Advertisment

Sport

9 February, 2023

Drama-charged day of twists and turns in midweek

A dramatic morning on Tuesday saw the battle at the top of the ladder take a twist ahead of the final round of the home and away season. Talbot opened up the premiership race with an impressive 63-60 victory over Highland Tartan — a result which...

By Michael Thompson

Karen Stephens plays her shot in Dunolly Blue’s big win over Highland Gold — a result that sent Dunolly Blue to the top of the ladder. Photo: 100223 02
Karen Stephens plays her shot in Dunolly Blue’s big win over Highland Gold — a result that sent Dunolly Blue to the top of the ladder. Photo: 100223 02

A dramatic morning on Tuesday saw the battle at the top of the ladder take a twist ahead of the final round of the home and away season.

Talbot opened up the premiership race with an impressive 63-60 victory over Highland Tartan — a result which saw them relinquish the lead atop the table.

Highland Tartan were able to win the first rink, with Jan Turner defeating Ray Prentice 27-18. The second rink between Leanne Wallis and Barb Crossley could not be seperated, with both teams scoring 19 shots. But it was Talbot’s rink three performance, with Robert Jackson defeating Greg Shay 26-14, that gave Talbot an important win.

That result gave Dunolly Blue the chance to control their own destiny — an opportunity they wouldn’t turn down thanks to a 101-42 victory over Highland Gold.

Margaret Davies got things rolling on rink one with a 43-10 victory over Albert Spencer, while Alan Weir defeated Tony Lacey 29-17. Tony Galofaro defeated Lowen Clarke 29-15 to finish off the job for Dunolly Blue, who now hold a nine-point cushion over Highland Tartan on top of the ladder.

Elsewhere, Avoca missed the opportunity to completely seal a finals berth, with bottom-of-the-table Maryborough Golf pulling off an upset victory, 69-57.

Elizabeth Bucknall took a solid 23-14 win over Ann Loosmore, while Kort Gay defeated Christine Bearpark 22-18. Avoca received two points thanks to Ian Proctor defeating Marian Webb 25-24.

That result means Carisbrook stays alive — but only by the barest of margins. They drew 61-apiece with Dunolly Gold to sit 15 points behind Avoca.

It was tight on all three rinks, with Jill Morse taking points for Dunolly Gold with a 22-20 win over Denise Matic, while Eric Symons hit back for Carisbrook on the second rink with a 17-16 win over Jim Haigh. Gary Haigh took a 24-23 win over Barry Mortlock, which meant that Brook took nine points in the draw.

Looking ahead to next Tuesday, and while the runaway top two continues to engage in their own back-and-forth battle, it’s the game between Avoca and Carisbrook that assumes centre stage given the implications at play for both teams.

Avoca need to only draw one rink at worst to seal a finals berth, but Brook can snatch their spot in the most dramatic way possible by winning all three rinks. However, they will have to completely reverse their result from earlier in the season, which saw Avoca take a convincing sweep with a 71-49 win.

Dunolly Blue will look to take the minor premiership when they host Maryborough Golf — although as Golf proved on Tuesday, they are certainly not ending the season with a whimper. A win by Golf, coupled with a loss to Highland Gold, will see them avoid the wooden spoon.

Highland Gold’s task is made much tougher, coming up against Highland Tartan, who will no doubt be smarting from their loss to Talbot. With a Tartan win and a Maryborough Golf win, Tartan will take back the minor premiership they lost control of on Tuesday.

With Talbot making a statement on Tuesday, they’ll now look ahead to their cut-throat semi-final when they play Dunolly Gold, whose season will be coming to a close.

Advertisment

Most Popular