Australia's Wayne Turley and
Bill Cornehls celebrate their win
at the State Lawn Bowls Centre.
The Australian men captured the first gold medal in the Lawn Bowls competition, beating Northern Ireland to win the Men's Triples Final 8-6 10-2.
It may have looked easy on the scoreboard, but the outstanding team performance of Mark Casey, Wayne Turley, and Bill Cornehls was certainly tested by the accuracy and planning of the Northern Ireland team.
Northern Ireland started the gold medal chase well, scoring two shots on each of the first two ends to lead 4-0.
"There were no nerves. We've done all the hard yards with training. We've been progressing through the competition and getting better and better," Cornehls said.
Australia responded by claiming shots on the next four ends to lead 7-4.
Northern Ireland took two shots on the next, but Australia won a tense final-end to take the first set 8-6.
Australia took an early lead in the second set after a superb bowl by Wayne Turley and then the clash became a game of cat and mouse, with Australia managing to extend its lead to 8-2 by the sixth-end and 10-2 after the seventh.
With Northern Ireland holding three shots and threatening to take the match to a ninth end, Mark Casey cut the visitors' advantage to two, to seal the match 10-4.
"I just feel ecstatic. I couldn't even talk," said Australian Mark Casey.
"My mum and dad were bawling. We'd like to thank so many people. It's just the best day of my life."
"Turls (Turley) was magnificent. We played against some of the best players in the world," Casey said.
Losing finalist Neil Booth said: "I think we were favourites to be quite honest. There was a bit of experience we had the advantage in."
"It was the Australia's first final. So it's a bit of disappointment."
- Games News Service
For more results, visit the Lawn Bowls Schedule and Results section of this Website.
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