WITH only a drawn rink halting a complete whitewash of the opposition over two games, Moora has informed Central Midlands Bowls competition this season which side will be rattling around in the four.
Wongan Red may appear to be another contender, with an early start seeing them at number two spot but a more genuine aspirant could well be Kalannie who, on the weekend, cleaned up the reigning premiers, Ballidu, 6-0.
It’s early days but that result sees Kalannie in third spot despite a bye and Ballidu, unbelievably, at the bottom of the ladder.
Fools rush in but dare we suggest one of the Dally sides (more so White) could make the grade.
Tall poppies pinged
In the cut and thrust of bowls competition, premiership flag holders deserve the tall poppy syndrome and with this, attention falls on Ballidu.
At this stage the Bombers have found it hard to even get off the runway with their 1.5 to 4.5 losses to Dally White followed by the weekend's 6-0 to Kalannie.
Searching for excuses, one (preferred to be un-named) stalwart claimed the same scenario existed last season before they progressed to the big one.
A search of the records revealed their first game, 7/1 over Buntine, saw them second on the ladder; a similar amount the other way against Moora had Ballidu one off the bottom.
But throughout these ups-and-downs, the then combination of Chris Leahy (skip), Bill Lines (third), Graham Sampson (second) and Dave Parker (lead) was unbeatable.
One bowler should not make a difference but as Graham Sampson has ridden off into the sunset, replaced by another good bowler in John MacDonald, the present combo however, to date, have suffered losses by 22 and eight.
In last season's four-rink situation, one good rink is handy, but in the present three rinks set up it is essential.
We see this in Ballidu's game against Kalannie.
The Bombers were uneasy with Kalannie's synthetic with a gusty wind straight up and down.
Vic Orchard fronted with his leading skippers role combination from last year but Graham Lehmann, from third to skip with the absence of Daryl Sermon, narrowed what should have been a sizeable loss to just three.
Although Wayne Sermon was to go down eight to Kingsley Roach, Ballidu did not want to see the Chris Leahy combination matching that against Joe Angel.
Despite appearing to rub even more salt into the wound, it should be mentioned there was only nine shots the difference with three ends to go before the game ended in a 19-shot aggregate difference.
But also worthy of mention, it was Wongan Red, last season, that put Ballidu back into the beginning of a winning streak and these two are pitted against each other this coming weekend.
Moora mean to Green
Most would have tipped Moora to have a good day on their slippery carpet against the visiting Dally Green but for Green to miss on the three rinks was hurtful.
Perhaps like most three-rink competition to be seen this season, all Dally Green needed was one good rink to ease the pain.
While Noel Whyte suffered seven at the bowls of Bruce Manning and ex-Dally White, Phil Moore (replacing Brad Glover) dropping only three to Mick Rodan, Kingsley Toster, coming off a previous week's 30-shot win had a luckless draw against the returning formidable Phil Manning to add seven to the 17-shot aggregate.
As Moora appear to be rolling merrily along, interest will be seen as to how they handle Calingiri's greens this coming weekend and for Dally Green - they don't need their upcoming derby.
One good turn
The Wongan Blue vs Buntine match again exemplifies the value of one good rink in the three-rink competition changing the whole tempo of the game.
A quick look at the score sheet would invite speculation Wongan Blue had the game well under control with Don Jones' combination of Brad Swarecz, Paul Pascoe and Peter Ebert snatching seven over a frightening combo of Ian Carlshausen, Phil Southcott, John Vince and Bill Dinnie.
Then add Don Dellar's 14 over Gary Cheeseman.
But nestled away in a corner of the green, Trevor Reudavey and crew were beating hell out of a luckless Peter Breen combo to not only romp home by 26 but also contribute to a five-shot winning aggregate and grab four points to two in a result that should never have happened.
If further proof of what one good rink can do is needed, it was Reudavey's side's make-up of Ross Fitzsimons (third), Mike Dodd (second) and Ben Shaw (lead) which drew with Moora's Bill Hobden the week before to stymie Moora's complete whitewash.
For the present, the result has little impact on the order of things but it does highlight a competition where nothing can be accepted as a fait accompli.
Something similar
Not as dramatic as the Wongan Blue vs Buntine game, but Wongan Red's battle against Calingiri was extraordinarily similar.
Two opposing rinks shared a one-shot win in exciting games but Wongan Red's Gary McCagh took the fun out of the competition with 22 shots over Richard Smith to claim the aggregate by 22 and a 5/1 win.
Results
Kalannie 6 (81) d Ballidu 0 (66): Vic Orchard 25 d Graham Lehmann 22, Joe Angel 29 d Chris Leahy 21, Kingsley Roach 27 d Wayne Sermon 19.
Wongan Red 5 (76) d Calingiri 1 (54): Don Macpherson 19 lost to Ian Woods 20, Gary McCagh 33 d Richard Smith 11, Norm Wass 24 d Paul Spowart 23.
Buntine 4 (75) d Wongan Blue 2 (70): Gary Cheeseman 15 lost to Don Dellar 29, Ian Carlshausen 20 lost to Don Jones 27. Trevor Reudavey 40 d Peter Breen 14.
Moora 6 (75) d Dalwallinu Green 0 (58): Bruce Manning 26 d Noel Whyte 19, Phil Manning 26 d Kingsley Toster 19, Mick Rodan 23 d Phil Moore 20.
Leading skippers
Of the two pennant games played only four remain unbeaten:
Moora's Mick Rodan (+20) and Bruce Manning (+10) head the list with Wongan Red's Norm Wass (+5) and Calingiri's Ian Woods (+3) following.
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