Goulburn Valley Playing Area takes out Rowlands-Sutcliffe Trophy for the third time

It’s the second time Goulburn Valley’s finest have retained the grail this year alone.

The trophy ― named after Goulburn Murray Bowls Region icons Maurie Rowlands and Geoff Sutcliffe ― was launched in March 2022, with GVPA toppling its MPA opposites 52-427 to 26-370.

It backed it up with a win in May 2023, and Sunday’s result backs a claim GVPA is the superior of the two regional outfits of late.

Regardless of the outcome, GMBR secretary Stephen McGregor said the day went off without a hitch.

“The Numurkah greens were beautiful; everyone commented on how much work they’ve put in and how good the greens were,” he said.

“The ladies there put on a great lunch, they fed 104 of us.

“Goulburn Valley broke away in the first one and that’s about where their lead stayed all day.

“They had a pretty good win in the first round, much closer in the second and again much closer in the third game.”

GVPA men speared out to an 11-shot lead by the end of the first round, highlighted by David Daws’ 13-7 triumph over Chris Philpot.

Meanwhile, the women clinched a 12-76 to 0-47 advantage across their six rinks, Jean Sprague’s 12-shot win in the first to get the party started.

From there, GVPA’s men were edged in the second round, while the women notched a slim win, and the tables were turned in the third.

By the end of the day’s play, GVPA held on for the overall victory and was presented with the trophy by Rowland and Sutcliffe.

In the wake of the event, men’s and women’s teams of 16 will be selected to take on the Ovens and Murray at Yarrawonga on December 3.

From there, the side will be whittled down to a final 12 to go to Ballarat in January to face off against all of Bowls Victoria’s regional sides.

“It made the selectors’ job difficult because there were a lot of good bowls,” McGregor said.

“And that was because of the good green, it was such a good surface to play on.

“You put good bowlers on a good surface and you get good games. Not many of the games were blowouts.”

Though the third instalment of the Rowlands-Sutcliffe Trophy Challenge was pushed forward due to Bowls Victoria moving its regional event from May to January, McGregor said it didn’t take any of the shine off the occasion.

“It was very competitive and it’s becoming quite a good annual event,” he said.

“It was an excellent day, we were lucky we didn’t have that big wind on Saturday which caused a lot of fun and games.

“But there were no complaints from anybody, everyone enjoyed their day and, as I said, the hospitality from Numurkah was excellent.”