THE impeccably manicured grounds of Myrtleford’s Lawn Bowls Club were inundated with red-hot bowlers from across the North East last Friday for the second running of the annual Red Ramia Myrtleford Two Bowls Triples Tournament.

Tongue-twister of a name aside, the fiercely contested competition ran without a hitch, but there was definitely some drama on the vibrant greens, and an unlikely victor – North Albury Bowls Club.

As Lance Symons, Myrtleford Bowls Club president, explained, an onsite visit from a local Myrtleford physio and a donated player gave North Albury the leg up they needed to clinch victory.

“They (North Albury) were the only four game winners for the day,” said Symons.

“But, inadvertently, we (Myrtleford Bowls Club) helped them win the tournament.

“In the very first game, I was playing against Andrew Hirst, North Albury’s skipper, and he was complaining about his back and how he’d hurt it mowing his lawn the previous day.

“And he asked if there was a physiotherapist in town, and rather serendipitously, one of our club sponsors is KickStart Physio in Gapsted.

“So he called them up after winning the first game, and one of their physios came to the club rooms to work on him.

“So he couldn’t play the second game, and we put a substitute from Myrtleford into North Albury’s team, and then they won that game too.

“And then when Andrew came back out of the clubrooms after lunch to resume his role as skipper for the final two games, they won those as well.”

Symons said the event was a great success overall, and he was glad to see such a strong turn out from all over North East Victoria and further afar.

“We had 13 visiting teams with three players each, and they came from as far away as Mansfield, Yackandandah and Dederang,” he said.

“It was excellent having so many people playing this great game competitively all at the same venue, and I can’t wait for next year.”