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Sports reports: Murraylands’ first women’s footy club disbands

Plus the latest from Murray Bridge lawn tennis and golf, Murray Towns cricket and Lower Murray lawn bowls.

Peri Strathearn, Contributed

Dec 19, 2023 — 5 min read

This post includes contributions from Derek Vanderzon and Michael Potts.

The Murraylands Swans line up before a match in 2021. Photo: Peri Strathearn.

Murraylands’ first women’s footy club disbands

The Murraylands Swans Women’s Football Club has been forced to cease operating due to “logistical complications”.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the club said the difficult decision had been made at an annual general meeting on November 27.

“Murraylands Swans Women’s Football Club has been a welcoming place for local girls and women to learn, play and enjoy football since 2016,” it said.

“We thank each and every one of our members, sponsors, players, volunteers, parents and supporters for all the encouragement and support over the last eight years.

“We could not have done without you all.”

More information: www.facebook.com/MurraylandsSwansWFC.

Rosemary Daish plays a shot at Murray Bridge’s lawn tennis courts on Saturday. Photo: Murray Bridge Lawn Tennis Association/Facebook.

Swanport wins lawn tennis grand final

Swanport has won the Murray Bridge Lawn Tennis Association’s senior grand final, 9-86 to 7-81, against Postel.

“It was a very close game, nail-biting in fact to have that last game to play to see if it was won by sets or games, but Swanport got there at the end to win that number one position,” the association said on its Facebook page.

“Congratulations to all (who) played and to Albert Goodridge (Swanport) and Rosemary Daish (Postel) for receiving the most valuable player of the day.”

Read more: www.facebook.com/murraybridge.lawntennis.

Zak Muirhead leads the way with the bat once again. Photo: Mannum Cricket Club/Facebook.

Zak Muirhead makes huge ton in Murray Towns cricket

Mannum 7/369 defeated Meningie 7/188

Mannum best: Zak Muirhead 179, Jayden Krollig 50 and 2/23
Meningie best: Oliver Crossman 3/78, Paul McNicol 57*, Stewart Williss 54

Monarto 127 lost to Wanderers 192

Wanderers best: Shane Bown 53, Michael Stapleton 2/31
Monarto best: Jarrad Kowald 4/35, Ethan Smith 28

Mypolonga 9/233 defeated Tailem Bend 56

Mypolonga best: Stephen Mills 100, Camron Jorgensen 4/12
Tailem Bend best: Brad Kleinig 4/44, Hayden McInally 11, Rhys Lloyd 11

Bowls clubs battle at Mannum

All division one Lower Murray bowls teams played at Mannum on Saturday and were treated to near-perfect conditions in the last round before the Christmas break.

Karoonda consolidated their position at the top of the ladder with a solid 17-shot win, two rinks up, over Jervois.

Ian Symonds, Garry Zadow, Jake Venning and Malcolm Waechter were big winners, 27-13 over Rodger Zarantonello, Trevor Mann, Russell Schutz and Bob Solley.

They were quickly out to a 12-1 lead before a mini revival closed the gap to five shots after 13 ends.

Zadow and Symonds pulled off some big conversions to regain control, and a six on the 17th blew the lead out to 15 shots as they cruised home for the win.

Josh Porker, Shaun Wood, Erin O’Malley and Bill Cornish were four-shot winners over Graeme Herbert, Jeremy Scannell, Graham Schenke and, in her division one debut, Grace Hameister.

Porker was well in control early, but Herbert picked up four successive ends either side of the break to level at 12-all.

Porker again came to the fore with some big shots to win the next six ends and take a nine-shot lead.

A pair of late threes reduced the margin to 22-18.

Rowan Zadow, Garry Mason, Rowan Tomkinson and John Wegner started off with a 4 against Graham Fromm, Shawn Hicks, Derek Vanderzon and Neil Morris, but conceded three threes to trail by two shots at the break.

Mason took several shots off his opponents as Zadow edged ahead by four after 18 ends, but a lovely upshot by Fromm gained him a five and the lead with two ends to go.

A single each way got Fromm home by a single shot.

Murray Bridge closed the gap on Mannum, in second spot, with a win by the barest of margins: 59-58.

Bruce Attrill, David Kempe, Charlie DiSanto and Tony Gill led the way with a 23-14 win over Lynton Jones, Gary Fowler, Kelvin Newman and John Medicaid.

A six to Attrill on the sixth propelled him to the lead after a slow-ish start, and from there he was never headed.

Jones stayed within striking distance for 14 ends, but Attrill won six of the final seven for a convincing win.

Darren McIntosh, Brian Traeger, Mike Ferris and Brian Leckie were five-shot winners over Graham Wakefield, John Howe, Gary Odgers and Marie Wachtel, 23-18.

Successive fours to McIntosh either side of the break were the deciding factor in a match that was otherwise closely contested.

Terry McDonnell, Tommy Towns, Graham Leathers and Ron Van Tijn did their bit for Mannum with 26-13 win over Ben Traeger, Peter Shilton, Paul Smart and Andrew Meddle.

They had the first 10 shots on the board after four ends and maintained a lead of at least seven shots from then on.

A four on their final end almost dragged Mannum over the line, but Murray Bridge winning the last end on the other two rinks saw them fall just one shot short.

RSL were only able to win one rink against Tailem Bend, but it was enough to get the points and hold their position in the four.

Jason Sipos, David Graham, Matt Wynne and Garry Daniel dominated in a 26-10 win over Travis Schenke, Stuart Rooke, Kevin McDonald and Matthew Hogan.

Sipos won 11 of the first 12 ends, and 16 in total, so the final margin was probably a little flattering for Schenke with a three and a four allowing him to reach double figures.

Sipos scored mainly in singles, but a pair of threes in the run home were vital in gaining the six match points.

Merv Stevens, Kylie Slattery, Con Jones and Colin Baxter were 23-18 winners over Noel Kneebone, Gordon Beelitz, Kerry Bolt and James Galbraith, but would be disappointed after leading 14-0 and winning the first seven ends, and also extending their lead to 16 shots after 16 ends.

Kneebone scored 12-1 over the last five ends to salvage the situation.

Rob Hales, Nathan Mammone, David Hoare and Bevan James were in a tight contest all the way through against David Thiele, Karen Kneebone, David Newell and Allen Wooldridge, but eventually prevailed 21-16.

The scores were nine-all at the break, and it was not until a three on the 20th end that Hales got the decisive lead.

Lachlan Butler wins Saturday par competition in Murray Bridge

Men’s par competition, December 16

Winner: Lachlan Butler +4
A grade: Mario Grande +3, Mark Sappenberghs +2
B grade: Rod Thoman +3, Lloyd Norrish +2
C grade: Paul McCulloch +3, Josh McPhee +2
Placegetters: David Lewis +2; Garth Dodd, Graeme Munt, Greg Lannan, Greg Schmidt +1; Greg Lindeberg, Des Ayres, Joe Marcus, Dean Pearson, Luke Woods 0

Women’s par competition, December 16