Stanhope advances in weekend pennant

Stanhope won all three rinks by just a single shot each, a result that would have earned them maximum points in round play, but simply saw them narrowly through by three shots, 16-53 to 0-50, in finals competition.

There was very little between the sides but in all three rinks it was Stanhope who stood up, skips Gregory Fitzpatrick, Ben Fletcher, and Timothy Hancock all rising to the occasion with their respective squads.

The Tongala contingent under skips Glenn Fields, Bradley Tinning and Stephen Hammond will gain some consolation from how close they came and will fancy their chances in a rematch should they get through the preliminary final this weekend.

Tonny will encounter Moama in the prelim after the Steamers had a much more comfortable win over Echuca, 16-71 to 0-34.

All three Moama skips, Robert Young, Geoffrey Beattie, and Rodney Werner, scored double-digit wins for Moama in a dominant team performance.

After working hard to earn their place in the finals last weekend, Echuca and skips Philip Thorn, Ian Page, and Steve Cunnington crashed out at the semi-final stage.

Division Two

Moama punched its ticket to the last day, 12-70 to 4-53 over Echuca.

A huge scoring margin from skip Ben Franklin carried Moama to the win, his 30-8 victory far outweighing his side’s losses in the remaining rinks.

Echuca survives to take on Deniliquin in a preliminary final, Deni ending Tongala’s season in a tight contest, 12-55 to 4-52.

Similarly to the qualifying final, it was a big win to a single skip, in this case Brian Kemnitz (22-10), which did enough to get his side the win despite Tonny taking both other rinks.

Division Three

Moama Black is on its way to the grand final, defeating club mate Moama Green 14-63 to 2-58.

Kevin Connolly and Bryan Harper were the victorious skips for Black, while Darren Yates earned a rink victory for Green.

Green will look to get past Lockington in the preliminary final after Locky sent Echuca packing 14-68 to 2-52.

Leanne McInnes picked up the biggest win of the tie, 28-11, while teammate Steve Pavone also grabbed a rink for Lockington, 24-21.

Division Four

Moama awaits its opposition on grand final day after advancing with a dominant 16-74 to 0-35 performance over Echuca.

In a comprehensive victory, skips Mark Daly, Peter Whitlock, and Barry Barbary all won their rinks for the Steamers.

Echuca has a second chance to book its spot as it takes on Stanhope in the preliminary final.

Stanhope advanced 15-68 to 1-49, Graeme Nurse and Anthony Trist earning rink wins to get their side home.

Division Five

Deniliquin is on its way to the grand final after defeating Moama 14-39 to 0-32.

Skips Lloyd Ritchie and Colin Knuckey each earned hard-fought wins to put their side through to the grand final.

Deni could meet local rivals Deni RSL on the final day after RSL eliminated Echuca, 14-50 to 0-29, to join Moama in the preliminary final.

Lindsay Dalzell was in fine form with a 26-11 win, while fellow skip Garry Hulm also got the job done.