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As we edge towards a third of the way through the season, the trend seems to be indicating as expected with the top few sides powering ahead with a good mid-table battle for safety and maybe 1 eye on that 4th spot, then the bottom sides who start to now become targets for the bigger fish which will make their jobs a lot harder over the coming months.
Sorrento had a big win at South Perth to continue to set the barometer and maintain their 100% percent unbeaten record on 35.5pts. The level on dominance is probably clear from the Swans only dropping 4.5pts over 5 Rounds, which is less than 0.5 per game but what is more impressive is the draws within those results. The Swans have a whomping 15.5 rinks from 20 & only lost 3 rinks with the rest being draw games. The target is well & truly on Sorrento going forward. Now Warwick have staked their claim as serious contenders and Osborne Park have slammed their credentials on the Top4 table in some style after taking Rossmoyne apart by nearly 30 shots.
And as R5 goes, the 100% record holders list reduces again. As we head to 200 listed players over the first 5 rounds, we now only have 4 players worthy of a kudos mention, no surprise on the 3 from Sorrento, Lander, Cunningham & Tyson but the nice surprise is Bloomfield from Cockurn who has nearly a higher Agg win percentage than the other Sorrento 3 (he might owe TePania a beer for that) but mini kudo's this week goes to Lee Bloomfield (Cockburn), well played.

WANNEROO 100 (7) v MORLEY 63 (1)
 Neville Costello 25 v Raymond (Tom) Dawson  15
 Darren Turra 26 v Wayne Mitchell  16
 Hugh Ward 17 v Lindsay Sanders  18
 Chris Buchholz 32 v Jeremy Thomas  14


Wanneroo probably left a point on the table but 7 points is still solid & gets them into 5th. They probably feel they should be sitting a little higher but it was one of those rounds where the top teams dominated & 7pts just keeps them in the hunt as they're only 4pts off 2nd spot & have another home game next week.
Costello v Dawson was close in parts but never really in doubt as the quality of that rink pulled through in the 2nd half to score a nice 10shot win. Turra was back into the winners circle in 1 White with a handy 10 shot win over Sanders which helped the Agg. The valuable point for the Mavericks came through a spirited performance from the Mitchell rink where they edged Ward's by 1 shot on the last end. Buchholz rounded off the day with a huge 18 shot win over Thomas to give the Roo's a nice percentage boost.
The Mavericks are not totally out of these games which is encouraging for them but Sorrento at home next week wouldn't make the short term outlook any rosier.
If the Roo's can hold form they have a very clear run for the next 5 games, winning all those will surely have them top, if not a very close 2nd, so exciting weeks ahead from them.
Result: Wanneroo 7 - 1
Prediction: Wanneroo 8 - 0

SOUTH PERTH 63 (0.5) v SORRENTO 99 (7.5)
 Bill Roelofs 17 v Rhett Butler  17
 Gregory Reagan 14 v Christopher Lander  32
 Denis Bandy 17 v Shane Loftus  27
 Dean Calvo 15 v Shane Ernest Rixom  23


Sorrento came to win & they did that with relative ease across all rinks. From reports back it seemed that both front ends where very evenly matched with some South Perth front ends probably edging the contest man on man, which is great to hear for the Millers. Unfortunately Sorrento really had little resistance on those critical back ends where key shots made a 3-5 shot turnaround, where Sorrento probably could have stepped it up another gear if they had to.
South Perth did manage to pickup a 0.5pt but probably got lucky on the last to grab that after Butler's rink lost a few on the last end. Reagan had a long tough day v Lander & Co and it showed on the scoreboard as Lander's run out to a big 18 shot win to put this game out of reach before half time. Bandy v Loftus was somewhat closer but again the better finishing side managed to work through the tight heads over the last few ends with Flack having a good day to give Loftus plenty of opportunity. Calvo v Rixom had a similar flavour to the previous rink where it was close to halfway but they just couldn't find the good shots on the backend to make the difference.
Where to from here for South Perth........unsure but not having anyone winning more than 2 from 5 games & their top skippers in Bandy & Roelofs only winning 2 games makes things hard. On the flip side they are picking up some extra rink wins so if they can fix those loose rinks they might get something on the board & they'll need it as they have all top teams from here to Christmas.
Sorrento on the other hand have Morley away next week then 3 of the next 4 games at home so pending the predictable results from there & if they won all those games I would see it close to impossible for anyone to catch them. Early days but it seems pretty ominous for the chasing pack.
Result: Sorrento 7.5 - 0.5
Prediction: Sorrento 7 - 1

ROSSMOYNE 60 (1) v OSBORNE PARK 92 (7)
 Allan Petchell 14 v Michael Dewson  22
 Edward Gollan 20 v Jason Thorn  19
 Lee Jervies 15 v Fernando Di Giuseppe  26
 Rawley Lang 11 v Tod Weir  25


Rossmoyne were confident going into this game on the back of a very solid start to the season but Ossy Pk were there to cause that upset. We flagged this game as potential upset but did think it would be a lot closer but Weir & Di Giuseppe didn't seem to get the memo.
Petchell v Dewson was the perfect start for the Saints as Dewson's side cruised to a 8shot win send Petchell right back down the skippers ladder losing 2 weeks in a row and allowed the Saints to move that backend fire power to other rinks where the maximised the miss matches. Thorn held Gollan in a similar display as Dewson where that 1 shot loss was probably the equivalent to a 10shot win as it freed up the big guns to come in hard over the top of the other 2 rinks.
Jervies felt the hype against Di Giuseppe as they tried in vain to curb the attaching power of the Saints hottest rink over the 5 Rounds to date & probably the only rink the win by double digits every time they do win which is 4 from 5. Lang v Weir had a similar result with Weir striding out to a commanding 14 shot win which locked up the Agg & gave the Saints a near 30 shot victory & another huge 7pt win away from home.
Osborne Pk have 2 of the bottom sides over the next 3 Rounds with Sorrento sandwiched in between so wins across the board there should see them sitting top before R9. The river Rats probably won't dwell on that lose too much but definitely don't want to make it 0-3 after next week so they'll regroup.
Result: Osborne Park 7 - 1
Prediction: Rossmoyne 6 - 2

COCKBURN 92 (6.5) v KARDINYA 78 (1.5)
 Marin Sokol 20 v Craig Stokes  18
 William TePania 30 v Ross Knapp  14
 Josip (Joe) Marevich 23 v Graeme Fewings  23
 Mirko Musulin 19 v Michael Yates  23


This game could of swung eitherway right up until the last few ends. It really came down to 1 rink that made the difference and the Kats just couldn't keep control of a rampant TePania.
Sokol v Stokes went to Marin's side by only 2 shots in a very tight game which was bowl for bowl for much of the day. Marevich v Fewings couldn't be split in an even tighter game which finished a draw at 23-23. And Musulin v Yates just slid over to the Kats late on where Yates rink managed to grab a valuable 1 point to add to Fewings half.
The game changer was TePania v Knapp as the Roosters ran riot over a good Kats side in a huge 16 shot win which was their biggest so far this season & definitely their most valuable. They have only lost 1 game by the minimum margin so running 4 from 5 will put a nice target on that rink by others over the coming weeks.
The Kats are back into 7th spot with those question marks starting to reappear. They don't have a bad run over the next few weeks so they'll need to get a few wins on the board before the hit Sorrento away in the last game before Christmas.
The Roosters will be chuffed with that win as they still have 2 of the next 3 games at home which could really set them up nicely for a great chance to survive in 1 White.
Result: Cockburn 6.5 - 1.5
Prediction: Kardinya 6 - 2

BASSENDEAN 67 (1.5) v WARWICK 75 (6.5)
 Jovan Krstic 14 v Brian Ledingham  21
 Rodney Revell 18 v Jon Borkowski  21
 Eugene O'Sullivan 17 v Jeffery Post  15
 Michael Erceg 18 v Geoffrey Hinge  18


Warwick knew they needed to knock out these games if they wanted a Finals berth at the end of the year & they did just enough to grab a huge 6.5pts at Basso. 1 White is certainly a division based on margins & Basso will have to think this is one that got away.
Ledingham lead the way v Krstic where they cruised to a 8 shot win which was probably the difference really at the end of the day as the final margin was 8 overall. Rocket like Krstic is bemused to be sitting on 1-5 over the 5 Rounds as a strong Borkowski rink game them little to work with for most of the day. They had chances on the last 2 ends to change the result but Borkowski was very keen to prevent their rink from going 3 losses in a row to hold on well for a good win.
O'Sullivan helped get this rink off & running for the year with a very good result against a top Post rink to get Basso a valuable 1pt and give them hope of the Agg. Erceg v Hinge just couldn't be split & in the end finished a draw on 18-18 which allowed Warwick to grab the biscuits in a hard fought contest.
The Lions probably have an easier run (not that it's easy, really) from here for a few rounds. No big home advantage but plenty of mid to low table opponents, which should allow them to grab something of merit between now & Christmas before hitting the big red panic button.
Warwick do themselves a nice favour and pop into 2nd spot by 0.5pt and they'll feel it is very well deserved.
Result: Warwick 6.5 - 1.5
Prediction: Bassendean 6 - 2

LADDER
PlayedWinsLossDrawRinksSFSA%Points
Sorrento550015.5443348127.335.5
Warwick541011.5407363112.1227.5
Osborne Park541011406370109.7327
Rossmoyne532012.5402373107.7724.5
Wanneroo532011.5424375113.0723.5
Cockburn52309.539941496.3817.5
Kardinya5230940742795.3217
South Perth51408.538942990.6812.5
Bassendean5140535941386.929
Morley5050635648074.176
SKIPPERS
C Lander50058Sorrento
C Buchholz41046Wanneroo
F DiGiuseppe41044Osborne Park
W TePania41034Cockburn
E Gollan41014Rossmoyne
S Loftus30228Sorrento
R Butler31130Sorrento
M Yates3107Kardinya
J Post32039Warwick
A Petchell32017Rossmoyne
J Borkowski32013Warwick
H Ward32010Wanneroo
N Costello32010Wanneroo
G Hinge20311Warwick
D Calvo2114South Perth
R Halse2106Rossmoyne
R Knapp22124Kardinya
B Roelefs22113South Perth
T Weir2219Osborne Park
J Thorn2214Osborne Park
G Fewings221-5Kardinya
D Bandy221-8South Perth
R Lang2202Rossmoyne
G Taylor220-29Sorrento
E O'Sullivan230-8Bassendean
L Sanders230-9Morley
B Ledingham230-19Warwick
W Mitchell230-20Morley
M Dewson230-21Osborne Park
S Rixom1008Sorrento
M Sokol1002Cockburn
D Green1001Rossmoyne
T Dawson110-7Morley
J Marevich122-3Cockburn
D Turra121-6Wanneroo
S Srhoy121-20Cockburn
R Havercroft120-27South Perth
J Krstic131-6Bassendean
C Stokes130-26Kardinya
R Revell140-1Bassendean
J Thomas140-44Morley
L Gervies011-11Rossmoyne
M Erceg011-14Bassendean
S Kelly010-1South Perth
M Musulin010-4Cockburn
B Henley010-9Kardinya
I Barrie010-11Kardinya
E Widermanski010-11Wanneroo
M Krajancic022-24Cockburn
G Reagan020-21South Perth
A Smith030-25Bassendean
G Grieve030-44Morley