They travelled to Moama to take on the top side in Division 4, in a sunny 32℃ with breezy conditions.
The Diggers were sitting in fifth place on the ladder and knew they had a task ahead.
Wearing black armbands, mourning the loss of their esteemed bowling member Paul Connor, it was a sombre start to the day after a minute's silence on the green in his memory.
Rod Reid skipped Chris Frampton, Sandy Hill and Craig Taylor and got off to a brilliant start.
Handling the fast-paced greens better than the home team, Frampton led beautifully and Hill followed up extremely well even with an injury.
Taylor conquered the change of pace and they were 12-2 up on the card by the 9th end.
However, they were not able to score again for six ends, with their opposition gaining momentum.
Only scoring three more singles at ends 15, 18 and 19, they managed to keep the upper hand and finished two up after 21 ends, 15-13. A thrilling end and result.
Peter Thommers drew the toughest side of the day, and had a battle all afternoon.
His team of Danny Stanmore, John Wilson and Archie Webster battled through with some brilliant bowls, only having the lead once at the third end.
They could only win five ends after that to gain 11 shots, compared to Moama winning 13 ends with 26 shots to make the difference of 14 shots.
Two Curnows in the opposing team completed a formidable side.
The Diggers’ skip struggled with the fast green but didn’t go down without a fight.
Final score was 28-14.
Jake Glenn started slowly but led beautifully on Niels Hilton’s rink after he got the pace.
Jo Chick and Mally Austin made up the team, and they had a battle to catch up after dropping seven in the first two ends.
By the eighth end, they had clawed their way back to 8-9.
Moama picked up seven over the next four ends and then stalled, remaining on 16 shots until the 17th end.
The Diggers seemed to be back in it at 15-16, but the win was not to be theirs.
The opposition skip changed gears, only allowing RSL a single shot compared to Moama taking three singles then a crushing three on the last end for a final score of 16-22.
The tally at day’s end was 63-45, with Moama taking 14 points, and RSL 2 points for the magnificent effort and win on Rod Reid’s rink.
Deni RSL remain in fifth position on the ladder with 94 points - only one point out of the top four.
Rich River have just managed to keep fourth spot with 95 points after a thrilling game and win for Mathoura.
Midweek Pennant
Mason Glenn will debut for the RSL Diggers in Division 2 of today’s midweek competition return.
The young bowler, able to play because of school holidays, and brother and fellow junior bowler Jake Glenn, will both play in club president Niels Hilton’s team.
Teams for today’s, playing at Rich River, are: C Frampton, I McKenzie, M Peterman, R Reid (s); M Glenn, J Glenn, N Austin, N Hilton (s); A Hodges, J Chick, A Webster, C Taylor (s).
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