Only two shots separated the teams in the second semi-final in favour of Numurkah Golf after extra ends had to be played as the scores were tied after 63 ends.
In round 14 of the home-and-away season, it was Cobram that triumphed by two shots at their home venue.
A close game was expected, and those who had travelled to Finley to watch the grand final were not disappointed.
Due to injury, Skipper Ron Dougherty had to withdraw from the game.
This gave cause for Carol Dougherty to take charge of that rink and for Graham Cobbin to come into the side and play as third.
To complete Cobram’s line-up, Mick Stephens played second, with Annette Temple as lead.
Dougherty and her charges were against strong opposition in Loris Houlihan and her team.
Numurkah Golf took the first end by one shot. On end two, Cobram had the advantage with a five-shot counter-attack.
Cobram then maintained the lead throughout the rest of this contest, even if it was by the narrowest of margins at times.
It was a great team effort by the Cobram rink; however Annette Temple set the tone of this encounter with a brilliant display of lead bowling.
Final rink scores, Dougherty 20 to Houlihan 18.
The Cobram rink of Joy Mynard (lead), Haydn Smith (2nd), Jenny Warfe (3rd) and skipper Geoff Westmore were never in the hunt throughout their encounter with Numurkah Golf’s Jan Niven and her team.
With the Cobram crew in arrears 8-22 after 16 ends, they put the overall score in jeopardy. With an eye on the overall scoreboard, Cobram mounted a late challenge and added some valuable shots to the main tally.
Final rink scores, Westmore 13 to Niven 25.
The Cobram rink of Keith Faulkner (lead), Marj McDonald (2nd), Allan McDonald (3rd) was skipped by John Dixon.
Each Cobram member played their positional role to perfection.
The hit-out against Lidija Patching and her Numurkah Golf team was supposed to be a close tussle but turned out to be anything but, with Cobram in sync with the pace of the green.
In contrast, it seemed Numurkah Golf was heavy-handed, and they found it difficult to play draw bowls.
After nine ends, the rink score was 17 to 3 in Cobram’s favour.
Dixon's crew went on to be runaway winners.
The final rink scores were Dixon 33 to Patching 12.
With the main scoreboard reading Numurkah Golf 55 and Cobram 66, Cobram was awarded the 2023-24 division one Midweek Pennant.
In division two, Katandra West defeated Numurkah, 57 to 41, in what would be the beginning of a great week of finals for the Kats.
Last Saturday, all five divisions of Murray Weekend Pennant Bowls were played at Berrigan.
The games were brought forward to an earlier start time of 9.30am due to the forecast heat later in the day.
In division one, an in-tune Katandra West was too strong for Numurkah Golf; Katandra West 56 to Numurkah Golf 48.
Strathmerton claimed the division two premiership in a dominant fashion over Finley; Strathmerton 82 to Finley 47.
Numurkah Golf had been the unrivalled team in division three for most of the season.
This was brought home when they eclipsed Nathalia to take the division three premiership; Numurkah Golf 74 to Nathalia 36.
In division four, Katandra West had been a clear ladder-leader prior to the finals.
Although claiming the division four title, their opponents Numurkah did put up a fight; Katandra West 38 to Numurkah 31.
The division five grand final saw Numurkah too strong for Picola; Numurkah 49 to Picola 28.
Cobram Bowls Club member Haydn Smith was understandably ecstatic about the midweek results.
The entire team received medals from “Murray Bowls royalty" Ruth Burnett.
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