Sports reports: River Murray netballers sharpen their skills at 2021 Woodside carnival

This post was contributed by Murrianna Reese, Murray Bridge Golf Club and Daniel Irvine.

The River Murray Netball Association’s junior representative players have gained valuable experience at the annual Woodside carnival.

Representatives in the 17 and under bracket were Briannah Griffiths, Piper Wegener and Elise Horstmann from Mannum; Jayda Stimpson, Sienna Daniell, Bella Schubert, Mackenzie Lindner and Trinity Manning from Mypolonga; and Imogen Allan and Meaghan Lewis from Meningie.

Their coach, Andrea Wegener from Mannum, used this carnival for testing out of different team combinations in readiness for the country championships.

Some of the games finished very close in score, and in the end the 17 and under team finished third overall.

The 11 players who attended Woodside for the 15 and under rep team were Georgia DeMichele, Olivia Eldridge and Mia Perriman, from Imperials; Narelle Griffiths, from Mannum; Charlotte Harris and Sophie Edwards, from Tailem Bend; Kyla Jarvis, from Jervois; and Georgia Martin, Makayla Stimpson, Peyton Allen and Ava Lindner, from Mypolonga.

Some were new to the representative netball experience.

The girls played hard and showed their skills and experience in netball.

In the end the competition proved too strong, resulting in not one win for the 15 and under team, however it was a great development experience ahead of the country championships in June.

Of the 11 players selected in this year’s 13 and under team, none had had any representative netball experience in their short careers.

In their first game against Mid Hills, the girls’ inexperience and nerves showed, with passages of rushed and unsettled play at times leading to their going down by seven goals.

In their second game, against Hills, each player learnt from the first outing and the team started to play a style of game they were more comfortable with – they only went down by four goals.

An exciting game against Great Southern ended in a draw, with some amazing passages of play and each player growing in confidence.

They then faced Mid Hills for the second time and were behind by five at half time.

A strong, courageous comeback in the second half led River Murray to out-score Mid Hills by three and only lose the game by two goals in the end.

The players’ continued growth and confidence were evident going into the last game of the day, in which they played Hills for the second time.

Clear leads, strong passing and lots of defensive pressure helped the River Murray turn a four-goal loss in their first game into a one-goal win in the second.

Although they finished third in their group, this didn’t reflect the massive improvement made by each player over the five games.

Shane Aldridge shows his class at Murray Bridge Golf Club

Volunteer Murray Bridge Golf Club manager Shane Aldridge has taken his turn to win a Saturday competition – he was successful in the par competition at the club over the weekend.

Having won the A-grade nett division of the 27-hole men’s open the Sunday before, he carried on in great style to poleaxe the rest of the field with a stunning five-up.

A very steady, error-free golfer when he gets on a roll, he has come a long way from a year or so back when he was self-named “Shanker Shane” after a poor run of form and quite a few mishits.

That’s all in the past now as he steamrolls along beautifully with some lovely golf.

On a gorgeous day, Paul Harding excelled in winning the A grade with a masterly two-up from Corey Dahlitz on one-up.

“Chainsaw” McCulloch struck form with a vengeance in the B grade to thunder home with a four-up, but he needed it, as unpredictable golfer Jeff Wright nearly reeled him in with his brilliant three-up.

This was a great effort from Wright after having a month off trying to get his dicky shoulder fixed up.

Luke Woods won the C grade on a countback from the Fabulous One, Phil O’Malley, with both players carding tidy three-ups and feeling pretty happy with their rounds.

Maurice Wells sauntered in with a very nice two-up to lead up the ball winners, while Michael Vella and Lloyd Norrish did likewise.

Eric Williams, Jeff Hall and Neil Paech each played solid golf to beat their handicaps with one-ups.

It was great to see dashing Des Ayres make a return to the club after six months off with a mystery back illness, and while not yet able to play, he hoped to work up to sufficient fitness to be able to make a return to the course not too far down the track.

Tyson Wright won the yabby on the fourth hole and Aldridge edged the pro comp with his four-up on the back nine being a shade too good for all others.

The club will be back to a Stableford format this Saturday.

Possibles are endless as Murray Bridge, Mount Barker shooters meet

A beautiful autumn day had shooters trading beanies and jackets for broad-brimmed hats and sunscreen on Saturday, as 29 shooters from Mount Barker and Murray Bridge gathered to contest the second stage of the DRA Championship at the Deed Range at Monarto.

A light wind from the left greeted shooters at the first range of 700 metres, with just enough in it to catch participants if they weren’t paying attention.

By the 800-metre range, later in the afternoon, the breeze seemed to die down significantly but also began changing towards the right, meaning shooters really did have to pay attention.

The conditions were seized upon by many shooters, including Rob Paech, Paul Janzso, Ryan Yeates, Mark Nesti and Adrian Conlon, each of whom shot possibles on the day.

Greg Traeger, Jazz Irvine, Andrew Heard, Dave Matthews, Rob Mitchill and Nicole Edwards also shot rounds that were only one off.

Overall, however, consistency was the key to the day, as all the winners shot similar scores across each round.

Paech took out the honours for the day in target rifle A-grade with a 99.12 increasing his overall lead in the discipline, while Irvine narrowly pipped Heard and Matthews by a point in B-grade to close the overall gap between first and second to just four points.

Loui Burke took out the stage win in the new hunter class to bring him within two points of Janzso overall.

In F-class standard, lone A-grader Frank Marshall scored 113.06 to close in on overall leader and B-grade winner for the day Darryl Pink.

In F-open, Yeates’ consistency proved too hard to beat – he scored 119.14, a point ahead of Nesti and Conlon.

This brought Yeates to within a point of Conlon overall, setting up what is sure to be a competitive final stage in a few months’ time.

The same can be said about FTR, where Nicole Edwards’ score of 108.04 snuck her two points ahead of Ali Hansen, who only managed 105.03 for the day.

While there are no magpie awards in this competition, it was noted by some that Murray Bridge seemed have installed a moving target system, as several shooters committed the cardinal sin of cross-firing onto neighbouring targets.

Still, Paul Janzso was reportedly the only shooter to do it twice on the day.

Both clubs will resume their normal programs next week, with Murray Bridge members competing at 1000 yards, a range that will prove crucial for deciding the club championship for the year.

Many thanks to all the Mount Barker shooters for travelling down and making the day as enjoyable as it was.

Murray Bridge News is happy to share news, results or photos from sporting clubs throughout Murray Bridge and the surrounding region, free of charge. Email peri@murraybridge.news or call 0419 827 124.

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