Geelong Bowls Region Premier Pennant resumes on 17 January and Justin Flynn takes a look at the state of play so far with five rounds remaining before finals.
Ocean Grove (137 points, 153.97 percentage)
Just the one loss so far, in round 4 to Queenscliff.
Brad Pavey hasn’t lost a match as skip and has led a consistent team with lead Robyn Hunt, second Chris Burrell and third Chris Price teaming up in all but one game.
Matt Flapper’s rink of Hayley O’Reilly, Jason Bertrand and Zak Abro has only lost one match from eight and that was by one shot.
To come: Drysdale (away), Queenscliff (home), Bell Post Hill (away), Torquay (home), Eastern Park (away).
Highton (117, 130.58)
Highton should play finals and will be eying off a top-two finish for the double chance.
David and Dan Priddle remain key players while Adam Lee, with Bradley Prior and Stewart Shuttleworth as trusty allies, has led his rink to six consecutive wins after starting the season with two losses.
To come: Torquay (home), Bell Post Hill (home), Queenscliff (away), Drysdale (away), Lara (home).
Queenscliff (107, 108.44)
Ben Russell has led his rink to six consecutive victories and Queenscliff is the only to side knock over flag favourites Ocean Grove.
Queenscliff should beat Bell Post Hill straight after the break and Eastern Park won’t be easy, but at home should get the points.
The remaining games are against sides currently in the four, but Queenscliff should do enough to play finals.
To come: Bell Post Hill (home), Ocean Grove (away), Highton (home), Eastern Park (home), Torquay (away).
Torquay (93, 112.33)
Torquay has a handy buffer over Drysdale in 4th place. It could all come down to the final match against Queenscliff.
Nelson Ball has been a standout, winning his six matches with the club using seven skips so far this season.
To come: Highton (away), Lara (away), Eastern Park (home), Ocean Grove (away), Queenscliff (home).
Drysdale (78, 105.11)
Drysdale will be confident of a good showing against Ocean Grove first game back with former world No 1 Kelsey Cottrell and husband Andrew Howie to play as marquee players in a bumper fixture at home.
Drysdale might need to win four out of five to play finals, which means accounting for Eastern Park, Lara and Bell Post Hill and pinching one against the top two sides.
The side has been relatively well settled with John Monahan, Mark Godbolt, Bryant Howie and Ashley Rees skipping the majority of games. Maya Rees continues to shine as a young star on the rise.
To come: Ocean Grove (home), Eastern Park (away), Lara (home), Highton (home), Bell Post Hill (away).
Eastern Park (74, 98.23)
Finals are certainly still on the radar, but a lot would need to go right. The fixture is tough and there’s not much margin for error.
Cal Inderberg and Adam Martin have won the majority of matches on their rinks.
The Parkers will be treating every game from here on as a final and wins against the three sides directly above them must just see them make a barnstorming run.
To come: Lara (home), Drysdale (home), Torquay (away), Queenscliff (away), Ocean Grove (home).
Lara (32, 65.88)
It’s been a tough season after being promoted from Division 1 and Lara’s main aim will be to stay in Premier Pennant and avoid finishing last.
If it beats Bell Post Hill in the penultimate round, Lara will stay up. However, the Jets won’t want to be relying on that match and will look for an upset elsewhere, perhaps against Eastern Park, to ensure survival.
The club has used eight skips in the top flight comp so far.
To come: Eastern Park (home), Torquay (home), Drysdale (away), Bell Post Hill (home), Highton (away).
Bell Post Hill (10, 58.69)
The Panthers face an almighty battle to avoid relegation.
They simply must beat Lara and sneak more wins from somewhere, although it’s difficult to see where they will come from.
Ocean Grove and Highton will start heavy favourites while Queenscliff and Drysdale will have too much to play, but upsets happen in sport.
The Panthers simply must win more rinks with just five victories from 36.
To come: Queenscliff (home), Highton (away), Ocean Grove (home), Lara (away), Drysdale (home).
