BOTH Racecourse and Murray Downs have broken clear of the chasing pack at the top of the Division 1 weekend pennant MVPA bowls ladder, after comfortable wins on Saturday.
Racecourse remain on top, eight points clear of the reigning premiers Murray Downs, after last year’s runners-up had a comfortable 31-shot win over Lake Boga.
Racecourse won every rink, with Norman Smith’s proving the most dominant as his team of Glenn McIntosh, Kylie Gardner and Ron Wolfe claimed a 23-shot victory over Lake Boga’s Daniel Kelly.
The remaining two rinks were much closer affairs for the home side, however, Peter Philp and Ken Hamill were unable to overcome the combinations of Robert Hayes and Glenn McKissack, losing both rinks by three and five shots respectively.
It was a similar result at Moulamein, who were no match for Murray Downs in a 96-52 loss in the battle of the Division 1 NSW sides.
The closest contest for the afternoon was between the Martin Stephens side and the team of John Caldwell, the Murray Downs skipper still having a comfortable win 25-16.
Harry Whitford, standing in as skipper for Brian Lehmann, had another strong win for the Rams, defeating Moulamein’s Mark Evans 32-21.
Murray Downs’ Josh Thornton, Matt O’Bree, David Alderuccio and Garry McCaig provided their the biggest win of the afternoon, defeating Aaron Worboyes team 39-15.
The final match of the round was between the competition’s bottom two sides Swan Hill and Nyah District, with an 84-51 win to Swan Hill good enough to move ahead of Lake Boga into the top four by day’s end.
Having won every rink, Swan Hill walked away with the full 12 points, bringing them to 24 points, the same as Lake Boga.
Glenn Evans secured his team their biggest win of the day after defeating Bryan Smith’s combination by 17 shots, while Greg Scandolera (11 shots) and Brian Quaife (five shots) also secured wins for Swan Hill.
