BPL20: Day 5 recap
History was made in spades at Club Pine Rivers following one of the highest quality finals nights in Bowls Premier League (BPL) history as BPL20 drew to a stunning conclusion.
The Tweed Ospreys became the first franchise to five titles as Aaron Teys, Chloe Stewart and Corey Wedlock continued their onslaught in the competition with their fourth crown as a combination under coach Wayne Turley OAM.
It was a shaky start to the day for the Ospreys, who dropped both of their final home and away contests before a third successive defeat at the hands of the Sydney Lions in the qualifying final.
They would rebound in stunning fashion against the Sydney Saints in the preliminary final despite only winning three ends out of the ten played.
In severe trouble in the second set, Wedlock secured a mighty five on a power play to net a ten and set a rematch with the Lions in the decider.
Having not overcome Sydney in three previous outings in Queensland’s Moreton Bay region, the odds seemed stacked against the Club Tweed franchise.
Gaining an 8-2 lead with one end to spare in the opening stanza, the Lions looked in trouble before Nathan Black sent the crowd into raptures to net a three on a power play to tie the set and give his team of Karen Murphy AM, Brett Spurr and coach Steve Glasson OAM a spark of life.
Set two boasted many swings and roundabouts, with the lead changing across every end, but needing one on their power play to take the crown, Wedlock and Teys managed to play a sensational deciding exchange to claim the historic fifth title, moving one ahead of the Lions as the most successful franchise in history.
Teys becomes the first player to win six events, while Wedlock and Stewart join Murphy and Aron Sherriff with five.
Black was awarded the MVP award with Dawn Hayman and Aaron Wilson joining him in the All Star team under coach Turley.
In a new award, Wedlock was crowned as the most valuable player of the Grand Final following some sublime efforts in the last game of the event.
The earlier finals saw the Adelaide Pioneers finish fourth and the Melbourne eXtreme in fifth.
