubs, but in the Premier League it was only one game that ended in surprise.
Trevallyn defeated North Launceston in the 2015/2016 Premier League grand final, however they lined up today for their round one clash against Cosgrove Park with only six players from their premiership team remaining.
The loss of the Sims’ brothers to Melbourne Bowls Club could have left Trevallyn with a void too large to fill, but they recruited well over winter, and selector Jason Lane put his faith in Tasmanian Junior Representative Josh Appleyard to make his debut as a skip for the club. Appleyard did just that and put on a great first round performance with a 26-21 rink win over Warren Groves.
Trevallyn and Cosgrove fought it out to the end with only a handful of shots separating them in the final stages of the game. Hollingsworth headed into the last end with a one-shot advantage overall, scoring a three to secure a 10-2 overall win for ‘The Friendlies’.
East Launceston and Longford also made their presence known in the competition with 38 and 52 shot overall wins respectively.
Robert McMullen made his debut in the Bowls North competition with a 39-16 rink win in East’s 12-0 win against the travelling Beauty Point side. McMullen put on an incredible display of skips bowls to guide his rink to a convincing 23-shot win.
Kings Meadows travelled to Longford and found it tough going against the Tigers. Matt Mitchell made his debut as skip for the club and came through with two points for Longford in a 12-0 overall win, forming a formidable combination with young gun Joey Thomas.
The rink was made up by a winning combination of youth and experience, with John Spencer and David Hobbs in the front end.
Scottsdale started their campaign with a win against Launceston with Logyn Curtis leading well in her first game for the club.
Bridport stamped their mark in the first Premier League game after being promoted from Division One last season. Chris Walker welcomed North Launceston’s Tim Douce to the Northern competition with a 21-shot rink for the home side. Mitch Billing also had a convincing win over David Minns 37-22. North Launceston did manage to secure two points for the day, with Andrew Whitmore using his knowledge of the Bridport green to his advantage.
Although season openers can be unpredictable, there was only one surprise in the Premier League.