🏆 Sport

Sports reports: Murray Bridge bowlers climb into second

Plus a boilover in Murray Towns cricket.

Contributed

Feb 26, 2025 — 3 min read

Mannum and RSL had a scorcher on the weekend in Lower Murray Bowls. Photo: Liana Webster.

This story includes a contribution from Derek Vanderzon. Email your sports reports to liana@murraybridge.news.

Murray Bridge were the big winners from the penultimate round in division one bowls, climbing from 4th to 2nd to put themselves in prime position to secure the double chance with a 52-45 win over Karoonda at Karoonda.

Winners on all three rinks, Murray Bridge now hold a two point lead over Karoonda going into the final round, and with the Grand Final scheduled at their home are now well positioned to press home the advantage.

Bruce Attrill, Charlie DiSanto, Michael Ferris and Brian Leckie were five shot winners over Josh Porker, Malcolm Waechter, Erin O'Malley and John Wegner 17-12.

Darren McIntosh, Tony Trewren, Troy Penhall and Paul Smart just prevailed over Ian Symonds, Garry Mason, Aaron Jones and Malcolm McKenzie by a single shot, 17-16.

The final rink was also a single shot finish, with Murray Bridge once again coming out on top 18-17.

Brian Traeger, Ben Traeger, Helen Lindner and Andrew Meddle were victorious over Rowan Zadow, Rohan Tomkinson, Len Symonds and Gary Zadow.

Jervois wasted any realistic chances of ascending to the double chance with an uninspiring performance against Tailem Bend at Tailem, going down on all rinks.

David Hoare, Rob Hales, Kevin McDonald and Stuart Rooke recovered from dropping four on the 2nd end, winning eight of the first nine to lead 17-4 over Graeme Herbert, Jeremy Scannell, Denis Hicks and Stuart McCulloch.

Herbert staged a mini comeback, but Hales was having none of that and guided the home side to a 26-14 win.

Duane Edwards, Michael Thorne, Kylie Slattery and Chris Slattery were quickly out to a 11-1 lead over Tim Hicks, Derek Vanderzon, Shane Fromm and Bruce Smith, and although challenged again skipped away to record a 22-13 win.

The margin had narrowed to one shot, but Edwards was on song and came to the fore whenever needed to clinch the win.

Travis Schenke, Merv Stevens, Con Jones and Glenda Shepherd completed the clean sweep with a solid 21-15 win over Kevin Spinks, Graham Fromm, Graham Schenke and Neil Morris.

Spinks opened with a one and a four, but was quickly overhauled and trailled from thereon.

Mannum had their hands full at home against RSL, but rallied late in winning 14 of the final 18 ends across the board before the heat rule came into play.

Mannum were leading 55-49, with six ends lost in total to the heat.

During this period Mannum scored 22 to 5, turning an 11 shot deficit into a six shot win.

Gavin Pfeiffer, Tom Towns, Steve Gregory and Ainsley Roberts were 20-12 winners over David Thiele, James Galbraith, Allan Wooldridge and Phil Day.

Pfeiffer led from the outset, and managed to hold Thiele at bay whenever the gap close to within a couple of shots.

Terry McDonnell, Martyn March, Tony Gill and Ron Van Tijn made a good start against Noel Kneebone, Matt Wynne, David Newell and Ann-Marie Kuchel.

But they saw their early 10-2 lead turn into a 11-17 deficit, conceding 15 shots to one over six ends.

But the response was emphatic, and a four on the 18th regained the lead for McDonnell.

A single to Kneebone on the final end before the stoppage was his only score since the earlier rampage.

A six on the 2nd end was enough to drive Jason Sipos, Kerri Bolt, Dale Neale and Gary Daniel to a 19-15 win over David Kempe, Graham Leathers, Gary Odgers and Todd McDonnell.

The locals would have been shaking their heads after winning 12 of the 20 ends but still losing by four shots, but ten singles did little damage on the scoreboard while Sipos was busy counting threes on top of the six.

The win leaves Mannum unchallenged on top of the ladder with a guaranteed home final, and well primed for a tilt at the title.