Sports Reports: Murray Bridge bowlers receive ‘thumping’ from Mannum

The post was contributed by Derek Vanderzon.

Mannum have made an early statement with an emphatic 36-shot thumping over reigning champs Murray Bridge at Mannum on Saturday.

The Murray Bridge team consisted of Wakefield, Howe – who Mundie and Bishop were far too strong for – Attrill, Shilton, Gill and Trewren, who were big winners themselves last week.

Wakefield was off to a flyer with a five and a three on the opening two ends, and when he added a six soon after, the score had blown out to 16-1.

There was little reprieve for Attrill, although a four on the 15th made the score look a little better for a brief moment, before the home side again applied the pressure to run away 22-shot winners.

McDonnell, Towns, Newman and Dicker were almost as impressive in their 20-shot win over McIntosh, Leckie, Penta and Ferris.

Leading by four shots at the break, they resumed with a six and a four to break any resistance, and within six ends had the margin out to 21 shots and cruised to an easy win.

Murray Bridge salvaged two points with Ben and Brian Traeger, DiSanto and Pevic scoring a 23-17 win over Jones, Van Tijn, March and Evans.

A dominant first half set up the win, with Traeger leading 15-3 at the break.

Jones closed the gap in the run home, without ever threatening the result.

RSL banked eight points in their home win against Karoonda, despite winning just the one rink in their 71-61 win.

Wilkins, Walker, Kuchel and Newell were again outstanding for RSL, backing up last week’s performance with a 32-14 shot win over Symonds, Wood, Jones and Loller.

Wilkins had already shot out to an 18-shot lead at the break, but Symonds reduced the margin to 10 shots as the scoreboard tightened across the board.

Wilkins finished strongly; with a five on the final end, he restored the 18-shot margin and the overall win.

Sipos, Graham, Bolt and Daniel went down by two shots to the Zadows, Tomkinson and Len Symonds, but their strong finish was instrumental in securing the points.

Trailing by 14 shots after 14 ends, Sipos didn’t concede a shot over the last seven ends, adding one, one, two, two, two, two and two to almost bridge the gap.

Nevertheless, the strong finish ensured RSL got the points.

On the final rink, Karoonda’s Porker, Paul and John Wegner and Cornish recovered from a six-shot deficit at the break to record a six-shot win over Thiele, Kneebone, Neal and Newell.

Porker added 14 shots to just two to Thiele after the break, but it was to no avail as both his neighbouring teammates’ rinks crumbled over the final ends, letting the win slip away.

Jervois gained their first points for the season with a seven-shot win over their cross-river rivals, Tailem Bend.

Herbert, Kroehn, Schenke and Scannell dominated early to set up the win, leading 16-2 over Edwards, Hales, Reschke and Hogan after eight ends, but would be a little disappointed in allowing the final margin slip to nine shots.

Edwards recovered from a slow start to win 11 of the 21 ends, but only once scored more than a single.

Herbert on the other hand had a five, a four and two threes to his credit.

Zarantonello, Fromm, Brandle and Solley had a great battle with Shepherd, Hoare, Koop and Ackland, eventually coming away with a four-shot win, 20-16.

In the end a couple of fours to Zarantonello at crucial times was the difference.

Schenke, Stevens, McDonald and Baxter gained two points for Tailem with a six shot win over Tim and Shawn Hicks, Vanderzon and Wynne.

They did most of their damage early, with Schenke making some crucial conversions whenever Hicks threatened to work his way back.

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