Last week the Gerries golfers played their first Thursday afternoon golf competition and their were 10 starters in the event which was played on the front nine of the Royal Narromine.

Winner on the day was that very fine footballer turned golfer Chris " The Pom " Harding who returned a remarkable score of 26 points.

Well done Chris but we are all sure you will not like the treatment of the handicapper with your new handicap for next week.Runner up on the day was the very consistent Brian Masling on 21 points.

There was no winner of the NTP competition and the prize now jackpots to next week. The winner of the NAGA event was Terry Willis on 11 points

.A word of advice to "Pom" follow the lead of Terry and keep winning the NAGA to get your handicap shots back.

There was only one game in the pool competition which saw Gus Smith and Chris Harding against Steve Squires and Terry Willis.

This was an interesting match which saw Squires and Willis win and become the Thursday night pool champs.

The Gerries comp will again be played on Thursday, November 21 with the hit off at 4pm and the play will be on the back nine.Hope to see you all at the 19th.

Norman Lewis

No Joy for our Gold Team in the Club Challenge last weekend. The boys lost a bruising encounter against a Parkes outfit that simply played better than our boys.

For the Record Robbie Stanford was defeated 21/15 in a cracker of a singles match against Parkes number one Baldy Frame. Sam Crook and Aaron Hutchison had their pairs match won until Parke's Garry Carberry trailed the jack with the last bowl of the match to make the final score of 12/12 & a drawn match.

And the Triples? Well the good news is that Kevie, Beaver and Frenchy lead 08/00 after just three ends, the bad news is that two ends later they were trailing 08/09 and things went downhill from there with the final score of 11/18 underlining the dominance of the Parkes boys in the back half of the match.

So as I said at the beginning no joy and we will have to wait another 12 months before we get another crack at qualifying for the state finals in this event.

Saturday's Gold Match was also the last Game for Narromine by Sam Crook who will be playing for Gulgong in 2020.

Sam of course as a teacher in Gulgong has had to make the trek Home each time there was a championship or pennant game on.

We wish Sam all the best for the future and thank him for his efforts when representing Narromine in any event.

Social Bowls this week saw just a dozen go round on Thursday, whilst some 15 eager beavers competed in the chook run on Sunday morning.

On Thursday T-Mac and his troops took home all the lollies, whilst on Sunday it was Richard Hyde, Bob Ashdown and Mick Edwards who cleaned up, not only winning the day but collecting the jackpot as well.

Social Bowls outings on Thursday's & Sunday's will be "Changed up a gear" as a result of the Board meeting on Sunday.

In the past there has been confusion with regards PRIZE POOLS and STARTING TIMES. So to Clear up what are "THE RULES" for Social Bowls, this Thursday we will be canvassing the regulars with regards recommendations from that said board meeting and dependent upon results a List of Starting Times, Green Fees and Prize Structures will be posted on the Notice board to avoid any further Confusion.

The World Famous "Fat Black Pelican" Day has been resurrected and will be held in conjunction with our Presentation Morning on Sunday, December 22.

There will be terrific prizes to win and also a Sausage Sizzle for lunch, with the Presentation of Certificates for our 2019 Club Champions to Follow.

The Flyer for this event will posted on the Notice Board this week and hopefully we should have a Great Day.

With our Blue Club Challenge team making the state Finals, the lads are up for a few expenses, so to offset this the Club will be conducting a Beer Raffle along the same lines as Thursdays, whereby patrons can purchase tickets at any time of the day, and if you're not there for the draw it doesn't matter, as your name will be on the winning ticket.

This Saturday afternoon and hopefully all Saturdays leading up to Christmas we might be able to fit some social bowls in.

A sheet for this Saturday is on the Notice Board, and depending up Numbers we might have some sponsored Prizes to hand out.

Play will be 18 ends commencing at 2pm, with names required by 1.30pm at Latest.

Well that's it for me for another week, keep em rolling!!!

Norman Bohm

The winners of the Tuesday Business Competition were Treseders with 83 points.

The individual winners were G Daley 25 points, Greg Kearines 24 points, Michael Treseder 24 points, Josh Barlow 24 points, Des Weir 23 points, John Sevil 23, Keith Hemsworth 23 points, Ron Green 22 points, Pat Mitchell 22 points and Alex Sambrook 22 points.

Nearest the pin winners were Peter Perry third, Ron Powell tenth and Pat Mitchell 17th. The wind took the 9th.!!. There were 68 starters who appeared to enjoy themselves even if covered in a little dust.

On Saturday we played a two person Ambrose sponsored by Ag n Vet and Darling Irrigation.

The winners with 61.25 were Robert Gainsford and Mick McKean, second Mitch Smith and Nathan Walker 62.25, third Tony Mann and Duanne Mann 62.25 and fourth Tony Harding and Jamie McKinnon 62.75. Nearest the pins Robert Gainsford and Steven Squires.

Sunday was the Darryl Handsaker Memeorial day sponsored by Robert Handsaker Ford.

The Winners were Chris and Dale Harding 47 points on a count-back from Neil and Michelle Ashdown. Nearest the pins were won by Greg Kearines and Tony Mann.

Robert and Kim had a great score of 50 points but would not take their own trophy.

Next Sat we are playing 4BBB sponsored by Robert Hunt and Russell Young and on Sunday a 4b aggregate sponsored by the golf club.

Please remember the AGM on Thursday, November 28 at 7pm.

Chris and Dale Harding

Three of the Wiradjuri Goannas' four sides will feature in next weekend's Western Women's Rugby League grand finals after winning through to their respective deciders on the weekend.

While the path was paved by wins for the Goannas under 15s and 18s teams earlier in the day at Spooner Oval in Forbes, it was the powerhouse opens side who laid claim to the club's biggest achievement; extending an unbeaten streak that stretches back through the entirety of last season with a win over the Mudgee Dragons.

A try in the first two minutes from Bec Smyth, who's been a standout for the Goannas throughout the season, afforded them some breathing room and a second blow was dealt shortly after by Ashley Ward, giving the Goannas a 10-o lead that held at 20-10 by half time.

The Dragons put up a hard fight to close the gap, but left the field in Forbes on the losing side of a 36-22 scorecard that saw them eliminated from finals contention.

Goannas captain Cassie Toomey credited the Dragons for their spirited effort, having been dealt a much more lopsided loss by the Goannas earlier in the season.

"It was a pretty tough game from both sides. Mudgee have improved heaps and they really gave it to us yesterday [Sunday], they really showed us that we need to work on a few things coming into the grand final," Toomey said.

The Goannas were bolstered by a few of the 18s players, with India Draper, Kiara Singh and Ashley Ward all drawing praise from Toomey for their contributions.

"They do an amazing job backing up for us after their game, which is a lot to take on playing back to back games."

The Goannas will now square off against a resurgent Orange Vipers outfit that has bounced back from the hardship of failing to field a team last year to book a grand final showdown with the defending premiers.

The Vipers beat Woodbridge Cup 34-16 on Saturday in order to take up the first spot in the grand final.

The last time the two sides met the Vipers were dealt a 26-16 loss by the Goannas on the under card to the Western Ram's clash with visiting France in Parkes, but Toomey expects to see the same leap in improvement the Dragons and other teams have shown coming into the season's final rounds.

"I reckon the Vipers will have improved leaps and bounds," she said.

"Every team has really been improving heaps this season and it's been pushing us and making us more determined to win. We've played a lot with the Vipers girls in the Western Rams team, so they've been there with us and we know they're good competition."

"We'll need to work a bit more on our defence and manage our attack, but if we can play the way we've been playing in our recent games, we'll be alright."

Those improvements, and the lift in competitiveness the competition has seen recently, are something that Toomey hopes will afford the women's sport more focus and a bigger audience.

"I definitely think it's a good sign of how the game's growing and getting better, hopefully this kind of game creates more pathways for us girls in the future.

"There's a very good level of quality among the country girls, a lot of our players have to move to Sydney if they want to keep playing, so hopefully it draws a bit of the interest back here and makes things a bit bigger close to home."

The Goannas will hampered by the loss of star forward Bec Smyth, who suffered a broken arm on the weekend and despite managing to complete the game against Mudgee, will miss the upcoming grand final.

"She put up a big fight on the weekend, she's really tough," Toomey said.

Despite the blow, Toomey remains confident her side will be ready for the challenge.

"I think we'll play a good game against the Vipers, our girls are ready to go."

Daniel Shirkie

To freshen up from the constant wear and tear of racetrack competition, Greg Ryan intended to miss the Dubbo meeting on Sunday however there was unfinished business on the agenda for the champion jockey.

Ryan decided to accept one ride only, that being the seven year old gelding Caszar for Forbes trainer Barry Molloy in the 1400 metres Total Diesel Repairs Benchmark 66 Handicap.

As the rider of Caszar at the last two starts, Ryan had been impressed with the strong finishing runs from the back of the field when second to General Scarlet in the Dandy Cup at Narromine and then third to Smart Moove and Lulu's Destiny at Dubbo.

Allowed to settle off the pace at Dubbo on Sunday, Caszar ( $3.10 ) swept to the lead over the closing stages to win by a length and a half from Lulu's Destiny ( Clayton Gallagher, $2.90 favourite ) and Redirect ( Ken Dunbar, $7 ).

Greg Ryan who has now ridden 3,900 winners has great respect for trainer Barry Molloy and this was a major reason for his decision to accept the sole ride at Dubbo.

Now the winner of four races and placed six times from 20 starts, Caszar is trained by Barry Molloy for Bernie Kearins from West Wyalong and the Estate Of John "Sam" Glasgow from Tullibigeal.

Dubbo trainer Connie Greig and jockey Rasit Yetimova continued their run of success over recent months when Billy Bent Ear won the 1000 metres Chill Rite Benchmark 66 Handicap in an exciting finish.

A $12 chance, the appropriately named Billy Bent Ear ( yes he does have a bent ear ), after racing in a handy position overhauled the leader Cannizzaro ( Samantha Clenton, $11 ) to score by a half neck with Epic Decision ( Jake Pracey-Holmes, $6.50 ) a half head away third.

Meanwhile at Bathurst on Saturday, Dean Mirfin further cemented his position as a leading trainer in the region when he landed a winning double with Saint Ay and Skipper Joe.

Bathurst based Mirfin has only given Saint Ay five starts and it was a good performance by the four year old gelding to outstay the opposition over 2000 metres in the Bathurst Carpet Court Class 1 and Maiden Plate.

Well ridden by Jake Pracey-Holmes, Saint Ay ( $2 to 1.65 favourite )took the early lead and after being challenged at the top of the straight raced away to win by over two lengths from Club Town ( Daniel Northey, $10 ) and Mount Taishan ( Billy Cray, $5.50 ).

Skipper Joe ( Jake Pracey-Holmes,$2.60 fav.) also led throughout when winning the On-Trac-Ag Benchmark 58 Handicap ( 1200 metres ) from Gaze Beyond ( Tony Cavallo, $2.90 ) and Hokkaido ( Tiffany Jeffries, $15 ).

At the third run back from a spell, the Justin.W.Stanley, Narromine trained Baker's Image regained form to win the 1100 metres Lithgow Furniture and Bedding Class 2 Handicap.

Part owned by Adam Baker and Krysty Baker formerly from Forbes, Baker's Image ( Clayton Gallagher, $13 ) came from back in the field to beat Heza Gentleman ( Quayd Krogh, $3.60 fav.) and Strictly Legit ( Chelsea Ings, $5.50 ).

Racing at Orange ( TAB ) on Friday and Cowra on Saturday.

Colin Hodges