Sports reports: Murray Bridge brothers represent SA at eight-ball
Plus the latest in local lawn bowls, horse racing, darts and more.
This story includes contributions from Glen Chamberlain and Derek Vanderzon. To express an interest in sponsoring this weekly feature and helping us expand our coverage, email jane@murraybridge.news.
For the second year in a row, three Murray Bridge brothers are currently playing in the Australian junior eight-ball competition being held in Gladstone, Queensland.
Levi Chamberlain, 10, the current South Australian under-12 champion, landed in eighth position while his eldest brother Kaden, 14, finished ninth in the under-15s.
Kaden is ranked second in SA.
Middle brother Oscar is in a unique position, having been invited to play under-15s for New South Wales even though he is just 12 years of age.
He is the youngest player in the U15 competition and was 15th out of the 24 competitors at the time of publication.
The South Australian team finished with four wins from seven matches, including a heart-stopping one-point win over Victoria and a heartbreaking one-point loss to Queensland.
Murray Bridge suffer their second defeat of the season
Meanwhile, Murray Bridge have gone down to Mannum by 11 shots despite winning on two rinks in the Lower Murray Bowls Association, while Tailem Bend and Jervois have almost guaranteed their place in the finals with wins over RSL and Karoonda respectively.
Mannum inflicted a rare loss on Murray Bridge, with Terry McDonnell, Marty March, Marie Wachtel and Gary Odgers inflicting a massive 41-8 victory over Darren McIntosh, Paul Smart, Sam Hill and Maxine Stazinowsky.
McIntosh had been unbeaten this season, but obviously felt the unavailability of Tony Trewren more than expected.
McDonnell started in blistering fashion with a 4 on the first end, followed by a 6 and a 2 in the first 3 ends.
A 4 and a 5 leading into the break had him up 27-4, already a good score for a full game.
McIntosh had a brief respite with 3 ends in a row from the 14th end, but McDonnell finished with another 10 shots over the last 5 ends for a massive win.
The other 2 rinks went to Murray Bridge, but the combined margins could not overcome the deficit of 33 shots.
Andrew Stasinowsky, Brian Traeger, Helen Lindner and Ben Traeger had a convincing 30-12 win over David Kempe, Graham Wakefield, Graham Leathers and Peter Wegner.
Kempe led 9-6 after 6 ends, but once Stasinnowsky hit the front an avalanche of shots flowed as he added 23 shots to 1, including a winning run of 8 ends.
A 2 to Kempe on the 20th finally stopped the flow, but all too late.
The final rink was much closer, with Bruce Attrill, Aaron Jones, Judy Zadow and Brian Leckie holding off a challenge by Gavin Pfeiffer, Tom Towns, Ian Windebank and Colin Campion to win 20-16.
Pfeiffer opened with a 3, but Attrill soon took the lead and was 5 up at the break. 4 ends in a row to Pfeiffer from the 13th end put him up by 2 shots, but a 1,5 and 2 gave Attrill a winning break and he went on to win by 4 shots.
At Tailem Bend 35-15 win by Travis Schenke, Rob Hales, Steve Gordge and Matt Kowald over David Graham, Matt Wynne, Anthony Wilkin and Ian Schubert ensured the home side would take the 6 points.
Schenke had raced out to a 12-1 lead after 6 ends, but Graham quickly responded, and with a 6 on the 10th end was suddenly just a single shot in arrears.
The comeback was short lived as Schenke again went on a scoring spree, adding 22 shots to just 4 over the remaining 11 ends.
A 6 on the 15th was immediately followed by a pair of 3's to effectively end the contest in 3 ends as their opponents wilted.
Duane Edwards, Merv Stevens, Con Jones and Bernaud Naulty went into the break trailling by 7 shots, and were on a 7 end losing streak before emerging with a purple patch to overwhelm Noel Kneebone, Michael walker, Gordon Beelitz and Garry Daniel 24-16.
A 5 on the 14th end had Edwards back in front for the first time since the opening ends, and 2 ends later a 6 put him 8 shots ahead.
As is so often the case the break had completely changed the momentum of the contest.
A 3 on the final end to Kneebone was little consolation after scoring just 1 other shot in the second half while conceding 19.
David Thiele, Karen Kneebone, Max Wilkin and David Newell may well have felt a little downcast when they drew Sam Shepherd, David Hoare, Keith Wood and Grantley Byrne given the vast discrepancy in their form this season, but Thiele was ultimately able to inflict a rare defeat at home for Shepherd in a remarkably low scoring contest.
A 4 on the 5th end to Thiele was the only score of note in the first half, but Shepherd was able to enter the break leading 9-8 with a a pair of two's giving him the lead.
The second half was all singles, but Thiele twice managed to string together 3 successive ends in winning 8 of the 10 ends and went on to win 16-11, giving him a high point in an otherwise difficult season.
Jervois travelled to Karoonda desperate to find form after a couple of losses, and were a little unlucky not to secure all 12 points, winning 2 rinks but going down by 1 shot on the 3rd after scores were level.
Graeme Herbert, Derek Vanderzon, Shane Fromm and Neil Morris were in total control in the first half against Ian Symonds, Belinda O'Malley, Daryl Dutschke and John Wegner, leading 19-1 at the break and winning 8 ends in a row with successive 3's on the 9th, 10th and 11th ends.
An unwell O'Malley was replaced by Oscar Huff in the second half, and the home side fared better, reducing the final margin to 14 shots, 25-11.
Jeremy Scannell had his first game as skipper, and after a shaky start finished strongly to overwhelm Erin O'Malley, Garry Mason, Damon Fromm and Anthony Clothier 22-14.
Backed by Graham Fromm, Graham Schenke and Stuart McCulloch, Scannell slipped to a 9-1 deficit after 5 ends before drawing level after 10 ends.
He was 1 behind after the break, but soon took the lead and easily had the better of the 2nd half, with a 4 on the final end giving him a solid win.
Shawn Hicks, Heather Fromm, Bruce Smith and Grace Hamiester won just 4 ends in the first half against Rowan Zadow, Malcolm Waechter, Josh Boughen and Raelene Niarana, but still managed to hold an 11-8 lead courtesy of a 4 and two 3's.
Hicks found the scoring more difficult in the second half, but a single on the 20th end saw the scores tied at 15 each, and he held 3 shots with Zadow having the last bowl in hand.
Given that his side had won 13 ends to 7 at that point he was probably due a bit of good fortune, and he got just that with what an errant bowl with a "good result" to deliver a 1 shot win.
Blue Jets will take on Back in Black in Murray Bridge netball grand final
Division one
- BC Blitz forfeited to Blue Jets
- Back in Black 29 d Reds 22
Division two
- Gym Rats 30 d Hot to Trot 6
- Tired but Trying 25 d Name Pending 22
Unfortunately we say goodbye to BC Blitz, Reds, Hot to Trot and Name Pending.
Congratulations to the grand finalists and good luck for next week.
Mannum CC still lead but Wanderers are making a play for the top
Mypolonga 10/162 lost to Mannum 10/177
- Mypolonga best: Aaron Zrim 64, Riley Walton 5/49
- Mannum best: Josh Boylan 57, Josh Boylan 3/24
Wanderers 8/234 defeated Monarto 10/57
- Wanderers best: Benjamin Trenorden 80, Craig Fidge 5/18
- Monarto best: Xavier O'Hara 11*, Jarrad Kowald 3/69
Tailem Bend 10/135 defeated Meningie 10/98
- Tailem Bend best: Phil Inn 52, Brad Kleinig 6/18
- Meningie best: Zeke McNicol 36, Oliver Crossman 3/28
Jervois 6/194 defeated Ramblers 9/172
- Jervois best: Theo Rimmer 84, Brodie Bates 3/16
- Ramblers best: Riley Vanson 60, Lual Kelai 2/31
Murray Bridge Darts competitions resumed this week
A grade
- Raukkan 13 defeated Mozzies 6
- Tungsten Tossers 12 defeated Vikings 7
- Launchers 10 defeated We're Sexy & We Throw It (A) 9
B grade
- Cod Kickers 13 defeated Average Joes 0
- Mud Skippers 11 defeated Mad Hatters 2
- Bull Rushers 9 defeated Force Darts 4
- Junkyard Dogs 8 defeated We're Sexy & We Throw I (B) 5
Murray Bridge Trainer wins at Life Members' Day
There's been plenty of success for Murray Bridge trainers at race meetings over the past week including Sarah Sutten with Crimson Vine, and jockey Kayla Crowther, taking out the Chairman's Choice Handicap at Murray Bridge on Saturday.
Other local trainers found success on Wednesday at Strathalbyn:
- Savsonic ridden by Campbell Rawiller and trained by Stephen Theodore (Murray Bridge) won the RSL SA, NT and Broken Hill Rating 0 - 58 Handicap at Strathalbyn
- Didwewin ridden by Caitlin Tootell and trained by Garret Lynch (Murray Bridge) won the Strathalbyn and Districts RSL Rating 0 - 56 Handicap
- The Highlander ridden by Jason Holder and trained by Grant Young (Murray Bridge) won the Sportsbet Set A Deposit Limit Maiden Plate
Email your sports reports to jane@murraybridge.news.
