Shepparton Park’s Shane Walsh had a solid rink win over Shepparton Golf.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Early starts break hearts.
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That was Saturday’s rule of thumb as Goulburn Valley Playing Area weekend pennant opted to roll from 9.30am due to the heat, causing two major upsets in division one.
And now the race for second is airlock-tight.
Fourth placed Shepparton Park sits just two points off second ranked Shepparton Golf after trumping the Golfers in an epic, taking the spoils by three shots on home greens.
Park was beaten fairly comfortably by the blue and yellow brigade in their last meeting, and with a score to settle, the Kialla dwellers got on the front foot in the first rink as Shane Walsh’s four defeated Peter Leseuer’s charges 19-16.
Golf went on to claim the second and fourth sets of ends by two and three shots respectively, meaning the game was ultimately run and won in the third rink.
Raymond Hill’s quartet came in clutch with a 20-15 performance over Kris Ferguson and company, landing Park a 14-78 to 4-75 victory and spicing up the race to finals with just two regular season rounds remaining.
The other upset transpired further north at Tayllgaroopna Bowls Club.
After going 11 games unbeaten, the Redlegs seemed a lock to knock over East Shepparton - but the travelling band had a number of their own to belt out, and it was a doozy.
The match saw an even 2-2 rink split as Mark Ryan commandeered a 21-13 first rink triumph for Tally, and the hosts also scored a one-shot win in the second rink.
However, East’s ace hand lay with Kevin Cox.
His rink delivered a 16-shot spanking in the fourth set of ends, launching the visiting side to a tremendous 14-83 to 4-68 result.
In other games, Euroa secured a relatively routine 16-90 to 2-62 victory against Mooroopna to sit level on points with Park in third, while Tatura-Hill Top banked its fourth win of the season by beating Seymour VRI 16-86 to 2-64.