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MANNING 100 (7) v WARNBRO 62 (1)
Mitchell, Thomas 25 v Trewhella, John 17
Williams, Anthony 34 v Strange, Lindsay 8
Marsland, Dale 16 v Novak, Steven 17
Knott, Shane 25 v Cole, Bradley 20


Manning did as expected with a comfortable 7-1 win over Warnbro at home. It was set up by the huge 26 shot win by Ant Williams over Lindsay Strange. By all accounts Williams was superb, who looks destined to be a state skipper one day soon. Mitchell looks like he has found some winning form with his past 3 games being victories and the margin was a good one, 8 shots over John Trewhella and Shane Knott also with a comfortable 5 shot win over Brad Cole.
Dale Marsland has tasted defeat for the first time this year to Steve Novak, himself was undefeated for a time and having a good year, this game by the narrowest of margins. 2 away games for Warnbro earned them 1 point so they will be happy to get back home on their deck next week and get some points. Manning sit on top of the table and already sit 9 clear of 3rd spot in which looks like a finals campaign for them again.
OSBORNE PARK 77 (5) v CAMBRIDGE 75 (3)
Caffell, Gary 19 v Perica, Slavko 22
Stevens, Neville 29 v Adams, Clive 12
Packer, Cody 13 v Opie, David 21
Grigg, Lewis 16 v Strahan, Lance 20


Well Blake Nairn did end up playing for Osborne Park in his debut game, Fred DiGiuseppe the named player who dropped back to the 2nds to make way, and on results it looks like it had an immediate effect with the rink he joined Neville Stevens who had not won a game all year being the only winner for the day for Osborne Park by 17 shots over Clive Adams. Haven’t heard much about the game or the way Nairn played but his presence has paid dividends straight away in a good result for Osborne Park.
Cambridge did earn 3 points away from home and the aggregate was only 2 shots so it must have been a close finish. Sam Perica was a 3 shot winner over Gary Caffell, Lance Strahan 4 shots over Lewis Grigg which itself is a very solid win, Grigg has been going very well but it would appear Strahan back to some of his old form with 4 wins so far for the year. The big winner was David Opie by 8 over Cody Packer. The combined wins not enough to get the chocolates though for Cambridge.
SORRENTO 87 (5) v BASSENDEAN 77 (3)
Loftus, Shane 21 v Margin, Chris 24
Eagles, Bruce 21 v Nicholls, Dan 22
Butler, Rhett 18 v Alden, Simon 19
Lander, Christopher 27 v Pike, Linton 12


Our game was another with an action packed finish but the 15 shot win to Chris Lander over Linton Pike was too much for us to overcome and Sorrento won a really good contest over the green 5-3. They were the first rink off, Lander and Pike enjoying an even tussle all day but the victory was set up by the front 3 of Lander who were far too good for the front 3 of Pike over the course of the day.
So we knew the equation and at this point it was only about a shot or 2 in it. The next to finish was the Chris Margin v Shane Loftus encounter. Sitting at 21-20 to Loftus and Bassendean holding shot, I think it was Alan Barron who played with weight and pushed the kitty into the ditch about 6 metres away from the head. Rory Kenyon drew but left it 3 metres short and Barron drew his to about a metre. Kenyon again left it 3 metres short so it was up to the skippers. Loftus also drew about a metre away but Margin was able to thread the needle between the 2 Sorrento bowls about a foot from the ditch and hold shot. Loftus decided to drive but was only just off target but did collect one of his bowls on the way thru. So Bassendean holding shot but an opportunity for Margin to remove the lone Sorrento bowl to grab 4 shots. He drove. He hit. He celebrated. He pinged his hammy! Yes, Margin hit the bowl clean, grabbed 4 shots and during his celebration twinged his hammy on the way down. A 3 shot win to Margin.
The other 2 rinks still had 3 ends each to play out and I think Bassendean might have just hit the front. My game against Rhett Butler was pretty close all day, I was 9-5 up when they won and end and went short and it found us out a bit, Butler able to go to a 12-9 lead and from there it was a long end/ short end game dependent on who won the end, Butler really rose to the occasion in the stretch and made some wonderful conversions but equally when butler did I managed to cut down shots, but one end we picked up a 4 to hit the lead again. The 3rd last end I put the kitty in the ditch for 2 and with his last bowl Butler was able to draw shot. The 2nd last end I think we were holding 3 or 4 and Butler cut it down to 1 so going in to the last end we were all square on 18 all. Sorrento were holding shot, it might have been Pat Murray who led well or Tim Murray who equally had a good day but it was a crowded head, David Von Horn found some form with a good game but really it was a solid team effort from my rink, which could be said of the Butler rink. So 1 down I moved the kitty sideway perilously close to the edge but it stayed in and we held shot. Butler with his last on the wide hand played pretty good weight but it marginally stayed out of bounds and we were able to grab the rink win.
While all this was playing out, Dan Nicholls and Bruce Eagles were playing and Nicholls was well up, I think about 10 with only a handful of ends to go and really Sorrento can thank Eagles for narrowing the gap and giving his team the overall victory, showing you don’t have to win your rink to have an effect on the game. Eagles able to win 9 shots coming home to lose overall by 1, but those 9 shots were the difference in the aggregate. Nicholls though able to get the rink win and it’s a small reward for having a good year playing wise but not scoring any wins.
Sorrento win at home which they will be happy with, another close loss to Bassendean but 3 rinks away from home may be ok. Ironically it’s the most rink wins we have had in a game this year and yet still losing the match.
SOUTH PERTH 78 (6.5) v DOUBLEVIEW 68 (1.5)
Opie, Justin 17 v Slavich, John 17
Durrant, Adrian 19 v Moyle, Ryan 22
Sharp, Ashley 23 v Brandsma, William 13
Griffin, Neale 19 v Slavich, Charles 16


The battle of the missing skippers and it was the home side who were able to cover the losses more with a 6.5 point over Doubleview. I’ve had little reporting from the game unfortunately but the win of Ash Sharp over Bill Brandsma by 10 shots looks to have been the critical result for the game. Neale Griffin continuing his unbroken run this year with a 3 shot win over Charlie Slavich and Justin Opie and John Slavich fought out a 17 all draw. Ryan Moyle continuing his fine year with a 3 shot win over newly promoted Adrian Durrant.
It’s hard to know how the clubs will be feeling after this, for South Perth though it shows they can cover skippers when required but Doubleview will be without theirs for a few more games yet so will need to find a way to win without them. The balance looks ok and Brandsma is a fine player so we will see next week when they play at home how it all looks.
MORLEY 57 (0) v KARDINYA 107 (8)
Ingram, Travis 15 v Rankin, David 27
Mitchell, Wayne 14 v Brown, Daniel 36
Neilson, Wayne 18 v McKay, Kevin 21
Aungier, Peter 10 v Foy, Robert 23


Our final game was not entirely unexpected but after last weeks promising form against Manning also at home Morley which prompted some members of the panel on the radio show to contemplate picking them but they have dropped right off the cliff with this performance . 0 points and 50 shots is about as comprehensive as it gets. Daniel Brown winning again, this time by 22 shots and climbs to the top of the skippers table, Rob Foy winning by 13 and Dave Rankin by 12 the other really big winners over Travis Ingram and Peter Aungier respectively. The close match was Kevin McKay over Wayne Neilsen by 3 shots.
With the big win Kardinya have cleared out a bit from the pack to sit 2nd and 7 clear of third placed Cambridge. In our sport probably equates to a game clear after 6 weeks and they will be happy with that. Kardy seem to always start years well so the challenge will be on them to now finish years well.
LADDER
PlayedWinsLossDrawRinksSFSA%Points
Manning651017502415120.9637
Kardinya641117524412127.1835
Cambridge633016486440110.4528
South Perth642010.5450442101.8126.5
Doubleview633013479444107.8825
Osborne Pk633011474459103.2723
Sorrento63301147047499.1623
Warnbro623110.544949790.3420.5
Bassendean624010.543148289.4218.5
Morley60603.536756764.733.5
SKIPPERS
PlayerWinsLossDrawShotsClub
D Brown51071Kardinya
S Alden51041Bassendean
D Marsland51035Manning
S Perica51034Cambridge
R Moyle51030Doubleview
D Rankin41124Kardinya
L Strahan42024Cambridge
B Eagles42021Sorrento
S Novak42020Warnbro
S Knott42019Manning
R Foy42016Kardinya
C Lander4209Sorrento
D Opie420-6Cambridge
T Mitchell420-12Manning
A Williams31245Manning
J Opie32120South Perth
K McKay3211Kardinya
G Caffell321-6Osborne Pk
C Adams3208Cambridge
L Grigg33023Osborne Pk
C Packer33022Osborne Pk
N Griffin20010South Perth
K McIlroy21016Doubleview
A Sharp220-9South Perth
B Nairn220-21Bassendean
J Trewhella23111Warnbro
G Pauling2303South Perth
C Slavich2401Doubleview
B Cole240-38Warnbro
L Strange240-41Warnbro
T Murray10016Sorrento
J Slavich113-1Doubleview
S Edmonds110-1Doubleview
C Margin110-3Bassendean
N Stevens141-24Osborne Pk
D Nicholls141-32Bassendean
P Aungier141-35Morley
S Walker140-7South Perth
R Butler140-12Sorrento
L Pike150-36Bassendean
S Loftus150-38Sorrento
W Mitchell150-55Morley
B Brandsma011-10Doubleview
A Durrant010-3South Perth
B Manton010-6South Perth
P Harris010-14Cambridge
J Armstrong010-26Morley
V Princi020-16Morley
W Neilson030-22Morley
T Ingram042-46Morley