As we thought this game was a ripper, not often you see a rink win of 3 shots be the deciding factor, but that’s what happened when Dale Marsland got on top of Kyle McIlroy by that margin. You could mount a fair argument saying that the inclusion of John Slavich and Scott Edmonds was probably worth 2 shots overall but they must have been late withdrawals as they were named during the week. It must have been a top quality game though, averaging less that 2 shots per end for the whole game is a pretty good ratio. Bill Brandsma stepping up to fill the Chevy breach drew 20 all with Ant Williams. Ryan Moyle with the barest of margins over Shane Knott and offsetting that was Tom Mitchells 1 shot win over Charlie Slavich. These 2 sides will be there at the business end no doubt about it.

Osborne Park did as expected and only fell half a point short of the full 8 points after defeating Morley at home and nearly getting the magic 100 points for. Wayne Neilsons return wasn’t a joyous one as he went down by 17 shots to Lewis Grigg. The draw came from Travis Ingram with his 2nd of the year as him and Neville Stevens could not be separated after 21 ends. Cody Packer defeated Wayne Mitchell by 13 and Gary Caffell won over Peter Aungier by 8. Ossy Park did what they needed to do, sometimes you play the bottom sides and take it easy and it’s the sign of a good side when they can go and get close to maximum points. Morley need to plug away, the return of Neilson will help and with some games under his belt will become more competitive, Ingram and his rink have had 2 draws and Aungier 1 win to be there points for the year.

We ventured down to Warnbro with high expectations playing under the roof and experience a good game, which we got, you can’t complain about the surface, it was not tracky and ran quick but not difficult and Warnbro played the home ground advantage well. Warnbro always seemed to have our measure, we got to within 4 with about 15 ends to play but Warnbro knuckled down and were able to win comfortably in the end. The 14 shot scoreline between Nairn and Trewhella belied the closeness and quality of the game, it was far away from me but Trewhella and his rink seemed to have an answer whenever Nairn and his rink put pressure on them. Next door to me, Lindsay Strange and Dan Nicholls had a great game of bowls.
Having seen a lot of the Nicholls rink they are playing well enough to have wins on the board but it’s not to be. Strange played some enormous bowls, a real high quality encounter but it was set up for him by Dave Phillips who was so solid leading all day. On my other side was Brad Cole versus Linton Pike, the different in this game appeared to just be bowls in the head, generally the Cole rink was able to just get more bowls in the vicinity over the Pike rink, Pike constantly requiring to play a big bowl to cut down or get shot and when the times came that they able to hold numbers, Cole did pretty well converting himself.
My rink took un the undefeated and top of the table Steve Novak and really it came down to a patch in the middle where we strung 4 ends together to clear out from an equal encounter to a 10 shot lead and we were able to hold that margin. It was one end where Novak drove, and somewhere cleared out his own bowls and move the kitty forward which enabled us to pick up a 5 and would hold that margin. Our rink was pretty solid, Rauari Kenyon for his first game in PL at Bassendean was good but even Novaks rink was solid without having any real standout stars, although Barry Kalinowsky was a thorn in my side especially early on.
Well done Warnbro, they will be a tough side to beat at home

Kardinya have travelled to Sorrento and done what they needed to do but Sorrento happy to grab 2 points against a strong side who are pushing for finals this year. Sorrento have only one 1 game but getting rinks is important, it's highlighted that Bassendean sit 8th but only 2.5 points clear of them courtesy of less rink wins. Kardy will be overjoyed to get the points and stay in the 4. Daniel Brown and his rink enjoying a stellar season with an 8 shot win and Rob Foy with exactly the same scoreline. Wonder who got the pots that night! Sorrentos 2 wins came from the experienced Chris Lander with a 1 shot win over Kevin McKay and the not as experienced Bruce Eagles who has taken to skippering the Premier with gusto beating the very good Dave Rankin by 5.

Our final game was a nailbiter, with an end to play the difference was only 4 shots and Sam Perica playing Glenn Pauling left to decide the winner. When I got the update Perica was holding and it looks like they must have picked up 3 shots in the last end as Cambridge prevail and stay on top spot on the ladder. It was a win full of merit away from home and 7 points and consign South Perth to 7th on the ladder and unimpressive so far with all their new recruits. Big game next for them as they venture to Bassendean in a must win bot both sides. But back to Cambridge, who I predicted to finish 7th but they are proving me wrong with some good decisive wins so far this year. Sam Perica sits atop the skippers table and Clive Adams also undefeated this year. David Opie won a tight encounter over Scott Walker. Neale Griffin the replacement skipper for Ash Sharp has showed he is not out of his depth at all taking the reins with a good 7 shot win over Lance Strahan.