COMMONWEALTH Games Para gold medallist Josh Thornton will lead Murray Downs into a mouth-watering bowls semi-final against Barham with a spot in the Northern Valley Premier League preliminary final at stake this weekend.
The Rams take on the fourth-placed Barham in the second semi-final at the Cohuna Bowls Club, with the winner going onto the prelim and the loser eliminated.
Thornton is confident that his side can get the job done and praised the Rams’ efforts since the Christmas break.
“We have been having some good form after the Christmas break,” Thornton said. “If we play at our best then I believe we can get the job done.”
In the 14th and final round of the competition, Murray Downs took on Kerang Golf, with Thornton’s rink the key reason why the Rams won the match – with them having 42 shots alone.
Thornton believes it will come down to being able to repeat that performance this weekend.
“We will be facing a much tougher opposition this weekend, it will be a bit tougher to score,” Thornton said.
“But you just never know on the day of the match.
“If the rink puts it together like we did last weekend, we can definitely set up the team to win.”
With the semi-final being played at the Cohuna Bowls Club, it’s going to be neutral venue.
When Thornton was asked about the neutral turf, he stated that it would just come down to how the green was rolled.
“For the first part, plenty of players have been down to Cohuna Bowls Club before because it’s very close within our region, we just haven’t been there recently for any pennant matches,” Thornton said.
“The second part, it will really come down to how the green is rolled on the day and how the weather conditions are.”
Murray Downs have faced Barham three times this season, with the Rams winning the last match in an even contest, claiming two rinks and having 58 shots while Barham had 56 shots.
But Barham have defeated Murray Downs on their home turf and, with so much at stake, another even contest is almost guaranteed.
In the other semi-final, second-placed Kerang will take on Cohuna Golf, with the winner going straight through to the grand final.
Kerang will be full of confidence after coming off a massive upset against the previously undefeated Cohuna Golf last weekend, with Kerang looking to repeat their performance.
Cohuna Golf will determined to bounce back and, with a grand final spot at stake, they will be hungrier than ever.
Thornton, who is the country manager for Bowls Victoria, has been very happy with how this brand new tournament has gone and how smaller teams in both Murray Valley and Northern District playing areas have been getting opportunities to win matches.
“There were two goals with this tournament, the first goal was to even out the existing playing areas,” Thornton said.
“I definitely believe we have achieved our goal, as there are sides who are making finals for the first time.
“For example Nyah District haven’t won a game in three years, now they have managed to win multiple games this year and just missed the final four.
“The second goal was to have the best teams play against each other and that has succeeded as well. Kerang Golf didn’t have any wins during the season yet still managed to push us and nearly got the win last weekend.
“So I definitely think the competition was a success.”
