Simply and purely "outstanding".
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That was how Zone 3 junior chairman and coach Brett Pillar described Tim Thorning's performance at what was an historic Bowls NSW Junior State Championships for the region.
The Gunnedah teenager's clutch bowling under pressure secured the zone not one but two titles.
After clinching the singles title with his very last bowl of a final that will go down in folklore, the 15-year-old then repeated his heroics in the fours final to lift the side of himself, club-mate Jacob Martin, Tarnee Ingram (Manilla) and Blayne Cook (South Tamworth) to a thrilling 13-12 win over city powerhouses Cabramatta.
Trailing 12-5 at one stage, it capped off a remarkable fightback and the zone's most successful junior championships.
It's the first time it has taken out two titles, and to Pillar's knowledge the first time it's ever won the fours.
"They were outstanding," he said about the Zone 3 cohort, which also included Gunnedah's Ella and Charlie Cameron, who contested the pairs.
"It's a real credit to the juniors in our area and credit to the juniors that did play."
Played at Warilla over four days, the pairs was first followed by the singles, then the fours.
After winning both of his round games to top his section, Thorning faced Cabramatta's Ryan Klem in his semi-final.
The two went shot-for-shot, Thorning eventually prevailing 21-19 after what Bowls NSW's Ben Krikstolaitis reported was 32 ends of hard-fought bowls.
Backing up for the final about 15 minutes later, he and Mudgee's Tom Rich were then locked at 20-all with one end remaining. With his last roll Thorning drove down the green, striking Rich's wing bowl and his next bowl to prevail 21-20.
In the fours, which was played over the Thursday and Friday, after his "grit and determination" (as Krikstolaitis described it) had pulled Zone 3 back from a seven shot deficit early to level at 10-all in their semi-final, they then produced 'several multiple-shot scores' to win their way through to the final - their first in at least four years - 19-10.
Looking then to have a mountain to climb in the decider at seven shots down with four ends remaining, Zone 3 got themselves back in the game with two consecutive three shot ends.
Coming down to the two skippers' final bowls, Thorning again delivered, with a perfectly weighted and directed shot that went jack high (when the nearest part of a bowl is in line with and at the same distance from the mat line as the nearest part of the jack).
"He was outstanding and kept his calm and played some shots that really took some guts to play," Pillar said.
The next assignment as a zone is the NSW Junior Inter-Zone 7-A-Side Championship at Dubbo from August 18-20.
They have entered two teams, the second a composite of players from a few other zones as well.
