Going into the break there was little doubt who would be making up the top three, but just two weeks into the resumption one of those leaders, Moama, is within a game of dropping from the finals places entirely.
Rochester remains an outside hope for finals after downing the Steamers in a one-shot thriller.
On the greens of Rochester Bowls Club, the tie saw Rochy snatch two rinks, doing just enough to prevail on overall shots 14-60 to 2-59.
Tim Quinlan scored a 22-15 victory for Rochy, prevailing over Moama’s Rodney Werner.
Richard Feuk also earned rink points for Rochester, his squad of Robert Clayton (lead), Brian Kinnane (second) and Graham Willis (third) getting home by two shots, 20-18.
Moama’s Robert Young scored the win in the final rink, but Rochester had done enough to outweigh his 26-18 margin.
In a repeat of its memorable title win last season, Mathoura got the better of Tongala once again, winning 12-52 to 4-48 to knock Tonny off the top of the table.
Tongala scored wins in two rinks, skipped by Bradley Tinning (18-15) and Stephen Hammond (18-11).
However, Dennis McHarry scored big in the remaining rink, his quartet of Robert Dunwoodie (lead), Ron Parry (second) and Glen McConchie (third) surging to a huge 26-12 victory, giving their side the overall win.
The result pushes Tongala down to second and keeps Mathoura in the hunt for fourth spot, just three points below Echuca.
Echuca earned that advantage with a sweep over mid-table rival Deniliquin, 16-66 to 0-48.
Skip Ian Page scored the largest win of the three rinks, winning 22-14 over Deni’s Shane Laing.
Philip Thorn (19-13) and Steve Cunnington (25-21) also skipped Echuca to success, earning their side the maximum points and fourth place for at least one week.
Stanhope grabbed a place at the top of the table as the only leader not to slip up this week, battling Rich River in three tight rinks but claiming all of them,16-60 to 0-50.
Timothy Hancock’s five-shot win, 21-16, was the largest of his side’s three rink wins.
Gregory Fitzpatrick got past Rich River’s Tim Noar 19-15, while the remaining rink was a hard-fought affair, going Ben Fletcher’s way by a single shot, 20-19.
Lower divisions
In division two, Rochester had no such luck against the Steamers, dominated by the league leader 16-97 to 0-37.
Moama skips Trevor Eastwell, Ben Franklin and Russell Kelly each scored wins that ranged from solid to dominant in the comprehensive team victory.
Rich River got the win over Stanhope 14-60 to 2-48.
Barry Brown’s rink earned the biggest win for Rich River, his quartet claiming a 26-15 result.
Echuca was victorious over Deniliquin 14-59 to 2-52.
Skips Matthew Brighton and Ian Whiting both earned rink points for Echuca.
Deni RSL proved too strong for Tongala 14-59 to 2-44.
Jorja Ponton grabbed a rink by one shot for Tonny but rival skips Tony Tonta and Ron Marchetti each earned wins to give RSL the overall victory.
Division three saw Rich River well on top of Elmore, 16-66 to 0-43, while Rochy scored the win over Deni RSL, 14-69 to 2-62.
Lockington couldn’t match up to Moama Green, defeated 0-51 to 16-73, and Echuca got by Deniliquin 12-60 to 4-56, while Moama Black dominated Mathoura 16-83 to 0-39.
In division four, Lockington was defeated by Echuca 0-51 to 16-73, while Rich River edged Stanhope 12-55 to 4-54.
Moama was too strong for Ky Valley View 16-87 to 0-34.
Locky had more luck in division five, narrowly getting up over Echuca 12-44 to 2-41, while Moama was too strong for Rochester 14-49 to 0-24.
Elmore prevailed over Stanhope 12-45 to 2-30 and Deni RSL defeated Deniliquin 14-47 to 0-27.
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