Geoffrey Beattie skipped a successful rink as Moama punched its grand final ticket on Saturday. Photos: Oliver Shedden.
Photo by
Oliver Shedden
Despite falling from the top of the ladder back into a comfortable third place by season’s end, Moama has proved its finals quality with a preliminary final victory in the Campaspe Playing Area weekend pennant.
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Division one had looked to be a three-team race since before Christmas and that proved to be the case come crunch time as Stanhope, Tongala and Moama were the three remaining sides going into the preliminary final round.
Tongala fell just three shots short of Stanhope in the semi and would have been keen to have another shot at turning the result around on the final day, but Moama had other plans at Echuca Bowls Club, earning a 14-68 to 2-57 victory.
Consistent scoring across the green saw Moama log between 22 and 23 shots in all four rinks.
In two of them, skipped by Rodney Werner and Geoffrey Beattie, that was enough to win over their Tongala counterparts, both getting up 23-17.
In the remaining rink, Tongala’s Glenn Fields edged out Robert Young for a 23-22 victory, but the damage was done in the other rinks, earning Moama a spot in the decider.
Tongala’s Glenn Fields earned victory in his rink, but his side was eliminated at the preliminary final stage.
Photo by
Oliver Shedden
Division two also featured an underdog performance, with fourth seed Deniliquin sneaking its way past Echuca and into the final, 14-59 to 2-58.
Each side had a six-shot win to its name, Brian Kemnitz scoring an 18-12 victory for Deni and Matthew Brighton repeating the feat for Echuca, 22-16.
It made the remaining rink the decider, and it was Robert Morris’ Deniliquin quartet that stood up. Morris combined with Tony Danckert (lead), Peter Todd (second), and Stephen King (third) to get the job done by a single shot, 25-24, earning their side the match by the same margin.
Deniliquin will look to complete the trifecta of finals victories against Moama on Saturday.
In division three, Lockington had upset the more favoured Echuca in the elimination semi-final last week, but couldn’t repeat the feat against Moama Green on Saturday, eliminated 14-68 to 2-52 at Echuca Bowls Club.
Green proved too strong in two rinks, with Roy Jackson skipping a 22-14 win for the Steamers, while Sue Holmes was even more dominant, scoring a 34-8 result.
Steve Pavone added some respectability to the scoreline, skipping a 30-12 victory in the other rink.
Moama Green will face clubmate Moama Black for the title.
A close battle in division four saw Echuca overcome Stanhope 14-57 to 2-53.
Trev Rickard skipped the biggest success for Echuca, guiding his side to a 23-14 result, while Joan Moss also came out on top 22-19.
Anthony Trist grabbed a win for Stanhope, 20-12, but it wasn’t enough for his side to stave off elimination.
Echuca gets a second shot at Moama in the grand final after the Steamers defeated it handily in the semi.
The division five trophy will be headed up the Cobb Highway after Deni RSL booked a meeting with local rival Deniliquin in the grand final.
RSL got by the higher finishing Moama 14-43 to 0-30 in the preliminary final after skips Garry Hulm (24-14) and Lindsay Dalzell (19-16) got the better of their Moama opponents.
All grand finals will be played at Lockington Bowls Club on Saturday, March 1.
