A Stanhope triples team has caused a Campaspe Playing Area upset by beating a Moama team skipped by one of the rising stars of Victorian lawn bowls.
Tim Hancock and Barry and Ben Fletcher, who have been prominent figures in the rise of Stanhope’s division one weekend pennant team from bottom to top of the ladder, beat a team led by Cameron Keenan to claim the 2024 Campaspe Playing Area state triples title.
Hancock and the Fletchers won the 18-end final 17-13 and will now compete in Bendigo, in early March, against the winners from the Bendigo and Goldfields regions to see who has the honour of representing the BCG region at the state finals in April.
Keenan is a skipper for the Moama Steamers in Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields Region’s elite competition, the Premier League. He is the 12th ranked skipper in the competition with a 2-2 record this season.
The Fletchers are ranked fifth and seventh on the overall player ladder in Campaspe Playing Area’s top division, while Hancock is the fifth seeded skip this year.
Hancock and the father-son combination beat another two Premier League bowlers on their way to the title, Barry and Kevin Brennan.
Triples teams skipped by Hancock and another Stanhope division one skip, Greg Fitzpatrick, had byes in the opening round of the tournament – which featured 12 teams from across the region.
While Fitzpatrick was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Echuca’s Steve Cunnington, the Hancock-led team beat Moama’s Barry Brennan 22-17 to move forward in the competition.
Tongala star Brad Tinning was knocked out by Barry Brennan in the quarter-finals, while Keenan beat Geoff Beattie in their quarter-final.
Keenan beat Cunnington’s rink 19-9 in the semi-final, while Hancock won his quarter-final against Kevin Brennan 17-13.