Sports News

Hook, Line and Sinker

2004: like any year - the Year of the Fish

Sam Kennedy, 13, of Lowood, Queensland caught this 1.9kg bream off the Evans Head Wall while holidaying on the North Coast. Sam used a 6lb line dressed with white pilchard for bait.

Welcome to 2004 and good fishing. The poor old fish is under great pressure today. We have an ever increasing fishing population and ever improving technology, such as fish finders, GPS systems and ever improving methods in terms of fishing tackle. This all puts our fish stocks under enormous strain. We also have a commercial industry, necessary to provide seafood for those who do not fish. So, perhaps our New Year's resolution needs to be to do it right by the guidelines given to us by NSW Fisheries - hopefully with their scientific staff and access to other research from such institutions as Southern Cross University, we are on the right track for an enjoyable pastime and sustainable fishing.

Summer has certainly come with a vengeance and it should mean good whiting fishing in the Richmond River. My reports at this stage are limited but it would be hard to go wrong with some nice bloodworms or fresh yabbies. Traditional places to try would be the sand flats in the area below the ferry and around Pimlico Island. Remember to try and fish for whiting when there is a good current running, even if you have to use a fairly heavy sinker to hold your line down. Make sure you use a light trace of about half a metre in length. Remember the tides always run hardest on full and new moon.

On the beach give the whiting a go with beach worms and you'll also have a chance of picking up a good snowy bream at this time of year. The tailor that are being caught now are not plentiful but are of really good size - our traditional Christmas tailor.

A good and reliable report I have had is that the bream hole in Ballina is fishing well for big flathead and they are taking live bait. Hopefully we don't need to be reminded that there are strict regulations on taking large flathead and only one dusky can be over 70cm. As mentioned above, science has been able to establish that these larger fish, through their breeding, provide stocks for the future. Also keep in mind that dusky flathead now has to be 36cm in length and a bag limit of ten applies.

The sand whiting mentioned above have a bag limit of 20 and a minimum length of 27cm.

Golf world saddened

The Northern Rivers golf community has been saddened by the loss of three prominent members over the past month.

Joyce Dodd, 62, a former club captain of both Lismore and Ballina clubs left behind a strong legacy. She was instrumental in the development of the new ladies clinics and encouraged numerous women to take up the sport, many of whom have had long and enjoyable careers in the game. Joyce was also a quality golfer in her own right, having won club championships at both Lismore and Ballina and was a representative player for both clubs. Joyce sadly passed away prior to Christmas.

Lyn Armitage, wife of prominent Lismore member and club-maker, Laurie Armitage, passed away after a long illness. A private family funeral was held last week.

The Lismore club was further saddened last week with the news of the passing of club member Peter Moller.

Suns still a chance - Soccer FNC

The Suns Aaron Noble in action against the Samoan Olympic team at Barrow Lane earlier this month. The Suns have worked their way into grand final contention in the Summer Youth League.

The North Coast Suns have avenged their 0-1 loss to the Queensland Lions in the first round of the Summer Youth League by defeating them 2-1 last Saturday night at the Italo-Stars' Barrow Lane ground in North Lismore.

This result lifts the Suns to third place with two rounds remaining before the final. The Suns face the two teams above them, the Palm Beach Sharks and Rochedale Rovers, on the ladder over the next two weeks.

A brilliant first half by the Suns against the Lions saw them enter the clubhouse at half time with a 2-nil lead. The goals came through a first-time blast from James Hirst and a tap in by Jordy Campbell. A brilliantly weighted pass from Jed Wright created Campbell's goal.

Intense pressure by the Queensland Lions after the break eventually produced a goal to the visitors. But stout defending, combined with the ever-present threat of extending their lead saw the Suns home to a 2-1 victory.

In the early match, the undefeated Flames took on a young Lions squad. The usually crisp-passing Flames were a little slow out of the blocks, not having played together for a number of weeks.

The scores were locked at nil-all at half time as a slight rain began to fall.

The Lions put pressure on the Flames midfield from the outset of the second half. The Lions finally converted after a scrappy skirmish in front of goal.

As the minutes ticked by it appeared that the Flames would lose their undefeated record. They were able to dominate long sections of the play through the likes of Whitney McNall, Wraight and Edwards.

With five minutes to go Wraight collected the ball near half way mark and produced a scything run that cut the left hand defence to ribbons. Wraight put height into her cross, avoiding the heads of the desperate defence, and neatly slotted it into the goal near the right hand post.

Huge crowd for skaters

The inaugural skate skills workshop held by the FNC Skateboarding Association at the Missingham Bridge Skatepark in Ballina on Sunday was a huge success. Over 45 skaters signed on for the workshop conducted by Skate Australia accredited coaches. A further 1200 attended the demonstration by the Volcom Skate Team according to Association President Madelyn Herweg.

The day was presented by the Far North Coast Skateboarding Association in partnership with Ballina Youth Service and was included in the Volcom team's 'Touring Their Ass Off 2004' tour.

"It was a fantastic day. We are stoked with the big turnout and the enthusiasm of the young skaters for this new workshop." Herweg said.

Founder and secretary of the newly established organisation, Kellie O'Brien, explained that the organisation is looking to hold the coaching day as an annual event.

The Department of Sport and Recreation helped fund the coaching clinic and establish the FNC Skateboarding Association.

Find out more by logging on to www.farnorthcoastskateboarding.org.

Cavaliers forced to suffer the rules - Cricket

Pat Foran came on as the first change bowler in FNC's match against Canterbury (NZ) at Oakes Oval on Wednesday. He met with success in his first over, taking the wicket of Jason Bunzwith with this ball.

It was a sad day for the LJ Hooker League on Saturday.

Before the round began Brunswick Valley had pulled out of the one-day series, creating a lop-sided advantage to those teams that had been scheduled to play them. Tintenbar East Ballina, Marist Brothers and Alstonville have all gained forfeits as a result of Brunswick's demise.

In Alstonville's case, with three on-field wins under their belt, the forfeit that they get for their cancelled match against Brunswick this Saturday mean they finish the four-match series undefeated and go straight into the final.

There was also controversy on the field last weekend. In the Casino v Goonellabah RSL game at QEII Park, Casino, the home team, was seemingly on their way to victory when a rain storm hit. The umpires, following the appropriate rule (No 22) of the Hooker League One Day Series playing conditions, made their calculations and declared Norths the victor. Rule 22 states that "A countback to 30 overs, or whichever is the greater number of overs bowled to both teams, will decide the result if play is interrupted".

Norths had made 182 in their innings, thanks to a fine 47 by the consistent Adam Osborne and a 40 by Nathan Bonamy.

However, Casino appeared to be tracking down the target easily with only 17 required from the final seven overs. At this point it started to rain and the umpires decided to abandon the balance of the game. The antiquated rule meant that although Norths failed to complete their 45 overs and Casino had five wickets in hand to score just over two runs an over, the result went in favour of Norths by two runs.

Casino Cavaliers captain Adam Shields was disappointed, especially as the calculations to revise the required run-rate do not take into account the fact that Norths Goonellabah RSL failed to complete their allotted overs.

"We will be taking this to the special Hooker League meeting being held on Wednesday night (as this paper went to print). The meeting was called to discuss the Brunswick Valley situation but we will be bringing up the issue on the night. I don't anticipate that we will get the result changed, but the system needs to be changed before next season so that this doesn't happen to other teams in the future," Shields told The Echo.

The Hooker League does not use the Duckworth-Lewis system (introduced to international games in 1998), to calculate revised targets. If they did it would all be simple. The equation to calculate the revised target under the Duckworth-Lewis system is Z(u,w) = Z0 [1-exp {-b(w) u}]. Got that.

Lennox Head were unable to register a three figure score yet again on Saturday. This time they were up against Alstonville at Hill Park Oval. Lennox appeared to have taken the initiative early on in the match, dismissing Alstonville for just 123. But their lack of consistent batting form let them down again as they crumbled for just 62.

Tintenbar East Ballina took advantage of an excellent pitch at Kingsford Smith South. Batting first after winning the toss they piled on 206. Opener Brett Crawford top scored with 67, sharing a 111-run opening stand with Mick Warburton. But the Souths batsmen were never in the hunt as all five Tintenbar bowlers stepped up to the line and took wickets. The usually solid Souths batting line-up crumbled for just 119.

Easts opener Bruce Johnson (68 and 2-21) and all rounder Dale Ledger (32 n.o. and 3-32) helped to de-claw the Ballina Bears on their home turf, winning their clash at Fripp Oval, Ballina, by 48 runs.

This Saturday's games: South's v Ballina (Fripp Oval); Casino v Marist Brothers (QEII Park, Casino); Lennox Head v East's (Saunders Oval); Tintenbar East Ballina v North's Goonellabah RSL (Kingsford Smith South); Alstonville - bye.

Racing with a Pacific flavour

Charlie Johnstone, 1, of Ballina, spotted the Clerk of the Course's horse at the Lismore's Christmas Cup meeting and immediately wanted it on her "All I want for Christmas" list. Photo: John McPherson

Racing returns to Lismore this Saturday with the running of the annual Hawaiian Beach Party Raceday.

Along with the race meeting the club uses the Hawaiian Beach Party as an opportunity for the whole family to attend with free activities all day long including a jumping castle, merry go 'round, face painting, plus there is plenty of grassed areas for kids to run around.

Also, in conjunction with sponsor N.C.F.S., the club is offering a total of $500 in cash prizes to be won in the "Beachwear Parade". The club wants to encourage all racegoers to get into the spirit of the day and come dressed in the Hawaiian Beach Party theme. Michael Timbrell, Secretary/Manager of the Lismore Turf Club, explained that spotters would select participants during the afternoon to compete for the prizes.

"The Lismore Turf Club is committed to promoting race meetings as themed events to be enjoyed, not just races for the die-hard enthusiast. We want people to enjoy the whole experience of a day at the races, therefore beachwear parades, children's rides and special catering all help to create an atmosphere," Mr Timbrell explained.

On the equine side of the fence the Lismore Turf Club has received a total of 43 nominations for the five-race program, a very high figure considering the number of race meetings held through January in New South Wales.

Gates open at 12pm with races starting at 1.30pm.

In-liners in line for World's

The Northern Hawks In-Line Hockey club, based out of the Lismore Skate centre, Bridge Street, North Lismore, has had seven of its players selected for Queensland state teams to contest the national championships in Caloundra from April 10-16.

Centre manager, Allan Newby, said the club was very proud of the high number to have gained state honours and believes that at least three of them are in line for national honours.

Those winning their Australian guernsey from the titles will be heading off to Canada for the World In-Line Cup, to be held in London, Ontario, from June 25 to July 22.

The club, which plays in the South-East Queensland competition, changed it's name from Lismore to the Northern Hawks to reflect the fact that its membership is drawn from Ballina, Alstonville, Byron Bay and Casino as well as Lismore.

To get to the Nationals (and then hopefully the Worlds) the players are undergoing a major fundraising drive. They will have an ongoing aluminium can drive with drop off points at the Lismore Skate centre and at major public venues over the coming months.

They will also be holding a major Trash and Treasure sale shortly and are looking for donations of second hand goods such as books, clothing, toys, old plates, kitchen chairs - whatever.

If you can help out this dynamic crew of young elite sportspeople, or need someone to come and pick up your white elephant goods, please contact the Lismore Skate centre on 6621 6565.

An ace! An ace! A quarter-mill for an ace

The 2004 Lismore Unlimited Red Cross $1/4 million Shootout Hole-in-One competition for seniors (125 metres) and juniors (95 metres) will be held at Mortimer Oval from Friday through to Sunday. The regional fund-raiser also offers a $15,000 entertainment system from Trevor Oram's Living Entertainment prize for the nearest to the pin, inside 25 cms, if no one achieves an ace. And if that doesn't get won then the closest to the pin prize will be a return flight for two to Sydney courtesy of Rex Airlines, Lismore.

For juniors (under 16) the hole-in-one prize is $5,000, or a Playstation 2 for the nearest to the pin if no one produces an ace.

You can enter for as little as five dollars (two balls). If you feel as though you need a few sighters that's OK. The organisers will let you pay for as many shots as you like. Hit-off times run from 2-7pm on Friday, 10am-6pm Saturday and from 10am till noon on Sunday, followed by the semi's at 1pm and the final at 2pm.

Josh gets the nod

Alstonville cricketer Josh Murphy has been selected for the NSW Under 17 country coaching clinic. The left-arm fast medium bowler and aggressive middle-order batsman was selected after representing the Far North Coast in the recent state-wide Bradman Cup competition. The clinic, from January 18-23, is a stepping stone to state junior selection. A highlight of the clinic will be games against the teams involved in the A.W. Green final, Sydney's equivalent to the Bradman Cup.

Speedway double-header for Oz Day weekend

After a recent Lismore Speedway meeting postponement the Australia Day weekend meeting will now be a double header. The Saturday meet will feature the popular Sprintcars while the V8 Dirt Modifieds will be the standout for the Sunday night meet. Both features will be supported by a full undercard of events.