Sport
Allan Matheson Shield | Mark Ryan dominance paves way for tight Tallygaroopna win over Tatura-Hill Top
It will be a merry Christmas for the Tallygaroopna weekend pennant division one squad as it wrapped up the year with an exciting 14-98 to 4-94 victory over a brave Tatura-Hill Top on Saturday.
Faced with the unique situation of back-to-back matches against the same opponent, the reigning premier completed a crucial clean sweep of the Bulldogs to enter the Christmas break solidified in third spot on the Allan Matheson Shield table.
Splitting the rinks at two apiece, it was the class and experience of legendary skip Mark Ryan that got the Redlegs over the line, as his efforts engineered a clinical 31-12 victory when others around him began to falter.
Speaking after the win Ryan reflected on his performance with modesty and heaped praise on the influence of his teammates in the decisive rink three triumph.
“We were just strong from our lead Terry Lea-Whyte, who bowled very well and really set our rink up, along with Rod Still and Kyle Pugh, who chimed in beautifully,” Ryan said.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the time we had a good head to play too which made my job as the skip a hell of a lot easier to convert those opportunities.
“But at the end of the day it was the way we operated as a team that brought about our success and, as a rink, we were just stoked that we were able to contribute in the manner that we did.”
Outside of Ryan’s rink it was a battle from start to finish.
In eerily similar scenes to the previous weekend’s clash between the sides, when Tallygaroopna came away with a spirited 10-shot victory, the Redlegs were constantly challenged by a Tatura-Hill Top side that showed it was much better than its 1-6 record suggests.
The Bulldogs had standout contributions from coach Brendon Boyd (33-24) and Nicholas Boyd (27-18), as they fought back from a slow start to hit the front late.
Ryan said he was incredibly impressed by the Tatura-Hill Top effort and the match was played at an incredibly high level.
“It was pretty even across the board all day, we had three rinks that were close and mine was well up early, but then we started to leak a few shots and Tat really fought back hard,” he said.
“The game was very similar to the one last week, this one was probably just a little bit closer, the greens were great, the weather was great and the standard was excellent.
“They bowled well and we bowled equally as well, so to come to away as winners it was awesome.”
The Redlegs welcomed recruit Adrian Pantling into the line-up, with the Wangaratta product operating as a wonderful second to Mitch Sidebottom’s victorious 25-22 effort in rink one.
“Adrian fitted in nicely, he is a cool, calm and collected character in his early 30s that perfectly fits the mould of what we have here at Tally,” Ryan said.
“He has a beautiful delivery and is going to adapt to the Goulburn Valley well, he certainly has that style about him that will make him a crucial member of our team.”
Currently sitting in third spot with a solid 5-2 record, Ryan said he was pleased with where his side sat as it hopes to ramp up its premiership defence in January.
“Five-two you’d be taking that every day,” he said.
“We know Shepparton Golf and Kyabram are going to be strong, but we have just had to scrap and win ugly in these closer games which have us nicely set up post-Christmas.”
Elsewhere, Stanhope responded from a disappointing loss at East Shepparton the previous week to destroy those same Eagles 18-118 to 2-69.
Winning three of the four rinks, the Lions got a trio of dominant performances out of skips Ben Fletcher (29-12), Timothy Hancock (37-15) and Gregory Fitzpatrick (36-21) to set up the dominant victory.
East Shepparton did get some respite from Allan Hueston, who’s 21-16 triumph in rink four ensured it would not make the trip home empty handed.
Kyabram made it five straight wins with a clinical 16-102 to 2-84 victory over Shepparton Park away from home.
The form team of the competition, the Bomber juggernaut was in full-flight once again with skips Geoff Beattie (30-22), Connor Trewren (26-20) and Brent Reiner (22-17) recording wins.
Park did manage to have some success in rink two, with Paul Warren orchestrating a hard-fought 25-24 win.
While Shepparton Golf flexed its muscles to easily account for Mooroopna 18-101 to 0-71 and enter the Christmas break as the only undefeated side.
Sweeping all four rinks, club legend Brad Orr was the star for Golf, with his 30-17 victory in rink four ensuring it came away with a percentage boosting win.