The all-conquering Murray Downs have suffered their first defeat since the 2020-21 MVPA weekend pennant grand final.
In a hard-fought encounter on Saturday afternoon, arch-rival Racecourse were also able to hand the ladder leaders their first home-and-away defeat since the 2018-19 season.
It ended an 18-month undefeated run and a stretch of three years without dropping a regular season match.
Racecourse were able to overpower Murray Downs late in the day, coming from behind and securing wins on all three rinks to take the full 12 competition points away.
Very little separated the two clubs all day, with Mick Holyoak (one shot) and Mark Snel (two shots) and their respective quartets securing close wins on their respective rinks.
On the final risk, the combination of Norm Smith, Glenn McIntosh, Trevor Wiseman and Kylie Gardner produced a come-from-behind victory over the closing ends and ran away with a seven-shot victory over Matt O’Bree’s team – giving Racecourse a 68 to 58 shot overall victory.
Elsewhere, Swan Hill fell to the much-improved Lake Boga.
Despite winning two of the three rinks, Lake Boga didn’t get things all their own way – and were lucky to come away with the win after Swan Hill’s Glenn Evans and his team secured a 10-shot win on their rink.
Lake Boga had six- and five-shot victories on the remaining two rinks – giving them a one-shot overall win 76 to 75.
Nyah District hosted Moulamein, with the visitors coming away with the points 73 shots to 59, with wins on two out of the three rinks.
There were close matches, with a two-shot win to Moulamein on the second rink and one-shot win to Nyah District on the third.
It was Kerryn Evans and her team’s ability to secure a 13-shot victory over Nyah District’s Bruce Macdonald that would ultimately prove the difference between the two clubs.
Moulamein moved inside the top four of the Division 1 Weekend Pennant ladder approaching the halfway mark of the season, relegating Swan Hill to fifth spot.
Murray Downs still leads the way on 56 points, however the margin to the top has closed significantly.
Lake Boga sit second on 52 points and Racecourse third on 49 points.
