Weekend Wrap Up for 2nd and 3rd April

Pennants Round Six
Grade Seven was the first of the district flags decided in the 2011 MNC pennant competition with Nambucca Heads surviving a last round loss to take out the grade, just 3 points ahead of Macksville. Bowraville and Woolgoolga both have a game in hand to be played however the result of this match will have no bearing on the winner of this grade. The Nambucca side will have a few weeks up their sleeves to prepare for the zone final against the Lower North Coast Champions which will be held in June.

Grade Five is also almost decided, with Bellingen sewing up section two, whilst in section one Macksville missed their opportunity to sew up section one, the team now sweating on the result of the postponed match between Bowraville and Urunga. Bowraville only needs a draw overall to steal the section thanks to Macksville being clean sheeted in their final match against Stuarts Point.

In the combined First and Second Grade, the top three sides all managed victories over the bottom three sides, ensuring that for West Coffs, Urunga, and Coffs ex Services the season is all now only about survival. Park Beach Ones regained outright top spot with their six to nil victory, now one point ahead of Sawtell, Park Beach Two's a further four points back.

In Grade Three, Nambucca increased their overall lead to two and a half points whilst in Grade Four the three bottom placed sides all upset the three higher rated sides to keep everyone in with a chance with just four rounds remaining. Finally in Grade Six, Coffs Ex Services have opened a six point buffer and West Coffs moved back into second place, courtesy of both posting wins on all rinks in their respective clashes.

Round Seven is scheduled for this coming Saturday...

Mid North Coast Pairs
Eight teams remain after the opening rounds were played at Woolgoolga on Sunday, with six clubs being represented in the quarter finals of the open event. Reigning  champion Rod Hiscock and Partner Stuart Hartigan were an early casualty, falling to local duo Dave Valentine and Shayne Dodd in the opening round. The Woolgoolga duo will meet Josh Shearim and Mark Delamere from the Bellingen club for a place in the semi finals. Sawtell's David Miles and Ben Proctor have made their presence felt, upsetting prolific winners Rod Farmer and Alan Carver to earn their place in the next round. They will face off against locals B Carter and I Brien. As predicted, Stuarts Point young guns Jake Jefferey and Andy King have made the most of their chances to advance, the duo set to play the Scotts Head entrants Vic Mankin and Hagop Aladjadjian. The match of the round however will be the clash between the two remaining Park Beach sides, namely John Bain and Ric Southam against Mark Menzies and Cory Daley. The two sides have amassed an incredible 106 shots between them in the opening two rounds showing they both are here to win. Bain and Southam's form in the pennant season probably sees them as the favourites overall to take out this event,  however all teams left in the event deserve to rate themselves a chance..

In the Senior Pairs, early favourites Wayne Rowbottom and Col Pritchard fell to Doug Burridge and Aden Pike in what was the major upset of the day. Burridge and Pike will play against Phil Toy and Don Wood in a match that is expected to have a major bearing on the overall result. Sawtell are very well represented in the final eight, with sides skippered by Paul Bartholomew, Barry Brown, Ian Muller and J Townsend still alive. the last two sides are skippered by Terry Kadwell (Park Beach) and John Porteus (Scotts Head).

The President's Pairs has reached the semi final stage, with four different clubs in the mix. In the first semi final G Tindall & J Bishop from Coffs ex Services will play M Nugent and A Peterson from Urunga. In semi final two B Griffiths and R White from Park Beach will clash with Woolgoolga's R Goodsir and D Gambrill. The Woolgoolga duo's experience probably has them as slight favourites however Park Beach's side has impressed in their two early matches....

Play in the pairs events will be suspended this weekend to make way for the Under Forty Fives representative clash against Lower North Coast. The next rounds are scheduled at various clubs on Sunday 17th April...

Til Next Time....

Chippy