Rochester couldn’t have come much closer to earning its second win of the weekend pennant season, downed by just two shots in round six action.
The Campaspe Playing Area saw one of the tightest contests so far this year, with near identical scores in all three rinks.
Rochy’s Les Walles and Deni’s Jamie Shields fought to an 18-all standstill in their rink.
Eighteen shots was also Deni’s score in the other two rinks, piloted by Shane Laing and Simon Chisholm, but Rochester skips Richard Feuk and Tim Quinlan both fell just short of their rivals, scoring 17 shots each.
It resulted in a final score of 15-54 to 1-52 in favour of Deniliquin, who escaped with a dominant share of the points, despite there being very little to separate the sides on the greens.
Lower divisions
The rinks swung back and forth by larger margins in the second division match between Rochy and Deni, but the final scoreline was even closer, with Deni taking the tie by one shot, 12-58 to 4-57.
Rochester’s Anton Gusak and David Murray each picked up rink wins, 26-14 and 23-11, putting their side in a strong position.
However, the dominance of Robert Morris’ quartet in the remaining rink, 33-8, was just enough to earn Deniliquin the overall result.
In division three, Elmore and Lockington faced off, with Locky coming out on top 14-71 to 2-43.
Keith Brooks snatched a close win for Elmore, but Lockington’s Leanne McInnes and Steve Pavone each earned strong victories to give their side the overall honours.
Rochester grabbed its second win of the year, defeating Mathoura 14-64 to 2-49.
Two close rinks went the way of Rochy’s Peter Stahl and Mathoura’s Robert Dunwoodie, but a strong 29-11 performance from Marg Knight guided Rochy to the win.
Division four saw Lockington pick up a comfortable win over Ky Valley View, 12-65 to 4-49.
In division five, Lockington took both rinks against Rochester, winning 14-39 to 0-34, while Elmore was defeated by Moama 0-29 to 14-48.
Midweek pennant
Rochester had the bye in division one.
In division two, Rochester got its first win on the board over fellow struggler Ky Valley View, 14-75 to 2-56.
A big score of 40-12 from Lyn Moon helped Rochy to a big lead, while Anton Gusak also skipped the side to success in his rink.
In division three, Lockington overcame Tongala Red 13-42 to 1-36 and Deniliquin RSL had a close victory, 12-42 to 2-39, over Elmore.
Division four saw Lockington beat Elmore, 14-45 to 0-36, and Rochester take both rinks against Rich River, 14-37 to 0-25.