Rossmoyne continue to be the surprise packet of the competition with a narrow win at home over Cambridge. Bassendean continue to remain winless and were competitive early but Kardinya too strong in the end. The Friday night game was a cold one, and South Perth looked to be convincing winners. North Beach put Manning to the sword and a nail biter as Sorrento and Osborne Park fight out a drawn aggregate. Who would have picked Cambridge, Manning and Bassendean to be the bottom 3 sides currently on the ladder. Another week of surprises in what is becoming one of the most exciting Premier Leagues for a long time.
North Beach 83 (7) v Manning 61 (1)
Mark Douthie 17 v Blake Butler 15
Geoffrey Devenish 27 v Lee Such 15
Brad Gillingham 24 v Anthony Williams 13
Paul Walker 15 v Shane Knott 18
North Beach just too good at home which is fast becoming a fortress for them, 3 of their 4 home games have been wins, the only loss against the all conquering South Perth team, and this time it was Manning who felt their wrath. Brad Gillingham getting on to the winning skippers list with a nice 11 shot win over Anthony Williams and Geoff Devenish a 12 shot win over Lee Such meant the aggregate was never in doubt. Mark Douthie got the extra point with his 2 shot win over Blake Butler. Shane Knott the only winner for Manning with a 3 shot win over the very hard to beat Paul Walker.
Rossmoyne 77 (6) v Cambridge 75 (2)
Craig Edson 26 v Blake Nairn 22
Eddie Gollan 23 v Cameron Harris 18
Rawley Lang 16 v Clive Adams 20
Allan Petchell 12 v Steven Rushforth 15
Such a feel good story is the rise of Rossmoyne. Widely tipped, including me, to be the cellar dwellars with barely a win for the year, they have already chalked up 4, including a vital away win and sit 6th on the ladder, only 2.5 points of 2nd spot. Stuff being relegated, let's play finals they can quite rightly now be thinking. There was never really much in it all day, Clive Adams had a slim chance to pick up the kitty to win the aggregate and narrowly missed and no rinks winning margin was more than 5 shots. Must have been a great contest to be a part of.
Osborne Park 70 (5) v Sorrento 70 (3)
Neville Stevens 16 v Shane Ernest Rixom 14
Gary Caffell 21 v Kyle McIlroy 14
Cody Packer 24 v Christopher Lander 18
Ryan Brown 9 v Daniel Brown 24
A thriller in the park! Osborne winning the lions share of the points in a drawn aggregate and it lived up to the match of the day status. The Saints jumped away early to be up by about 15 but then Sorrento bridged the gap and hit the front by 9 mainly through the dominance of the Daniel Brown rink and some telling shots by Chris Lander who was 10 behind at one stage. Lander was only behind by 1 with 2 to play but a big 4 to Packer and a last end single meant he won by 6 shots. Gary Caffell also finished with a 4 to see him win by 7, the game closer than the score indicates. Offsetting this was a four to the Daniel Brown rink to keep their noses in front, he had a big win by 15 over Ryan Brown. Neville Stevens grabbing a 3 on the last end to wein his rink by 2.
So with an end to play it was Sorrento by 1 and the Caffell/mcIlroy rink to decide the winner. Peter Morgan led brilliantly under the pressure of the last end to dob 2 on, but this was trumped with a bomb to Rob Lawrence to get the shot. Both skippers tried hard but neither could get the shot needed to win and it ended a drawn aggregate.
Kardinya 85 (6.5) v Bassendean 68 (1.5)
David Rankin 18 v Dan Nicholls 18
Steven Novak 26 v Simon Alden 14
Slavko Perica 13 v Stein Davies 25
Marc Abonnel 28 v Beau Manton 11
In a year when teams need to dominant at their home club and this was shown again in this contest. Bassendean started well, in front early but when the wind picked up in the 2nd half it was only 1 rink of Stein Davies that was able to handle it really, and the home side powered away to win easily. Dan Nicholls had Dave Rankin 10-1 before a Rankin 6 got them back into the contest but Nicholls wasn't going to lay down, and remained in front all game until the 2nd last end which saw Rankin in front by 1. Nicholls narrowly missing a weighted shot on the last to get 2 and it ended a draw. On our rink it was again a 6 which woke Steve Novak and his crew up. That 6 put them 10 up and they never looked like losing, Brad Henley especially good but Novak solid as well.
Not sure what happened elsewhere, I did notice Marc Abonnel play some gems to keep his team in front to record a 17 shot win, but it must have been a good team effort to win by that much. In the Davies/Perica game, a drive that went astray saw Davies pick up a 6 early in that game and they were able to maintain that margin the rest of the game.
Doubleview 60 (0.5) v South Perth 82 (7.5)
Charles Slavich 10 v Glenn Pauling 21
Ryan Moyle 15 v Ross Bresland 23
John Slavich 20 v Scott Walker 20
Stewart Gosstray 15 v Justin Opie 18
The cold Friday night conditions certainly didn't put the visiting South Perth off as they keep on winning and winning well, 5 games this year they have won by 18 or more, ironically the 2 games under that were to the 8th and 10th placed teams which shows the evenness of the competition this year. Doubleview had been on a 2 game winning streak but that was stamped out early and most thought the contest over halfway through the night. Glenn Pauling remains the only skipper with an unblemished record with his 11 shot win, he is +67 at the moment, a fair achievement after 7 games. Justin Opie and Ross Bresland also getting the job done. The game to watch would have been the Scott Walker and John Slavich going head to head and it ended locked at 20 all. Contrasting styles of game with the power of Slavich versus the guile of Walker. Worth the admission price alone.