Sharp play the difference
Leopold throws down challenge to finals contenders
LEOPOLD confirmed its topfour credentials with a 12-shot win over City of Geelong on the nicely paced 14 second green at Drumcondra.
Both sides were competitive with two of the three rinks going shot-for-shot.
Leopold’s standout rink was the skippered by Graeme Sharp with his front-end players doing early damage that saw it draw away to score by an impressive 15-shots.
Merilyn Marra (lead), Kaye Robins (second) and Ernie Robins (third) supported their skip with continued wellplaced draw shots.
The battle between the Nicole Shortis and Jacqueline McLaren rinks proved a highlight.
With Leopold making key selection changes, the Shortis rink led well early but with some excellent conversions the McLaren rink worked its way back into the match.
As the 75 ends drew near the pressure was on both teams and with precision the Shortis rink worked its way to a one-shot win.
She now leads the skips ladder with seven wins and one draw after eight matches — one point clear of Matt Flapper, from Ocean Grove.
Queenscliff continued its winning way with a 31-shot win over Ocean Grove (2) on the nice running Rip View green.
Solid wins to the Kevin Thompson rink by 23 shots and the Barrie Close rink by 13 shots gave the Coutas a top start.
Ocean Grove’s Marlene Sutton rink of Shirley Olsen (lead), Jean Luke (second), Marianne Rogan (third) and Sutton (skip) provided an impressive win over the top Henry Dahler rink by five-shots in tough match.
Ocean Grove (1) kept the pressure on the ladder leaders with an impressive 60-shot win over Geelong Cement on the good grass green at the Grove.
Flapper let his bowls do the talking as with Carol Howarth (lead), Margaret Carroll (second) and Garry Redford (third) playing consistent bowls the rink won 40-15 over the Keryn Awty rink from Cement.
Highton moved into fourth place following its 30-shot victory over the last-placed and winless Portarlington.
The most significant win for Highton came from the Jeremy Fitzgerald-skippered rink defeating the Portarlington rink skippered by Wally Skowronski by a solid 18-shots doubling their opponents’ score — 36-18.
The Lara v Torquay match was called off under the GBR rules that bring an end to play when the temperature reaches 34C.
In Division 2 Geelong held second place on the ladder with its 23-shot win over Bell Post Hill.
Michael Zentgraf skippered his rink well with a 10-shot win while Adam Green responded to the challenge with an impressive nine-shot win.
Torquay took a step closer to the top four with its 10-shot win over fourth-placed Bannockburn. The rink of Elaine Rosser (lead), Shirley Owen (second), Gavin Williamson (third) and Graham Jeffery (skip) led by example with its 12-shot win over the Fay Howson rink.
The next round of Midweek Pennant will be played on Tuesday, November 28, due to the running of the Victorian Open events.