B-grade Triples scheduled for play on Saturday saw Paul Hilder, Jimmy Daley & Legs Hartas get the better of  Codey Anning, Geoff Bohm & Ben Clark 17/13 in semi-final one, whilst in the second match it was Tom Newlands, Super Sub Bob Davis & Riley Cape who managed to just nudge out   Mick Wright, Geoff Anderson & Rabz Macqueen 19/18. This now sets the stage for a final which will be held on Saturday week owing to the time honoured “FINO” day taking precedence this coming Saturday.

Social Bowls this week saw some 14 players go round on Thursday, with only half a dozen taking to the  paddock Sunday morning in what turned out to be just a roll up instead of the usual chook run: Thursday saw Dennis Shirlaw & Peter Cross collect all the chocolates available, whilst once again that darn jackpot couldn’t be found

Sunday the 17th September has been gazetted as the day for our 2017/2018 Annual General meeting and therefore Nominations for the board of Directors have now closed: With some 9 gentlemen nominated, there will be no need for any voting at this stage. The meeting starts at 10.00am and for those who haven’t had a look at the Balance Sheet (Which is available at the Bar) it makes for pleasant reading.

Our Next Trivia Night is on Tuesday 19th September and the local charity to benefit from this night is the Narromine Cancer Support Group. In the past this organisation has put on a terrific bunch of prizes & a supper to match. So if you would like to be part of what is always a fun night get your team together, or if you’re on your own just wander up to the club around 6.30pm on Tuesday 19th and enjoy the occasion.

Thursday 21st September promises to be another big night in the Club house with a bonus raffle being conducted in conjunction with our normal Meat Trays: Over $1000.00 worth of additional prizes will be there for the taking but only if you’re in the clubhouse from around 7.00pm onwards.

Nominations for the “A” Grade Triples are now being called for, and happy to report we have had a few more “Noms”. Just a reminder nominations for this event close this Saturday

Nominations for the Club Challenge close this week, are u playing?

Well that’s it for another week, Robbie Stanford & Family along with myself had an enjoyable few days at Port Macquarie as part of the Zone 4 touring Party that contested the Zones Sides State Championships, but unfortunately the Bowls was a bit like the weather indifferent.

Last Saturday we had 14 players in the Monthly Medal sponsored by Ron Powell & Bill Burke. The A-grade winner was Bruce Mitchell with a 64 nett  & the winner of B-grade was John Butcher also with 64 nett. Other good scores on a low scoring included Greg Barling 65 , Mick McKean 66 & Chris Harding also a 66. NTPs 9th Steve Buckley & 10th Tiger Berryman.

On Sunday we had 22 starters in a 2 Person Ambrose sponsored by the Club.  The father & son combination of Chris & Tony Harding had 60 3/4 to win the day. Runners-up were Russell Hunt & Rob Williams with 61 1/2 with Luke Hutchison & Andrew MacQueen on 62 were third. NTPs 9th Luke Hutchison & 10th Andrew MacQueen.

Next weekend we are hosting the NSW Veterans Golf Championships with play to commence in the mornings. We will be holding a 4BBB on both days in the afternoons for members not playing the Championships. Also this week we will finalise a new date for the Holden Scramble as the proposed new date clashed with the Western District Championships & Pennants.

WIN FOR HARDING

Last Wednesday some 13 hardy golfers turned up wintery conditions for Gerries weekly competition on the Narromine course which at the moment is very dry with lots of run and badly in need of a shower of rain.

Winner on the day was Chris Harding who thrived in the "English like " conditions to return a score of 26 points. The runner up was Gus Smith who had 25 points and it is rumoured the handicapper is looking closely at these two cards and some handicap reductions are sure to be made. There was no winner for the nearest the pin which will now jackpot  and no NAGA award was made due to the lack of numbers. Welcome to Greg Barling who had his first game with the Gerries.

After the presentation, attention turned to the Pool table where Chris Harding and Terry Willis took on Greg Barling and Gus Smith for a place in the final. In a huge boilover, Smith and Barling emerged as comfortable winners. They then went on to meet Bob Fletcher and latecomer Norm Lewis in the final. This was a tight contest with Fletch and Lewis emerging victorious to become the weekly champs.

This afternoon the Gerries will attack the front nine with the hit off at the usual time of 2.30 am.See you all on the tee.

The stage is set for the NSWVGA Men's Four ball State Championships to be held at Narromine this weekend September 16 and 17.

A top field of veteran golfers from various parts of the state will arrive in Narromine for the event which is held annually.

The event is to be played over 36 holes,18 on Saturday and 18 on Sunday with a hit-off time scheduled for 9am.The Narromine Club will supply all players with breakfast from 8am before hitting off and lunch at the conclusion of each days play.

Last years champions, the Narromine pair of Bruce Mitchell and Neil Ashdown will be defending their title against some of the best veteran golfers in the state.

CYMS win 14th Group 11 title

The build-up to Sunday’s first grade grand final was dominated by the excitement around Nyngan as the Tigers prepared for their maiden Group 11 decider.

But that’s not the way Tim Ryan saw it.

The Tigers faithful had the chance to be a part of grand final week for the first time and while it was seven straight deciders for CYMS, that didn’t make the 34-18 victory at Caltex Park any less sweet.

“It was all about Nyngan never having won one so my theme for this week was, what where they celebrating about? We’ve won 14 now and that’s something to be proud of,” he said.

“All week I drummed into the boys every year we’ve won the competition and made it about how we wanted to join them in the history books and we did that.”

While the final margin was 16 points, the match in front of a massive 5125 fans was far closer.

The sides seemed certain to go into half-time at 12-all but two minutes before the break a bomb from Alex Bonham, who went on to be named the Bob Weir Medal winner for best on ground, was allowed to bounce 20m from the Nyngan line and CYMS regathered, put it through the hands and Matt Naden scored.

Both Ryan and Nyngan captain-coach Stewart Mills stated that was a major moment in the match, and despite the Tigers getting within four points in the second half, the Fishies were too strong defensively while also counter-punching with class.

Making the win even the more impressive was the fact Naden and Ben Marlin didn’t play in the second half due to injury while fullback Kieran Cubby-Shipp battled through a severe corked thigh for most of the game.

The win rid CYMS of any memories of last season’s shock grand final loss to Forbes and made it three titles in the five years Ryan has been at the helm.

“It was just rewards, I think, for the five years of hard work,” Ryan said.

“This is the pinnacle and why we start work in pre-season, for a day like this with a crowd like this. It doesn’t get any better.”

CYMS shot out of the gates early, Cubby-Shipp jinking his way to the tryline inside three minutes.

Both sides had chances as the game swung to-and-fro but in the blink of an eye Nyngan was in front through tries to Bennu Cokanasiga and Brett Howard.

Wade Kavanagh crossed after a simple right-to-left move to help get it all square before Naden’s four-pointer meant CYMS went into the break with a 16-12 lead.

Bonham plucked a Mills pass 10m out from his own line and raced 90m to make it 22-12 and while Nyngan again hit back through Mitch Rixon, Bonham muscled his way across for a second to make the margin 10.

Viliame Turuva scored right on full-time to seal it.

Panthers go back to back

The undeniable force that has been the Gilgandra Panthers first grade side in the 2017 Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition powered their way to a comprehensive victory over the Coonamble Bears in the grand final played at Gilgandra’s McGrane Oval on Saturday.

In front of huge crowd the Panthers were alway in command as they claimed the silverware for a second year in succession with a resounding 46 to 10 victory.

The win reinforced their already strong claim for prestigious Clayton Cup which is awarded annually to the best performed first grade team in country NSW.

Despite suffering a severe hand injury early in proceedings the Panther’s second rower Ashley Hazelton stamped his authority on the game, scoring three tries and setting up another in one of his trademark no nonsense performances for which he was rewarded with the man of the match award

Whilst they never threw the towel in the Bear’s unimaginative attack posed few questions of the stout Gilgandra defence, and whilst Coonamble repeatedly plugged it up the middle the Panther’s more expansive style of play, on the back of a very solid platform laid by their pack, proved far more fruitful in terms of points on the scoreboard.

The Warren Bulldogs claimed the League Tag premiership honours when they downed the Dunedoo Swanettes 26 to 14.

The Bulldog’s Katina Darcy played a major role in securing the premiership with her two tries proving to be pivotal to the final result and she was duly awarded player of the match status.

The game was of a high standard and reinforced just how important league tag is to the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition with the very big audience being appreciative of the players’ efforts and skill.

Matther Guan’s extensive service to the game of rugby league and the Dunedoo community was recognised when he was named as the Volunteer of the Year, whilst Brand Worrell from Baradine was recognised as the Youth League Player of the Year.

Coonamble’s Tori Canham was once again awarded the Castlereagh League League Tag Player of the Year.

League Tag has been played in the Castlereagh League for three years and Tori’s name is the only one engraved on the perpetual trophy, as this is the third year in succession that she has won it.

There were two League Player of the Year award recipients Ashley Hazelton and Moe Jacobs.

Youth League

Coonabarabran Unicorns 40 (Jack Isedale 2, Jackson Sulter 2, Konna Newton, Tyrelle Griffiths, Darcy Abel, Tristan Sulter tries, Quade Milgate 4 goals) defeated Baradine Magpies 26 (Lane Hawkins 2, Sam Molyneaux 2, Ethan Andres tries Hawkins 2 goals)

Player of the match; Jack Isedale (Coonabarabran)

League Tag

Warren Bulldogs 26 (Katina Darcy 2, Karen Harris, Nikki Fuller, Katie Poidevin tries, Harris 3 goals) defeated Dunedoo Swanettes 14 (Emma Gallagher 2, Lauren Sullivan tries, Channy Burgess goal)

Player of the match; Katina Darcy (Warren)

First Grade

Gilgandra Panthers 46 (Ashley Hazelton 3, Ray Buchanan 2, Josh Nixon, George Alchin, Kieren Hazelton, Jamie Towney tries, Brandon Hammond 2, Luke Ritchie 2 goals) defeated Coonamble 10 (Derek Robinson, Michael Morrissey tries, Marshall Williams goal)

Player of the match; Ashley Hazelton (Gilgandra)

Christie and Hood Castlereagh League season awards

Volunteer of the Year;   Matthew Guan (Dunedoo)

Youth League Player of the Year; Brandon Worrell (Baradine) League Tag Player of the Year; Tori Canham (Coonamble) Senior League Player of the Year; Ashley Hazelton (Gilgandra), Moe Jacobs (Coonamble)