Three Western Division clashes were played on Friday evening, with a healthy crowd really enjoying the close-fought contests.
Premier Financial, led by Mark Tasker, were too good for Rob Morris’s Visattak winning three games and 41 shots to 1-32, and Shane Laing’s Brian McCleary & Co. just edged out Tom Todd’s The Depot 2 1/2 games and 39 shots to 1 1/2 and 31.
The third Friday fixture saw Simon Chisholm’s Brunker Fabrications comprehensively dispose of Elders Rural, with Tony Scoullar at the helm, when they won three games and shared the other while amassing 48 shots to 26.
The last match in this division was a real nail-biter when David Hessel led Tasker’s Machinery to a one shot victory over Linda Harris’s Riverina Watermatic after they both won two games apiece, the final score being 2-38 to 2- 37.
An almost identical score was posted in the first of the Eastern Division fixtures when Conway Bovell’s Decentralised Demountables failed by the barest of margins, going down 2-38 to 2-39 against North Deni Steel, led by Paul Snare.
Another enthralling contest saw Coach House Hotel just prevail over Globe Hotel 2-39 to 2-36. The combination of Jamie Shields, Hayden Schollbach, Brenda Leetham and Keith Hay was just able to hold out Peter ‘Chief’ Chadderton’s side, while the last two matches saw comfortable victories recorded.
Jill Grimshaw’s White Lion Hotel accounted for the Stuart Treble led Central IGA 3 games and 45 shots to 1-37, and JC Earthmoving, with Steve O’Brien at the helm, were far too good for Lee Hillier’s Lumbar’s Transport with the final score reading 4-46 to 0-28.
The final round of the regular season will be played this Saturday with a Fours competition over 20 ends.
The champion team will then be decided the following Saturday when the top two in each division play off over 10 ends, with the respective winners then doing battle in the grand final over a further 10 ends on the same day.
The play-off combinations are not quite decided yet, with a number of teams still in contention.
In the Eastern Division, North Deni Steel and J.C. Earthworks share ladder leadership on 40 points, and should account for Lumbar’s Transport and Central IGA who are both at the other end of the ladder.
However, there have been many unexpected results with the changing formats throughout the competition, so the third and fourth sides, Decentralised Demountables and Coach House Hotel, on 38 and 36 points respectively, would both give themselves a chance of sneaking into the top two when they play each other in the final round.
In the Western Division, Premier Financial are two points clear of Brian McCleary & Co, 40 points to 38, but they take on the in-form Brunker Fabrications, who are only a further four points behind on 34, and are capable on their day of doing something really special.
The McCleary combination should win their clash against Visattak, while it would appear the final round combatants, Tasker’s Machinery and Elders Rural, are too far back on 32 and 28 points to feature in the finals.
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