Goulburn Murray women power up at Bowls Victoria Region Sides Championships as Allan Matheson Shield prepares to resume

The Bowls Victoria Region Sides Championships in the Ballarat area had squads of men and women statewide converge for supremacy, with the GMBR men’s side having endured the ultimate heartbreak 12 months prior.

During Saturday’s play it quickly became clear that the men’s mission this time would not be to avenge a one-shot defeat from last year’s playoff, but to retain their spot in the Gold division following two straight group stage defeats.

Needing a win over the Sandhurst region in the final group stage game to avoid relegation to Silver next year, the locals pulled through with a commanding victory to at least breathe a sigh of relief in assuring Gold status — highlighted by a 32-8 rink win for the quartet led by Brent Reiner.

The women were out to fight their way back into Gold for the 2026 edition, though, and made the perfect start with a commanding win over Mornington Peninsula.

Backing that up with a 3-75 to 0-67 victory over Wimmera, the Goulburn Murray girls were one win from automatic promotion and redemption and brushing past Gippsland ensured they would be back in the top division next year.

There was still more to do in a playoff for medals, of course, but the primary objective was not just completed, but obliterated in topping the group unbeaten.

Though the women would fall three shots short against the Metro West region on Sunday, manager Tanya Warren expressed only pride in their accomplishments.

“I was overjoyed with the way they performed. They worked brilliantly as a team,” Warren said.

“The camaraderie across the rinks between the girls was to be commended, as was their concentration.

“There was no player who didn’t deserve to be there, and they all played to our game plan.

“Coming in on Friday and winning the first game by such a good margin left the girls on a high. They were so positive and they took that into the second day.

“The girls performed beautifully and I couldn’t take anything off them.”

Noting that storms around Sebastopol Bowls Club forced a lengthy pause during the medal playoff, Warren hailed her group’s resolve to fight throughout the weekend.

“The girls were ecstatic just to make the finals and they just took it end by end,” Warren said.

“Even the Sunday game, taking that to a tiebreaker and then down to the very last bowl, they didn’t falter and they just kept going.

“They’re a magnificent bunch of women and you couldn’t ask for better with the way they supported each other.”

With representative outings done and dusted for now, the focus turns to Allan Matheson Shield action as club bowls fire up once more.

With a gap of more than 30 points at the summit, only a weekend washout could dent Tallygaroopna’s (8-1-0) otherwise perfect record, but fourth-placed Tatura-Hill Top (4-2-3) has far less wiggle room and will go a long way to stamping its credentials if a boilover eventuates.

Much like Tallygaroopna, usual front-running outfit Shepparton Golf (5-2-2) will go in strongly fancied at home to Mooroopna (2-1-6), while there will be little to separate Kyabram (4-1-4) and Shepparton Park (4-2-3) in a finals-shaping clash out west.

Two teams struggling for momentum round out the Matheson Shield’s return this weekend when East Shepparton (2-2-5) welcomes Euroa (1-1-7) to town.