Sports reports: Murray Bridge Bowling Club's reign at the top continues
Plus the latest in Murray Bridge horse racing and Murray Towns cricket.
This story includes a contribution from Derek Vanderzon.
Murray Bridge has easily disposed of Jervois to remain unchallenged at the top of the table with a 71-49 home win, getting up on all rinks as bowls resumed after the Christmas break.
Tim Hicks, Derek Vanderzon, Shane Fromm and Neil Morris went down 24-13 to Andrew Stasinowsky, Brian Traeger, Helen Lindner and Ben Traeger. Stasinowski was in outstanding form, converting almost every opportunity in leading his side to a 14-3 lead at the break.
A brief rally saw Hicks back within 5 shots, but Staz again responded to take the next 6 ends before a 4 to Hicks on the final end added a little respectability to the score.
Bruce Attrill, Aaron Jones, Judy Zadow and Brian Leckie won only 9 of 21 ends, but were still solid 23-17 winners over Shawn Hicks, Heather Fromm, Bruce Smith and Jeremy Scannell.
A 6 on the 8th end gave Attrill a 10 shot lead, and although Hicks won more than his share of ends, was mainly scoring singles.
A 5 to Attrill on the 17th was his final score, with Hicks winning the last 4 ends to close the gap to 6 shots.
Darren McIntosh, Tony Trewren, Troy Penhall and Paul Smart were a little slow starting against Graeme Herbert, Graham Fromm, Graham Schenke and Stuart McCulloch, and also faded late in the contest but still won 24-19.
Trailling 6-3 after 4 ends, McIntosh surged to a 12 shot lead at the break with 7 ends and 15 shots unanswered.
Herbert added 13 shots to 6 after the break to make the final score 24-19.
Tailem Bend showed they might be the biggest threat to Murray Bridge with a 75-62 away win over Mannum, getting up on 2 rinks.
Sam Shepherd, David Hoare, Keith Wood and Grantley Byrne had a comfortable 31-17 win over Terry McDonnell, Marty March, Andrew Patterson and Gary Odgers. Shepherd started with a 3 and soon followed up with a 4 and a 5 to lead by 11 shots at the break.
The lead blew out to 19 shots after 18 ends before a 6 to McDonnell made the score look a little better.
Duane Edwards, Merv Stevens, Con Jones and Bernaud Naulty graduall broke free after a tight start to ease to a 25-18 win over Gavin Pfeiffer, Tom Towns, Ian Windebank and Colin Campion.
The score was 8 all after 8 ends, but Edwards took his score to 21 while conceding just 1 over the next 7 ends to take control.
Pfeiffer finished the day with a pair of 3's to reduce the final margin to 7 shots.
David Kempe, Graham Wakefield, Graham Leathers and Peter Wegner salvaged 2 points for the home side with a 27-19 win over Travis Schenke, Rob Hales, Steve Gordge and Matt Kowald.
Kempe led by 3 at the break, but added successive 5's immediately upon resuming to surge ahead.
A 14 shot lead was reduced to 8 shots at the end with Schenke finishing with a 4 and a 2.
RSL continued Karoonda's disappointing season with a 82-35 drubbing, getting up easily at home on all rinks to maintain a faint hope of finals participation.
Murray Bridge Trainer wins class one handicap at Oakbank
Three Murray Bridge trainers had race wins at Oakbank this past week, including Reoffer, ridden by Taylor Johnstone and trained by Sarah Rutten, who won the Coopers Brewery Class One Handicap at Oakbank.
Other local trainers found success over the weekend:
- Flaming Eyes ridden by Alysha Warren and trained by Andrew Clarken won the Magic Millions 2026 – 7th March Handicap in Murray Bridge
- Bamyan Buddha ridden by Brooke King and trained by Grant Young won the Fred Vella Tyre & Crash Repair Handicap in Murray Bridge
- Greatestofease ridden by Connor Murtagh and trained by Garret Lynch won the Harcourts Adelaide Hills Benchmark 56 Handicap at Oakbank
- Brown Nose Day Gal ridden by Connor Murtagh and trained by Roslyn Day won the Kloses Supermarkets Fillies & Mares Rating 0 - 56 Handicap at Oakbank
Mannum CC cement top spot with win over Ramblers
Mypolonga 6/223 defeated Tailem Bend 88
- Mypolonga best: Aaron Zrim 68, Samuel Elliott 4/28
- Tailem Bend best: Umesh Badu 31, Umesh Badu 3/32
Jervois 8/152 lost to Wanderers 8/156
- Jervois best: Cameron Jorgensen 63, Brodie Bates 3/30
- Wanderers best: Cameron Cox 31, Shane Brown 5/19
Mannum 3/135 defeated Ramblers 9/134
- Mannum best: Nick Lindner 61, Josh Boylan 3/21
- Ramblers best: Riley Vanson 58, Lual Kelei 1/8
Meningie 132 lost to Monarto 9/178
- Meningie best: Stewart Willis 57, Jacob Fiebig 3/39 and William Crouch 3/31
- Monarto best: Michael Parker 57, Ty Pfeiffer 4/6
Email your sports reports to jane@murraybridge.news.
