Sport
6 February, 2026
Fatal four way set for midweek finals spot
The race for the last available finals spot is set to come down to the wire, with four teams all having a theoretical chance to end the regular season in fourth after a compelling penultimate round.
Highland Gold entered round 13 on Tuesday in the highly coveted fourth spot, boasting a five-point advantage on their closest challengers, Carisbrook.
Their fortuitous position on the ladder didn’t correlate to their scheduled opponent, taking on the defending champions Highland Tartan in an intraclub battle.
Tartan showed no remorse for its Highland brethren, holding club bragging rights with a commanding 91-38 victory.
Greg Shay set the stage for a Tartan sweep by conquering Dennis Prosser 32-11, a result supported by Harvey Pearce overcoming Gregory Long 24-15 and Garry Coburn trouncing Lowen Clarke 35-12.
With Highland Gold soundly defeated, Carisbrook were supplied an opportunity to retake fourth if they could defeat an Avoca side who looked all but eliminated from finals contention.
However, in the crazy world of sport, anything is possible, and a Loralee Field led Avoca resuscitated their season with a stunning 57-53 victory.
Cameron Taylor and Ron Baker did their jobs for Carisbrook, but their opponents battled hard to limit the deficit, with Taylor holding off Ann Loosmore 22-15 and Baker surviving Ian Proctor 17-16.
As her team’s survival hung in the balance, Field fulfilled Avoca’s prayers, defeating Roy Pickering 26-14 to steal the victory.
Despite Carisbrook’s loss, Highland Gold weren’t out of the woods just yet, as Talbot could leapfrog them with a shutout versus bottom of the ladder Dunolly Gold.
With Ray Prentice vanquishing Marian Webb 22-16 and Chris Crossley edging out Fabio Delconte 22-20, Talbot looked poised to complete a remarkable season turnaround in the space of three hours.
Just as they reached the top four border, Dunolly Gold’s Wayne Stephens provided another twist to the tale, deporting Talbot by defeating Barbara Crossley 32-11 and handing Dunolly Gold a 68-55 win.
Elsewhere in the finals picture, Dunolly Blue have virtually guaranteed a date with Highland Tartan in the double chance semi-final, finally earning an 84-51 victory over recent bogey team Maryborough Golf.
Graeme Orr gave Golf an early advantage, thwarting Chris Williams 26-24. However, the remaining rinks were one-way traffic for Dunolly Blue, with Alan Weir dominating Kort Gay 32-8 and Tony Galofaro vanquishing Francis Smith 28-17.
The victory places Dunolly Blue 16 points ahead of last season’s runner-up in second, a position they can only lose if they surrender an inconceivable 368-shot difference in the final round.
With the double chance equation now effectively a formality, all eyes will be fixated on two matches this Tuesday, as four teams attempt to make 13 rounds and months of hard work count during a dramatic finale.
The tale of the tape is as follows. Highland Gold remains in fourth on 75 points and has a largely superior shot difference over its competition.
A round 14 sweep of sixth-placed Avoca on 66 points would clinch Highland Gold’s finals place regardless of other results. Yet, any Avoca victory would see them surpass Highland Gold in the standings.
That scenario wouldn’t guarantee Avoca crashes the finals party, as Carisbrook, who are eight points ahead of Avoca and a point behind Highland Gold, can eclipse both teams into the top four if they beat Talbot on Tuesday.
Sitting in seventh on 64 points, Talbot’s path to finals salvation is the most complex.
They first need to defeat Carisbrook by winning at least two rinks. Then, Avoca needs to overcome Highland Gold while winning one less rink than Talbot claimed versus Carisbrook, which would remove the two-point deficit and allow Talbot to jump Avoca on shot difference.
Round 14 matches that don’t involve the intertwining race for fourth also possess some intrigue, headlined by an all but certain semi-final double chance preview between Highland Tartan and Dunolly Blue.
Barring a superhuman performance, Maryborough Golf will enter the sudden death semi-final after completing their regular season versus Dunolly Gold.
