After a promising period, Rochester was humbled by the strength of Tongala in round 10 of the Campaspe Playing Area weekend pennant.
Tongala is one of a trio of sides to have broken away from the pack in the competition and moved atop the ladder with its 14-71 to 2-36 win.
Bradley Tinning scored a big 30-5 victory for Tongala in his rink, while Matthew Liverton also skipped his group to success.
Tim Quinlan sneaked away with a 16-14 win for Rochester, but his side was soundly beaten at Tongala Bowls Club
In division two, Rochester was within inches of defeating Tonny, going down by a single shot, 4-58 to 12-59.
David Murray and Anton Gusak both grabbed rink wins for Rochy, but skip Jorja Ponton did just enough for Tongala to claim the remaining rink and the overall victory.
Rochester also came close in division three, but couldn’t break through for the win against Deniliquin, downed 2-58 to 14-63.
Deni benefited from rink wins by Mark Law and Thomas Todd as it got by with the narrow victory.
Elmore wasn’t able to match Mathoura, losing 2-50 to 14-68.
Gary Williams scored a win for Elmore, but opponents Robert Dunwoodie and David Vallance won by solid margins in the comfortable Mathoura victory.
Lockington was close in two of the three rinks, but a big win in the third guided Deni RSL to victory, 13-67 to 3-53.
Garry Hulm masterminded the big win for Deni, while Locky’s Leanne McInnes and RSL’s John Wilson played out a 20-all draw.
In division four, a single shot was all that separated Lockington from Moama, Locky coming away with the win 12-57 to 4-56.
Division five saw Moama defeat Lockington 14-55 to 0-33, Rochester downed by Deniliquin 0-20 to 14-72 and Deni RSL too strong for Elmore 13-36 to 1-33.
Midweek pennant
Rochester grabbed the victory over Rich River, a 26-9 win from Brian Kinnane overthrowing losses in the other two rinks.
Gary Radford sneaked in a 23-22 victory for Rich River and Brian Trengove also scored a rink win in the ultimately unsuccessful overall effort.
In division two, Moama grabbed a convincing win over Rochester, 14-72 to 2-41.
Skips Mia Young and Kevin Connolly scored big wins for the Steamers, 31-12 and 27-10 respectively, while Anton Gusak helped Rochy walk away with a few points, winning his rink 19-14.
In division three, Elmore proved too strong for Lockington 14-52 to 0-33, while in division four Echuca got the win over Rochester 12-47 to 2-42 and Rich River took both rinks against Lockington, but only prevailed by three shots, 14-39 to 0-36.