Section 1
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Lawn White have consolidated themselves as flag contenders after they dispatched Corowa on Saturday although Corowa were missing a couple of their starting six.
It was the attitude and the manner of Lawn’s victory that was impressive. They gained control early and eliminated lapses in concentration which has been their Achilles heel in the past.
Corowa looked all at sea with their reshuffled line up and never at any stage did they put any pressure on the Lawn White outfit.
Lawn’s women were good again, but it was their men (Andrew Pyta, Shaun Ablazej, Steve Russell) that gave the Lawn team the advantage over their opponents.
Craig Spencer, Matt Forrest and Amanda Hemphill gave Corowa some respectability on the scoreboard.
As predicted the Lawn Blue - Wang Hardcourt match went to the wire as most of their encounters in the past have. This time it was Lawn Blue that managed to crawl across the lines as victors.
Sets were split early as Hardcourt women had the better of the Lawn women, but the Lawn men held sway against the Hardcourt men. It was the mens’ sets that were pivotal to the result and eventually decided this match.
Lawn managed to win all the sets in tie breakers and give them a small advantage heading into the mixed sets. Lawn won two of the thre mixed sets to fall across the line. Mario Pane, Kylie Doig, Scott Solimo and Andy Lucas carried the flag for Hardcourt while Scott Francis, Ken Parker and Janine Thiele (all 3 sets) were the leading lights for Lawn Blue.
Section 2
Wahgunyah Red have swept another flag contender aside, this week it was Myrrhee who were playing on their own dunghill which makes this win even more impressive.
Myrrhee had a glimmer of hope early after they took the first set, but their joy was short lived as Wahgunyah strung together wins in 7 of the next 8 sets to totally outclass Myrrhee.
Wahgunyah’s best plyers were Travis McDonald, Ethan Palmer andf Max Harvey, Myrrhee’s best were Di Griffin, Robyn Oliver and Cathy Van Berlo.
Everton Red confirmed their credentials as flag aspirants after they disposed of Wahgunyah Blue with ease on Saturday. Everton were in control from the outset and were never troubled against an underrepresented Wahgunyah team who need to have all their top players available to be competitive.
Saskia Van Leeuwin, Mitch Parker, and Scott Parker were excellent for Wahgunyah and Steve Cole, Jo Lucas and Ruth Kneebone were unstoppable for Everton Red.
Wang Hardcourts have finally put together a number of impressive victories late in the season and if they can maintain this run of form then they may sneak into finals contention.
This week Boorhaman had no answers for the Hardcourt team and were well beaten. Chris Nichols, Ray Munari and Brad Simmons were Hardcourts best and Kirsty Tyers, Merryn Byrne and Adrian McNamara battled against the odds for Boorhaman.
Rutherglen struggled against Everton Blue on Saturday. In the end it was their experience and depth of talent that prevailed.
Everton put some shivers through Rutherglen camp when their No.1 men’ pairing (Sam and Russell Bennett) comfortably beat the highly fancied combination of Josh Quick and Mark Stones but it was to no avail as the Rutherglen camp regrouped to win 5 of the next 7 sets to record a comfortable victory.
Rachel Crawford and Brady Hofer (3 set a piece) were untouchable for Rutherglen while Everton Blue’s best were Sam Bennett, Russell Bennett, Jenny Copper and Stacey Thomas.
Section 3
Wahgunyah Black (Jake Saville, Mat Vogel, Corey Hill, Liam Hill) won the contest of the co-tenants of South Corowa Park against Wahgunyah United (Dave Harris, Brad Schmidt, Matt Davis, Kellie Storer). It appears from the result that Black won going away on the bit but in reality, the match was a lot closer than the end result.
Most sets went for long periods of time and it was Black that managed to win the important points when it counted.
Wahgunyah Red (Ollie Strove, Pete Treberly, Kane Palmer, Grace Eales) struggled against a fast-improving Wooragee (Skip Peiper, Lia Ladbrook, Daniel Ladbrook, Ebony Boote). If Wooragee bring the determination and intensity that they displayed on Saturday every week they will surely be finals contenders.
Wahgunyah Red managed to gain control of most sets at the finish with their experience to produce a hard-fought win.
Results
Section 1Lawn White 7-65 def Corowa 2-45, Lawn Blue 6-59 def Wang Hardcourt 3-54Section 2Wang hardcourt 8-65 def Boorhaman 1-38, Wahgunyah Red 7-64 def Myrrhee 2-52, Rutherglen 6-65 def Everton Blue 3-39, Everton Red 8-71 def Wahgunyah Blue 1-34Section 3Wahgunyah Red 4-49 def Wooragee 2-39, Wahgunyah Black 5-45 def Wahgunyah United 1-28, Wahgunyah Gold 6-48 def Chiltern Red 0-12
LaddersSection 1Lawn Blue 59, Lawn White 54.5, Corowa 46, Wang Hardcourt 38.5Section 2Wahgunyah Red 73, Everton Red 69, Myrrhee 60.5, Rutherglen 58, Wang Hardcourt 48, Everton Blue 35, Wahgunyah Blue 32, Boorhaman 23.5Section 3Wahgunyah Red 47.5, Wahgunyah Black 43, Wahgunyah Gold 41, Wahgunyah United 34.5, Wooragee 20, Chiltern Red 19, Chiltern White 6.5