Some tight rinks across many games for R13 with 3 games finishing with 6.5pts to the cimming side, haven't seen 3 x 6.5pts in a round for a long time. No massive change in the ladder as Kats cement that top spot & with the Titans now back into 2nd with the weekly swap of 2nd placed sides, they are 16pts off Kats with a few more tougher games than Kats on the run home so we'll hold off on mathematically guaranteeing Kardinya the golden ticket until R15 but another 2wins should suffice.
The View are officially gone now after getting a duck egg at home & no chance of even reaching playoffs in 8th. Basso moved from that nervous 8th with that double pointer win over Gosnells as both sides swap positions. Mossies were looking for Finals & boom in 1 week they are back 3.5pts off demotional playoffs, 1 White can be very cruel.
Weather is picking up for Saturday so it's highly probable that we'll all be not playing again this weekend so let's see what impact this has next week if we get called off on Friday afternoon.
Kardinya 94 (6) vs Manning 80 (2)
(Brad Henley 37 - Sam Perica 22) (Daryl Radford 16 - Paul Smith 19) (Matthew Allen 28 - Wayne Heldt 13) (Steven Novak 13 - Shane Adams 26)
High scoring game for both sides but Kats are back on the horse, although it was getting very close at one stage but Allen took Heldt by 15 & then Henley had Perica by another 15 in a game that produced some 57 shots. Adams did their best to pull back the damage with a huge 13 shot win over Novak & Smith maintained the excellent form with 3 over Radford. Manning got solid value in those 2pts as Leeming pulled a eight bagger from The View so the Eagles still hold 6.5pts lead & hold that 4th Finals spot.
Result: Kardinya 6 - 2
Prediction: Kardinya 7 - 1
Safety Bay 98 (6.5) vs Mosman Park 72 (1.5)
(Chris Carruthers 29 - Steven Swanson 11) (Graeme Smith 15 - Mitchell Cranswick 23) (Matthew Mortensen 34 - Cameron Hoffman 18) (Zac Boddy 20 - Mark Robertson 20)
Big win for The Bay, as 2 in-form sides went head to head. The home side maintains that very high scoring when playing at home, averaging well into the 90's which is very impressive & hard to beat.
Smith got rolled by Cranswick by 8 to give Mossies the only full point of the day. Mortensen had the wall up early as they eased past Hoffman by 16. Not to be outdone for the Cans Carruthers knocked over Swanson by 17 shots to put the game beyond reach for Mossies. Boddy & Robertson had a great tussle & couldn't be separated in the end on 20-20.
The Bay have another 2 wins to secure Finals spot with Leeming chasing hard. Back to work for Mossies survival next week as they grind will continue now that Finals conversation is probably over to be realistic.
Result: Safety Bay 6.5 - 1.5
Prediction: Safety Bay 7 - 1
Bassendean 82 (6.5) vs Gosnells 66 (1.5)
(Bryan Roper 16 - Frank Carbone 16) (Butch Dinnison 24 - Glenn Lynch 13) (Eugene OSullivan 25 - Daniel Newton 13) (Jovan Krstic 17 - Rob Foy 24)
Huge win for the Lions as they ran some big changes across the board & the selectors were vindicated with 6.5pts on the board in a massive double pointer. Kookaburra's drop under Basso now but both will be neck & neck for survival. You would think 1 of these will be playing playoffs.
Krstic was surprisingly rolled by Foy by 7 with Foy putting together a few good weeks. Dinnison had Lynch with some to spare by 11 to start to stretch a lead. Roper in with the changes held Carbone to 16-16 to share the spoils & O'Sullivan cruised past Newton by a handy dozen to get 6.5pts on the board & gain 5pts overall on Gosnells. Tough week for both in R14 so this one could really count come the final standings.
(Derek Gibson 18 - Mark Barrett 22) (Marc Abonnel 18 - Rawley Lang 15) (Tony Krajancic 32 - John Carter Ro 7) (William Tepania 21 - Craig Edson 21)
Probably tighter than the score suggests & the Titans didn't tick over the 90 shots mark which is unusual for them at home. The Titans got off to a flyer with Krajanic destroying Carter by 25 shots & giving them a tight fisted 7 shots all game. Abonnel got over Lang but only by 3 & Big Willie & Edson couldn't be separated on 21-21. Gibson and Barrett were tight but it was Barrett's side who played the bigger bowls in the end, grabbing the only full point of the day for the River Rats.
Cockburn secure 2nd spot & close to locking in Finals. Rossmoyne are in real trouble now with Basso winning & Gosnells getting 2pts, there's a gap appearing to 8th spot & nobody wants to be sitting 9th on the run home. The River Rats have their easiest game of the season in R14 so if the weather forecast continues & they split the spoils then they will be gutted & that might be the 2-3pts they needed by R18.
(Brandon Heta 11 - James Newton 27) (Christopher McKenna 13 - Gary Ford 17) (Gary Papadopolous 18 - Karl Vandersluys 20) (Max Young 15 - Peter Boys 25)
The View dropped a bundle here & probably any chance of survival. Only getting 57 shots at home won't get you anywhere close to the chocolates. Some rinks were close enough in the end but you'd think The View might have knocked over the Lions to give themselves a fighting chance.
Papa dropped to Vandersluys by only 2 in a close contest. Young was rolled by Boys by 10. McKenna was thereabouts but couldn't get close enough to Ford in a low scoring game. Heta wasn't close to Newton as the Lions side pulled away by a very comfy 16 shots.
Massive win for the Lions as they jump up the table & give themselves a little breathing space but there's not alot room until they drop again if they can't get a few more wins on the board. They're playing well enough to survive & away wins like this will see them stay in 1 White.