Sport
21 February, 2025
Major upsets see minor premiers in prelim
The first week of finals brought about some major upsets, with both minor premiers now having to take the long road to the grand final after losing in the opening round.
DIVISION ONE
Maryborough Golf Blue have booked their place into the grand final, taking down Highland Tartan 67-55.
Kevin Prime got Maryborough Golf Blue off to the perfect start, grabbing a convincing 32-11 victory over Gregory Shay to give his team a massive shot advantage.
Tartan would claim the final two rinks as Zac Stewart held on in a nail-biting contest against Gerry Carmody 23-19 while Garry Coburn held his nerve, defeating Anthony Chambers 21-16.
However, the shot margin was insurmountable for Tartan, allowing Maryborough Golf to punch their ticket to the grand final.
Tartan will be joined by Dunolly Blue in the preliminary final after they were victorious in the elimination semi-final against Talbot Gold 63-55.
Many matchups between these two sides recently have gone down to the wire, and this final certainly was much of the same.
Dunolly Blue’s Peter Waters started proceedings with a 22-17 victory over Peter Fletcher, but Chris Crossley answered back for Talbot Gold, defeating Alan Weir 22-19 to reduce Dunolly Blue’s shot lead to two.
In the deciding leg, Tony Galofaro ensured his team would fight another day, overcoming Matthew Vernon 22-16 to eliminate Talbot Gold.
DIVISION TWO
Carisbrook has handed Newstead Blue their first loss of the season, winning 64-44 to qualify for the grand final.
After Bill Burnett’s 21-13 victory against Malcolm Milne in the opening leg, it seemed to be business as usual for Newstead Blue.
Carisbrook’s Ron Baker and Ross Gregory had other ideas, with Baker prevailing over David Cobden 26-10 and Gregory taking the deciding leg 25-13 against Brian Daly.
The victory means Carisbrook bypasses the preliminary final, the stage they got knocked out in last season.
The minor premiers will have to bounce back quickly in the preliminary final when they take on Maryborough Golf after they defeated Maldon 79-53.
Maryborough Golf’s Kort Gay vanquished Wesley Honeyman 28-17 while teammate Ross Andrews produced a similar result against Annette Gillham 25-13.
Harold Patullo completed the clean sweep for Maryborough Golf in the tightest rink of the contest, defeating Jim Brookshaw 26-23 to officially eliminate Maldon.
Preliminary Final
Everything is to play for this weekend at the Maryborough Highland Society, with two teams booking a place into a grand final while two teams will have their season ended prematurely.
In division one, Highland Tartan and Dunolly Blue will face off in a rematch of last year’s grand final to see who will join Maryborough Golf Blue in the season finale.
Over the past two seasons, the two teams have met seven times, including two matches in last season’s finals.
Highland Tartan, who look to complete a four-peat this season, hold the slight head-to-head record four to three, including two victories in the semi-final and grand final to win last season’s pennant.
In division two, Newstead Blue will face Maryborough Golf to see who joins Carisbrook in the final.
Despite their loss, Newstead Blue will be the odds-on favourite to surpass Maryborough Golf, winning their only match between the two sides this season 60-48.