Greg Kelly

IN A GRANDSTAND finish, the minor premiers Broadbeach Bulls took out the 2017 premier league Queensland title in a drama-packed weekend by just three shots against seven-time champions Helensvale Hawks.

Minor premiers Broadbeach and Helensvale were favourites to play-off in the grand final and after the elimination, qualifying, minor semi-final and major semi-final, it was down to the grand final at 1pm on Sunday.

Earlier on Saturday the fifth placed Tweed Ospreys won the elimination match against Hamilton Power with top skip Steven Tong holding up his side to win 37/6 and a master boards score of 63/44 to set up a rematch against the Pirates in the minor semi-final.

Again Tong won on his rink 25/11 but the Tweed Ospreys lost 49/53 to the Pirates but must be congratulated on making the finals after a 10-year absence.

At the same time on Saturday afternoon, the Bulls and Hawks were playing for a place in Sunday's grand final and the scores were locked together in another high standard match.

The final two ends at 8.30pm saw the Bulls pick up three shots and Bester won by one shot on the final end to give Broadbeach a one shot win 61/60.

Ryan Bester lost to Nathan Rice 19/21, Sean Ingham defeated Brett Wilkie 22/20 and Kevin Anderson defeated Mark Casey 20/19.

The Hawks over-ran the Pirates on Sunday morning 65/44 in the preliminary final to once again face the Bulls in the afternoon grand final and the large crowd was not disappointed in another great match that went down to the wire.

Mark Casey played Kevin Anderson again and reversed the scoreline this time winning by one shot 19/18, and Sean Ingham won again 24/19 over Nathan Rice with Ryan Bester and Brett Wilkie playing out a 16/16 draw.

The final scoreline of 57/54 went to the Bulls, as did the $16,000 in prize money. Only four shots on the master scoreboard separated these two great sides over two matches and 126 ends played over a time span of seven to eight hours, but only one side can win the 2017 title and Broadbeach Bulls as minor premiers fully deserved their first-ever premier league title.

• Premier Sevens

A record 206 teams has been whittled down to 48 quarter-finalists in six divisions of Premier Sevens, the most popular form of bowls in Queensland which is also on the verge of spreading to Northern NSW and Victoria.

The eight division one quarter-finalists have been given this weekend off before returning to the fray at Mermaid Beach on Saturday week, including titleholders Wellers Hill.

Full results on web site www.plq.com.au

• As I have now reached retiring age this will be my last On the Mat report. I sincerely thank the Daily News staff and you, the readers, for the support you have given me over many years.

- Thank you so much for your much-loved columns. We will miss you Greg! - Ed