Adelaide Endurance finishes second in inaugural Australian Premier League lawn bowls
ADELAIDE Endurance overcame a slow start to its Australian Premier League lawn bowls campaign to narrowly miss the inaugural title in a grand final loss to Brisbane Gold last week.
ADELAIDE Endurance overcame a slow start to its Australian Premier League lawn bowls campaign to narrowly miss the inaugural title in a grand final loss to Brisbane Gold last week.
The Endurance won a dramatic semi-final over Perth Suns on a tie break last Friday night.
It then went down 4-4, 6-8 in the championship decider to the home side at Club Pine Rivers in Brisbane.
Coach Faye Luke said her side, made up entirely of SA-based players, surprised many after being the lowest ranked team heading into the tournament.
"We knew we were in with a chance (in the final)," Luke said.
"I always felt we could do this and how close were we in the end?"
The Endurance, sponsored by Messenger Community News, had a patchy start to the week-long tournament and sat fifth with three wins and three losses after the first two days.
Straight sets wins over Sydney Lions, Brisbane and Melbourne Roys last Thursday then a tie break win over New Zealand Blackjacks helped them finish the preliminary rounds in second.
"We started off with a plan and then in the end it was just cross your fingers and hope for a bit of luck," Luke said.
"We had some strategies in mind but if they didn't work we knew we had to change them quickly.
"Nobody ranked us, but we just played smart."
Luke praised Endurance players Wayne Ruediger (Grange), Mark Haines (West Lakes) and Scott
Thulborn (Adelaide) who held their nerve in matches broadcast live on Fox Sports.
"Our fellas were really calm and they weren't overawed by the big names," she said.
"If there was a player of the series Scott Thulborn would have won that.
"To see Mark Haines grow as he did was terrific."
The APL had been likened to a lawn bowls version of Twenty20 cricket with shorter games, city-based franchises and players in coloured uniforms.
Luke said the tournament had helped boost the sport's profile.
"It was so positive and everybody was showcased so well," she said.
"There's no way in the world it's not going to happen again - everybody loved it."