FACING a South Coast side brimming with state representatives, Western coach Ben Callaway admitted his side wasn’t under illusions heading into Thursday’s NSW Combined High Schools Lawn Bowls Championship gold medal match-up at Orange City Bowling Club.
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He and his troops were confident they’d give their grand final rivals a show, but upsetting the powerhouse South Coast eight would be a completely different story.
Upset South Coast they did though, emphatically.
Led by Orange High School’s Ben Cox and Kandos High’s Tyron Pennell, the two skips, Western’s fours produced outstanding performances in the decider to win one rink 25-8 and the other 14-7, claiming a 24-shot overall win and with it the 2017 state title.
“We gave ourselves a chance but realistically I wasn’t sure if we could beat [South Coast], particularly so convincingly,” Callaway, from Orange High as well, admitted.
“With two state players skipping their rinks they’re a pretty handy side, but our guys shot out of the blocks and kept the pressure on, South Coast dropped their heads a little bit and we were able to get a good win.
“I’m very pleased, we were pretty big underdogs but it was an awesome effort.”
On the back of their silver medal, South Coast duo Jayden Gebbie and Toby Peters were named in the NSW Combined High Schools for the Exchange at Port Macquarie in four weeks alongside Zac Corr-Johnson, Ben Cox, Zack Farr, Connor Freeman, Lauren Gardner, Cody Griffin, Tom Holburn, Josh Lord, Zac Nicholls, Tyron Pennell, Michael Phillips, Brianna Smith and Tim Walsh.
North Coast edged out Sydney West for the bronze medal.