Highton delight at season finish

HIGHTON has completed a most successful season with all of its seven teams playing finals next Saturday.

The club’s division 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11 teams will join its two division one sides in the playoffs.

“We are really excited — we’ve got seven divisions and they’ve all made the finals this year, which we think is pretty incredible,” Highton club spokesman Brian Fox said.

The Highton 1 team completed its 14th win of the season with a resounding 35-shot win over Belmont on Saturday.

Led by the Adam Lee rink with its 19-shot win over the Robert Agg rink, Highton 1 displayed sound shot-making and good communication in its approach to the game.

The Highton 2 team returned home with an eightshot loss to fellow finalist Ocean Grove, but managed two rinks wins, which kept fifth-placed Drysdale at bay.

Drysdale gave its supporters a good run for their money as it scored maximum points with a 34-shot winning margin over Geelong Cement that nearly had it take a late place in the four.

Torquay worked its way into good pre-finals form with a clean sweep of all four rinks and 41 shots over the relegated Portarlington.

The Alan Sampson rink recorded a 15-shot win over the Charlie Sproal rink for its 16th win of the season and top position on the skips ladder with 32 points — three points clear of the Jeremy Fitzgerald (Highton 1) rink, while the Brian Calthorpe rink enjoyed a 15-shot win to record its fifth rink win of the season.

St Leonards won its round 18 match against Lara by six shots with the Leigh Hanlonskippered rink of Rob Dick (skip), Ken Howe (second) and Alan Gillett (third) taking a well-earned nine-shot win.

The Division 1 qualifying final will be played between Highton 1 v Ocean Grove with the elimination final between Torquay and Highton 2.

Both finals will be played at Geelong Cement next Saturday.