The glorious uncertainty in Highlands pennant bowls came to the fore when top division one sides Kyneton and Kyneton Golf suffered unexpected defeats in round 13 on Saturday. Flag-favourite Kyneton went down by four shots in a thriller at Gisborne, and Kyneton Golf lost by 16 shots at Broadford.
Third-placed Romsey easily gained the maximum 16 points at Trentham, and Lancefield finally showed some good form to win well against fifth-placed Diggers Rest.
There are five rounds remaining before the semi-fnals, and Kyneton Golf ( now fourth) face a big test at home to second-placed Kilmore this Saturday — expect Golf to bounce back after the frustrations at Broadford!
The winning performance by sixth-placed Gisborne was by far its best this season, with all rinks very close as the Mark Kaufmann and Alan Higgins rinks won, and Peter Williams did well to get within a shot of the Greg Podesta combination.
Back at home this Saturday, Kyneton should rebound against Broadford.
All season Broadford has expected to take a big scalp at home, and apart from the in-form Peter Linehan four, the other Golf combinations failed to adjust to the tricky synthetic and sustained double figure defeats.
Lancefield is still in the unfamiliar place of bottom, despite the much-needed victory where the John Parks and Jeff Holmes rinks had healthy margins.
Romsey is still eyeing the double chance, making the Redbacks’ home game against Gisborne a big one.
Round 14 matches are: Kyneton v Broadford, Kyneton Golf v Kilmore, Diggers Rest v Trentham, Romsey v Gisborne, Lancefield the bye.
Current ladder: Kyneton 131 points, Kilmore 128, Romsey 123, Kyneton Golf 117, Diggers Rest 99, Gisborne 72, Broadford 63, Trentham 53, Lancefield 46.
TOP SIDE DOWN
Division two ladder-leader Woodend suffered a surprise five-shot defeat at home to down-the-ladder Kilmore.
Woodend and Kyneton Golf appear to have the double chance sewn up, but the battle for third and fourth is wide open at this stage.
Ladder: Woodend 145, Gisborne 137, Romsey 94, Macedon 93, Kyneton 87, Gisborne 86, Romsey 77, Diggers Rest 66, Broadford 47.
There’s a battle royal going on in division three, with the top three sides almost locked together.
There’s also a tussle for fourth place, with Kyneton’s 55-shot win over Macedon the biggest margin in the round.
Ladder: Mt Cottrell 140, Romsey 140, Kilmore 136, Gisborne 110, Kyneton 110, Macedon 97, Woodend 97, Lancefield 87, Trentham 70, Gisborne (4) 37.
ALL THE SCORES
Division 1: Gisborne 61 d Kyneton 57 — M. Kaufmann 21 d A. Mathison 17, A. Higgins 18 d J. O’Donnell 17, P. Williams 22 lost to G. Podesta 23; Broadford 69 d Kyneton Golf 53 — D. Ellis 29 d R. Wilkinson 11, D. Kelly 14 lost to P. Linehan 26, B. Ellis 26 d T. Williams 16; Trentham 40 lost to Romsey 78 — A. Brockmuller 13 lost to M. Brundell 22, T. Cook 15 lost to N. Lynch 29, C. McKeone 12 lost to A. Young 27; Lancefield 75 d Diggers Rest 51 — J. Holmes 26 d R. Treweek 15, A. Andrews 17 lost to S. Browne 24, J. Parks 32 d P. Robinson 14.
Division 2: Gisborne 71 d Romsey 50 — B. Wylie 28 lost to S. Mayger 12, J. Evans 20 d J. Fryer 18, P. Nathan 23 d J. Beaumont 20; Macedon 54 lost to Kyneton Golf 62 –G. Dickinson 7 lost to W. Turner 27. I. Matthews 28 d J. McQualter 17, I. Guymer 19 lost to J. Trounce 23; Woodend 53 lost to Kilmore 58 — N. Bickerdyke 15 lost to S. McNmara 19, T. Lennie 17 lost to W. Coyle 25, S. Pickles 21 d S. Fitzgerald 14; Diggers Rest 75 d Broadford 51.
Division 3: Trentham d Gisborne (4) on forfeit; Romsey 35 lost to Kilmore 77 — R. Kozolins 14 lost to D. Langeweg 19, M. Toy 13 lost to J. Fitzgerald 25, M. Gilligan 8 lost to M. Johnson 33; Woodend 84 d Lancefield 46 — A. Jewell 28 d Ann Shipcott 17, T. Sturt 26 d R. Davies 21, T. White 30 d P. Shannon 8; Kyneton 83 d Macedon 28 — B. Rowe 29 d B. Swan 9, N. Rawlings 28 d J. Wasyl 8, J. Epps 26 d D. Summerfield 11; Mt Cottrell 64 d Gisborne (3) 45 — B. Robinson 21 d S. Fallowfield 13, D. Roach 19 d T. Shearson 17, J. Langley 24 d C. Butterley 15.
