Sports reports: Kookaburras take Remembrance Day trophy
Plus the latest scores in golf, Murray Bridge Speedway, rifle shooting, Lower Murray lawn bowls and motorcycle drag racing.
This story includes contributions from Michael Potts, Joe Di Santo, Murray Bridge Speedway, Daniel Irvine and Derek Vanderzon. Email your sports reports to liana@murraybridge.news.
Mannum’s Nick Lindner has been announced as the Di Santo Medallion recipient after the Murray Towns Cricket Association’s A grade Remembrance Day Round clash on Saturday.
He inspired his team to victory at Murray Bridge Showground in the annual Remembrance Day Mateship Perpetual Trophy match.
Before the game, both sides lined up to pay their respects as former Wanderer and current serving Army Reservist Joe Di Santo got proceedings underway, with assistance from ex-Wanderers player and veteran Richard Elliott and Murray Bridge Community Concert Band trumpeter Roger Head.
Wanderers won the toss and elected to bat.
Mannum were immediately on the attack, striking with the first ball of the game, dismissing Stuart Bartett caught behind for a golden duck.
This brought Wanderers captain Ben Gilgen to join the in-form Ben Trenorden in the middle.
Mannum’s bowling attack bogged the Wanderers top order, making them earn their runs.
The Wanderers skipper made four runs before losing his wicket.
The Woo Hoos were in trouble at 2/11.
Last year’s Di Santo Medallion recipient, Cam Cox, came to the crease and started to get things moving to 47 before Trenorden on 35 lost his wicket.
Craig Fridge was the next batter in; he and Cox put on a 30-run partnership, taking the score to 77, before Cox on 23 lost his wicket and then Fridge on five with no addition to the score.
At drinks Wanderers were 5/85.
The evergreen Steve Baltussen and Jalen Kowalick frustrated the Kookaburras, chewing up the overs and taking the score to 6/113 before Baultussen was dismissed for 23 after facing 49 deliveries.
Braden Gregory then joined Kowalick and they continued following the example of the previous partnership, combining for 22 runs.
In the 40th over the determined Kowalick lost his wicket for 20 runs off 75 balls with the score at 7/135, followed by Gregory on seven for no addition.
Wanderers weren’t able to steady the ship; they managed to add another run to their score before Mannam’s skipper, Josh Boylan, cleaned up the tail in the 43rd over for Wanderers to be all out for 136.
Boylan finished with 3/32; Kieren Hancock took 2/18 and Travis Gladigau 2/35.
In reply, Mannum got off to a good start, with Zak Muirhead and Max Loller seeing off the openers.
Wanderers claimed their first scalp, Loller, on 24 with the score at 1/30.
Dwayne Krollig was the next batter in; he faced three balls for one run before being dismissed with the score at 2/31.
The Woo Hoos had their tails up; this proved to be a critical point in the game.
Muirhead and keeper Lindner claimed things and steadied the ship.
Muirhead lost his wicket on 17 after facing 49 balls to take the score to 3/90 at drinks.
The skipper was the next batter in; Boylan played a supporting role to Lindner.
He put on a batting display to put his team in the box set for a game-high 37-run partnership before skipper Boylan was dismissed for a valuable nine runs with the score at 4/126.
Lindner followed Boylan a run later after making 56 off 80 balls; the score was 5/127.
Hancock and Ben Brown ensured the Kookaburras saw victory with Brown hitting the winning runs.
Tom Watkins was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 2/28, while single wickets fell to Jaylen Kowalick, Braden Gregory and Jamie Moore.
Mannum 5/140 defeated Wanderers 10/136 comfortably by five wickets, becoming the first visiting team to win the Remembrance Day Mateship Perpetual Trophy.
Nick Lindner from the Mannum Cricket Club was voted and awarded the Di Santo Medallion for his efforts behind the stumps and batting through a critical point in the game to help his team victory.
Troy Penhall takes a low-key win in golf comp
Mr Anonymous "nothing to see here", golfer Troy Penhall, has ended up on the dais when he took out a Stableford competition at Murray Bridge Golf Club on Saturday.
A quality 39-point round was all that was required for Penhall to see his name atop the leaderboard at day's end.
Never one to praise himself or to say anything much at all, about the most one could get out of him afterwards was "I got lucky!"
Meanwhile, Greg Schmidt didn't know whether to laugh or cry after his golfing round.
Probably cry.
After shooting the lights out on the front nine with a stunning 35 off the stick, 23 points, he was eyeing off a big 40-plus-point round with the easier back nine to follow.
What he didn't bank on, though, was the ramping up of the sledging level from playing partners Marsh, Vella and McCulloch.
Nine holes later and with just another 15 points he nevertheless had enough to win the A grade but just missed out on winning the day.
Expect to see Schmidty playing in a different group next week.
Finally, larger-than-life identity Graham Edwards had a moment to forget, literally, on the 7th green.
After his group had all putted out, he announced he had a five for two points.
Upon walking away, Pete Phillips asked whose ball marker was left on the green.
Silence ... until Edwards piped up "that would be mine".
"And, actually, I haven't putted," he said.
Nice try, Edwards; of course he missed the putt and ended up with a six and a whole lotta ribbing for the rest of the day.
Grant Harris ends up on top at Murray Bridge Speedway
A great line-up of cars has turned up for Murray Bridge Speedway’s November 9 race, which saw series action continue for both the street stocks and modified sedans.
Street stocks returned for round three of their series with a 30-lap feature, with Carey Weston and Darren Flatman starting off the front row.
Weston would edge ahead at the start, with Grant Harris chasing hard in the battle for second with Flatman.
Harris would eventually hold steady to take out the race, ahead of Flatman and Kirley, with Hill and Richardson completing the top five.
Murray Bridge Rifle Club reclaims Excell Shield against Kapunda
In a highly anticipated match on Saturday, the Murray Bridge Rifle Club has triumphed on home soil over the Kapunda Rifle Club to reclaim the Excell Shield after several years.
The shoot was held at a range of 600 metres in challenging wind conditions that tested the mettle of both teams.
The wind, initially square from the left, gradually veered to the right as the afternoon progressed, making reading the weather difficult and resulting in generally lower than expected scores.
Despite the tough conditions, both clubs showcased remarkable skill and sportsmanship.
- Read more: www.facebook.com/mbrifleclub.
Karoonda are undefeated after first full round in Lower Murray lawn bowls
The completion of the first full Lower Murray Bowls Association round has ended with Karoonda undefeated and comfortably sitting atop the ladder.
This comes after their 53-44 win over RSL, despite the home team clinching wins on two rinks on the final end.
Ian Symonds, Garry Mason, Malcolm McKenzie and Bill Cornish created a large enough buffer to ensure the win 20-9 over Karen Kneebone, Sam Mammone, Ian Wooldridge and Ann-Marie Kuchel.
Ten ends in a row to Symonds after Kneebone had won four of the first five ends set up the win.
A three to Kneebone on the 18th end was their only highlight, otherwise restricted to singles.
Josh Porker, Malcolm Waechter, Erin O'Malley and John Wegner were headed for a seemingly comfortable win over Noel Kneebone, Bob Solley, Matt Wynne and David Newell before dropping the last five ends and giving up an eight shot lead to go down by one.
Porker still led by two going into the last end, but a three to Kneebone delivered the win.
Rowan and Gary Zadow with Jayden and Tarryn Turner had a tight contest with Jason Sipos, David Thiele, Kerri Bolt and Garry Daniel, with the scores tied at 16 each going into the final end.
A single to Sipos on the final end secured the two points, and four in total for the home side, enough to maintain their third spot on the ladder.
Jervois hosted Murray Bridge having lost their last two matches, while the visitors conversely had won their last two.
But Jervois managed to coast to a comfortable 67-40 win courtesy of one dominant rink, and two narrow wins.
Graeme Herbert, Tim Hicks, Jeremy Scannell and Neil Morris were well on top of Bruce Attrill, Andrew Meddle, Bob Johnston and Brian Leckie from the outset, powering to a 35-12 win with multiple scores on 11 ends.
A four on the fifth end and a pair of twos to finish the day were the only bright spots for Attrill.
A low scoring contest got Kevin Spinks, Graham Schenke, Denis Hicks and Grace Hameister home 15-13 over Darren McIntosh, Mike Ferris, Charlie DiSanto and Paul Smart, inflicting McIntosh' first loss of the season.
Spinks had to win the last three ends to secure the two shot win.
Shawn Hicks, Graham Fromm, Bruce Smith and Daryl Little completed the clean sweep with a 17-15 win over Ben Traeger, Helen Lindner, Brian Traeger and Gerry Penta.
Six shots to one over the last four ends gave Hicks the edge in a contest with many lead changes.
Mannum recorded a much needed 65-42 win over Tailem Bend, picking up 11 points.
Travis Schenke, Merv Stevens, Kevin McDonald and Grantley Byrne had been Tailem's best performers to date, but copped a 28-9 belting by Gavin Pfeiffer, Tom Towns, Stephen Gregory and Ainsley Roberts and were never in the contest, trailing 19-2 at one point.
David Kempe, Graham Leathers, Peter Wegner and Todd McDonnell were 20-16 winners over David Hoare, Rob Hales, Steve Gordge and Stuart Rooke.
Kempe won the opening five ends enabling him to maintain a narrow margin through to the end.
Michael Thorne, Duane Edwards, Ian Shepherd and Con Jones forced a tie with Terry McDonnell, Marty March, Tony Gill and Ron Van Tijn, scoring a two and a three on the final two ends after being down 17-12 to snatch one point.
Fastest speed and quickest time ever recorded in Australia at the Bend
Top fuel motorcycle racer Damian Muscat has recorded the fastest and quickest pass in Australian motorcycle drag racing at Saturday’s Drag Bike Nationals at the Bend Motorsport Park.
Muscat crossed the line in 5.8 seconds at 394.96 kilometres per hour to set the new benchmark.
The landmark occasion followed Phil Read setting the country’s quickest time ever in his top fuel car just 20 days prior at the October Spring Nationals.
The Dragway at the Bend now holds the Australian record for the top tier of car and motorcycle drag racing and is now arguably the fastest track outside of North America.
Damian Muscat and his team travelled 3200km from Mackay, Queensland to achieve the feat.
Muscat stated that his team’s run also put him in the top 10 in the world for top fuel motorcycle drag racing.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Muscat when, after crossing the line at 377km/h in the first round, he was unable to come to a stop before the sand trap.
“In the first round, we went super-fast but put it in the sand pit and look the team worked tirelessly, I owe all this to them because we couldn’t have turned all this (the bike) around otherwise,” he said.
