The battle for top place in Highlands division one pennant bowls is no closer to being resolved, and much may well be determined on this Saturday’s clash between ladder-leader Kyneton and second-placed Romsey.
This comes on top of last Saturday’s round when bottom side Diggers Rest dealt Gisborne’s final four aspirations a big blow, and Romsey and fourth-placed Kilmore fought out a thrilling 61-61 tie.
It seems the top three teams in Kyneton, Romsey and Kyneton Golf all retain a chance of finishing on top, thereby earning a home semi-final. Earlier in the season the Redbacks accounted for Kyneton by nine shots at Kyneton, and this time will be favourites to win at home.
Can Kyneton handle the Romsey synthetic? Saturday’s round will provide the answer.
A shaky Gisborne head to Broadford, Diggers Rest will be keen to cause another upset at home to Kilmore, and Lancefield should be able to keep the Trentham visitors at bay in a close encounter at Tigerland.
Romsey was keyed up to avenge the narrow loss to Kilmore earlier in the season, and finished up winning two of the three rinks.
But Matt McMaster’s 10-shot margin over Aaron Young’s four was sufficient to see neither side achieve what they had hoped four.
Languishing at the bottom of the ladder with one win, Diggers Rest turned in a remarkable performance to achieve an all fours up 29-shot victory over Gisborne.
Reigning premier Kyneton Golf topped Trentham by 35 shots with big wins to the Adrian Plowman and Ray Wilkinson fours, but Tim Cook’s crew shone for the Saints to finish 10 clear of Toby Barker.
Kyneton defeated visiting Lancefield by 17 shots with Neil Jamieson’s four well clear, but the Anthony Mathison versus Jeff Holmes battle was a beauty with the Tigers’ president finishing two shots up.
There were some ‘blow out’ results in the other divisions.
Gisborne heads division two and at home finished 60 shots clear of Diggers Rest, and Woodend had 49 shots to spare over Kyneton in the same division.
There are still plenty of teams in contention in division two.
The biggest margin came in division three, with sixth-placed Macedon walloping Trentham by 100 shots. Mike Keenan’s four led the charge with 53 shots to spare.
Inter-club rivalry saw Gisborne (4) with bragging rights over second-placed Gisborne (3) after a margin of four shots.
Securing an ‘8’ does not happen often, and this time the Lancefield quartet of Bill West, Alan Shipcott, Gary Stephens and Geoff Stewart (s) fortuitously achieved the feat against Romsey.
Bowlers interested in participating in Ballarat Country Week are advised they should get their entries in by the end of this week at the latest.
Results of all Highlands pennant bowls matches on Saturday were:
Division 1: Kilmore 61 drew with Romsey 61: D. Noonan 18 lost to C. Austin 23, J. Reimann 18 lost to M. Brundell 23, M. McMaster 25 d A. Young 15. Kyneton 70 d Lancefield 53: N. Jamieson 25 d D. Safstrom 13, Ant. Mathison 24 lost to J. Holmes 26, M. Smoljo 21 d C. Jolly 14. Kyneton Golf 85 d Trentham 50: A. Barker 18 lost to T. Cook 28, R. Wilkinson 31 d R. Dobinson 13, A. Plowman 36 d M. Bruton 9. Diggers Rest 77 d Gisborne 48: S. Crimmins 21 d A. Higgins 15, S. Browne 34 d G. Quaife 14, D. Odgers 22 d P. Williams 19.
Current ladder: Kyneton 141 points, Romsey 128, Kyneton Golf 127, Kilmore 105, Gisborne 92, Broadford 85, Lancefield 67, Trentham 46, Diggers Rest 41.
Division 2: Woodend 80 d Kyneton 31: S. Pickles 31 d M. Bermingham 9, N.Bickerdyke 24 d J. Wells 13, G. Symons 25 d D. Fisher 9; Romsey 72 d Kilmore 34: S, Mayger 26 d L. Hodgson 12, G. Marshall 18 d A. Langdon 13, J. Beaumont 28 d M. Johnson 9; Gisborne 108 d Diggers Rest 48: B. Wylie 40 d A. Icely 18, D. Wesney 48 d F. Bonnici 15, L. Ball 20 d R. Beckett 15; Broadfford 61 lost to Macedon 65: B. Boulton 17 lost to G. Dickenson 29, J. Bruce 23 d I. Guymer 14, L. Barnes 21 lost to B. Halpin 22.
Ladder: Gisborne 122, Romsey 111, Kyneton Golf 108, Kilmore 102, Macedon 102, Diggers Rest 87, Woodend 74, Kyneton 72, Broadford 54.
Division 3: Kyneton 62 lost to Kilmore 64: N. Schmidt 10 lost to N. Jowett 23, B. Rowe 23 d D. Boyd 19, J. Epps 29 d C. Wright 18; Macedon 129 d Trentham 29: M. Keenan 58 d P. Love 5, D. Summerfield 47 d P. Healy 10, B. Swan 24 d I. Bruton 14. Lancefield 63 d Romsey 43: K. Webb 25 d M. Gilligan 8, P.Shannon 17 drew with C. Dean 17, G. Stewart 21 d K. Day 18; Gisborne (3) 55 lost t Gisborne (4) 59: T. Woodlock 21 d T. Hunter 16, V. Cyrulo 16 lost to P. Wellington 22, C. Butterly 18 lost to F. Roche 22.
Ladder: Lancefield 161, Gisborne (3) 124, Kilmore 104, Romsey 94, Gisborne (4) 83, Macedon 76, Kyneton 67, Trentham 56, Woodend 51.
