Junior Metro Shield – March 2020

After a successful 2019 for our Zone 10 Juniors, it was very important that we came out in 2020 in a similar fashion.
Our under 25’s team which consisted of 6 Juniors, went on to win the Under 25’s Metro Shield in January and those 6 players then backed up alongside 3 new faces to the Zone 10 Juniors Academy to finish 2nd in the Junior Metro Shield which took place on Sunday 1st of March at St Marys RSL Club.

We played Zone 16 in game 1 knowing that it was going to be a tough match first up. Illawarra is renowned for not only having a large number of juniors but also having some of the best. It was a fairly slow start for our boys, a few nerves for some of our new players and unfortunately, Zone 16 got the better of us in the Triples and the Fours. Our Pairs managed to claim our first points of the day.

Game 2 saw us defeat Zone 5 (the host zone) in the pairs and triples and the fours clinching on to a tie with the last bowl from Michael Phillips.

In game 3, Zone 10 played against a new look Zone 13 side with lots of new juniors. We managed to take all the points which took us into lunch in equal 2nd position with only Zone 16 in front of us by 3 points.

Zone 12 was our next opposition and it’s never an easy game with their zone being made up by some of the powerhouse clubs in the state. Our pairs and fours managed to secure wins and our triples just missed out with Tom Holburn’s last bowl missing by millimetres to make a multiple.

Zone 16 dropped a rink in their 4th round which meant that we were still a chance of taking home the title. We took on Zone 15 in the last game who were only 2 points behind us on the leader board and defeated them on all 3 rinks.

Zone 16 also claimed 3 rink wins in the last round and were crowned champions of the day, leaving us in 2nd place only 3 points behind.

A special mention to our 3 boys who played their first game for the Zone: Nicholas Swan, Zachariah Kassis & Ashley Roberts. Also, to Ryan Kennedy & Matthew Swan for remaining undefeated all day. Matthew was also undefeated in the Under 25’s alongside Michael Phillips in the Pairs.

All of our boys represented the Zone perfectly and were gracious in defeat. All games were played in the true spirit in which they should be. A big thank you to our more experienced players guiding the beginners and encouraging new players from other zones.

Another thank you must go to the parents of our kids and to June Eckett for her help throughout the day and with uniforms.

Greg Jeans, Zone 10 Junior Coach

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