Sports reports: Charlotte Hatton is the best in Australia
Plus the latest in Meyer Shield cricket, Murray Bridge golf and Lower Murray lawn bowls.
This post includes contributions from Natalie Hatton, Michael Potts and Derek Vanderzon.
- 🎱 Charlotte Hatton is the best in Australia
- 🏏 Murray Towns’ Meyer Shield side named
- ⛳️ Rob Walters blitzes the field to cap a great week
- ⚫️ RSL rise as Karoonda slide in Lower Murray bowls
To express an interest in sponsoring this weekly feature, email jane@murraybridge.news.
Charlotte Hatton is the best in Australia
The Murraylands’ Charlie Hatton has been crowned the nation’s best female eight-ball player under the age of 18.
At the Australian Junior Eight Ball Championships in Canberra last week, the teenager from Punthari defeated Tiarna Knight 6-0 to take the trophy.
She was also the runner-up in the six red challenge, and the South Australian team were named national champions for the third year in a row.
Another competitor with local ties, Tyreece Gray, won the under-18 singles title and the six red title at the same event.
Murray Towns’ Meyer Shield side named
The Murray Towns Cricket Association has named the side that will face Torrens Valley at Callington on Friday for the first round of the Meyer Shield.
Making the cut were batters Brady Wrigley, Ty Pfeiffer and Zak Muirhead; keeper-batsman Nick Lindner; all-rounders Dwayne Krollig, Aaron Zrim, Josh Boylan, Cameron Cox and Keynan Harradine; and bowlers Jayden Krollig, Sam Elliott and Cameron Jorgensen.
Top club Mypolonga and second-placed Mannum will each have five representatives in the squad, while Wanderers and Monarto will have one each.
Dwayne Krollig will captain the side, with Wrigley as his deputy.
Rob Walters blitzes the field to cap a great week
Murray Bridge Golf Club committee man Rob Walters has done the double and pulled off both a midweek and Saturday competition win at Ritter Street over the past week – a rare feat indeed.
His outstanding round of seven-up in Saturday’s par event was particularly stunning.
A single-figure golfer in his heyday, Walters sets the bar high and is rarely satisfied, but even he must have felt good after that round.
Others worthy of mention from Saturday were Peter Erickson, for winning A grade with a brilliant four-up, and C-grader Ian Fletcher, who returned the same score to top his division.
Battle-scarred B-grader Luke Williams showed signs of his glory days in taming the back nine and scoring a super five-up there to win the day’s pro comp, his big left-hand banana drives no doubt having hit the target on most holes.
Nonchalant golf tragic Laurie Crack outdid all and sundry on the awkward par three 14th hole to win the coveted yabby nearest-the-pin prize.
There will be plenty of Stableford comps coming up, with Australia Day on Friday and the usual Saturday comp.
RSL rise as Karoonda slide in Lower Murray bowls
RSL have put an end to any realistic chances of Jervois making the finals in Lower Murray lawn bowls with a 15-shot away win, while Karoonda have relinquished top position and slid to third with consecutive losses.
Trevor Mann, Graham Schenke, Derek Vanderzon and Neil Morris were on the receiving end of a faultless display from Jason Sipos, who completely dominated in a 28-9 win with assistance from David Graham, Matt Wynne and Garry Daniel.
Sipos converted numerous ends, cut back and added shots at almost every opportunity against his hapless opponents.
Noel Kneebone, Anne-Marie Kuchel, Kerri Bolt and James Galbraith put in a dominant second half to record an easy 27-11 win over Graeme Herbert, Rodger Zarantonello, Steve Kroehn and Shane Fromm.
Kneebone trailed by one shot after eight ends and led by just two after 13, but dominated from there on, adding 15 to one over the last eight ends.
Shawn Hicks, Jeremy Scannell, Rod Harris and Grace Hameister got off to a dream start with a seven on the opening end against David Thiele, Karen Kneebone, David Newell and Allan Wooldridge and went on to record a 33-13 win.
After just five ends the lead was already 15 shots, and although the visitors clawed back a few shots through the middle stages, Hicks again finished strongly.
Murray Bridge were given a fright by bottom side Tailem Bend, getting over the line by just four shots, 63-59, but only after late rallies on all three rinks where they collectively added 19 shots to four after looking beaten.
Bruce Attrill, David Kempe, Charlie DiSanto and Tony Gill made a good start against the returning Sam Shepherd, Kylie Slattery, Matt Hogan and Chris Slattery, leading 7-0 after four ends.
Shepherd closed the gap to three shots at the break, but the 19th and 20th ends were disastrous as they dropped a pair of fives to go down 28-12.
Darren McIntosh, Brian Traeger, Mike Ferris and Brian Leckie also got off to a bright start against Rob Hales, Nathan Mammone, Ian Shepherd and Bevan Jaensch, with consecutive fours getting them out to a 17-4 lead just before the break.
Hales hit back strongly and, after 19 ends, had clawed back to a single-shot deficit with all the momentum.
McIntosh steadied just in time, finishing with a two and a three to prevail 25-19.
The final rink also had a fast start, but this time it was Tailem’s Travis Schenke, David Hoare, Stuart Rooke and Kevin McDonald who dominated early, leading 19-3 at the break over Paul Smart, Ben Traeger, Peter Shilton and Andrew Meddle.
The lead blew out to 23 shots after 15 ends with Smart still stranded on three shots, but a late rally got him to double figures while he conceded just one shot and reduced the final margin to 18.
Email your sports reports to peri@murraybridge.news. Your support helps Murray Bridge News tell important local stories – subscribe today.
