IT was a weekend of lopsided results in the Murray Valley Playing Area Saturday Pennant bowls competition, with all Swan Hill-based clubs recording comfortable victories.
Swan Hill secured their first points of season 2022-23 with a commanding 105-58 win over Moulamein. Victories on every rink also gave them claim the full 12 points on offer.
The Brian Mansbridge-led quartet, including Gregory Scandolera, Owen Lewis and the returning Gary McGrath – who was playing his first pennant match of the season – led the way for the Swans, defeating the Dennis Compton-led Moulamein team 44 shots to 19.
Not to be outdone, Lyndon Shadbolt and his combination had an easy 19-shot win over Kerryn Evans team, while the closest match of the day still ended in victory for Swan Hill, with Brian Richardson and his team eventually defeating Moulamein’s Aaron Worboyes 28-25 in a see-sawing battle.
The other clean sweep of the weekend belonged to Murray Downs, who kept their unbeaten streak to start the season intact with a 91 shots to 48 win over Lake Boga in a top-of-the-table clash.
While Murray Downs went into the encounter as warm favourites, Lake Boga would have been hoping to at least finish the day a little closer to the reigning premiers, who won all three rinks and earned all 12 points.
The combination of John Caldwell, Peter Brook, Matt O’Bree and Chris Power led the way for Murray Downs as they cleaned up Rod Wickham’s team with an impressive 38-12 victory. The other two rinks also went the way of the home side, with Josh Thornton’s quartet finishing with a 10-shot win and Brian Lehmann’s team a seven-shot victory.
Racecourse did what was expected in the final game of the weekend, defeating Nyah District 80 shots to 55. Unlike Swan Hill and Murray Downs, Racecourse didn’t secure a clean sweep, with Nyah’s Bryan Smith, Bruce Macdonald, Thelma Watson and Sheena Coe able to force a tie on the rink against Racecourse’s Mark Snel, Neville Smith, Mikaela Evans and Dylan Weaver and share the points with 23 shots each.
The Demons were unable to replicate that form on the other two rinks, with Racecourse’s Mick Holyoak securing a 14-shot win over Graham Muir’s team and Norm Smith’s side claiming a 25-14 win over Rex Howard’s quartet.
With the Division 1 competition now three rounds in, the weekend’s results gave Murray Downs a comfortable 13-point lead over second-placed Racecourse at the top of the ladder, while Lake Boga (third) and Moulamein round out the top four.
After their big win on Saturday, Swan Hill are poised to start their charge towards the top four, sitting just four points behind Moulamein – while Nyah District find themselves languishing last, with just one point from their first three games.
