Belmont skittles Sampson’s winning streak

ONE of the region’s most impressive rink streaks was ended on Saturday.

Torquay star Alan Sampson and his rink had stamped themselves as nigh- on unbeatable after not losing for more than a season.

However Belmont’s rink, skipped by Steward Pyres, was able to end that impressive run in stunning fashion.

The in-form Pyres inspired his side as Belmont streaked away to defeat last year’s runner- up Torquay.

The new combination of Gary Barnes and Peter Banks managed to get Torquay’s only points, but it wasn’t enough to cover the good wins from the three other Belmont rinks.

The Barnes-Banks rink, which also includes Geoff Grigg and Stewart Silver, got its second 20-plus win for the season over Steve Davies.

No doubt it would have traded a big win for a less significant one and the other 10 points, however in a long season at this level it’s good to have a rink that can perform consistently.

DRYSDALE found some muchneeded form to enjoy a comfortable win over Geelong West.

With a new-look structure, the Bellarine Peninsula side was too good for the West combination, with only Steve Thorley’s rink able to grab a couple of points.

The best result of the weekend came from Drysdale’s rink of Ian Wiffen, Carl Stewart, Ray Bennett and skip Kevin Steen, who had a 24-shot win over the experienced Paul Hickey.

Steen has a new line- up this season with Ray ‘‘Spider’’ Bennett as his third.

GEELONG RSL also found some form to turn around last week’s effort.

Its game against Leopold will give it confidence for the rest of the season.

QUEENSCLIFF Gold played well to produce two 10-shot rink wins against Highton, which was coming off a big win last week.

PORTARLINGTON, at home, was not able to rein in demoted Premier side Queenscliff Blue.

Queenscliff Blue went into the match full of confidence after winning at home last week, however it had to fight for the points against Portarlington.

Queenscliff managed to get away with the points, thanks to Barry Gladman’s 22-shot rink win over Robin Roberts.

PREDICTIONS Leopold will be back home against Portarlington and its big green should be enough of an advantage to secure a win.

Geelong RSL will be hosting Belmont but, even with its good form in defeating Leopold this week, Belmont should be too strong.

The two Queenscliff sides are back home this week, playing each other in a fixture that no club generally likes.

The probable outcome would be a win to the Blue side.

Geelong West will host Torquay, but the visitors will be keen to make up for this week’s loss and will get the win.

The last game is Highton at home to Drysdale in what should be a good game.

Highton will need to play well as Drysdale’s form at Highton has been good in recent times, but the home side probably has enough to win.