By Jack Rollings
The last home and away round. All three Monbulk sides claimed the points and all three sides playing finals next week.
Monbulk 1 played at home against Mooroolbark 1.
Eric Markham’s team led by 10 shots going into the sixteenth end. Then Monbulk dropped two big clangers – a 4 and a 5, to put Mooroolbark within a single shot. After that, the final four ends went equally two ends each for just single scores, leaving Monbulk with the narrowest of wins, 20 shots to 19.
Jim Bras’ team led all day. In the nine ends they dropped, there was nothing worse than doubles, while their wins included three 3s, a 4, and a 6, and that was pretty much the winning margin. Monbulk won the rink 30 shots to 12.
Brian Smith’s team started slowly and trailed by 8 shots after the eighth end. Then they won six ends in a row to lead by 6 shots. They put in a strong race to the finish and won the rink 23 shots to 15.
Karen Rice’s team led throughout the game apart from two separate ends, when they dropped a 5 and then a 4, and trailed by 1 shot both times. But they nailed the final ends to take the rink 28 shots to 20.
Overall Monbulk 1 defeated Mooroolbark 2 by 101 shots to 66 with all four rinks up. Monbulk 1 has finished the home and away season on top of the ladder with ten wins and four losses. Next Saturday they will play at home against Boronia 1 in the semifinal.
Monbulk 2 played away against Vermont South 5.
Carole Wight’s team led by 10 shots at the halfway mark. With two ends to go, Monbulk still held onto a 7 shot lead. Vermont finished strongly but Monbulk won the rink 23 shots to 20.
Klaus Eisele’s team started slowly, but then, on the ninth end, they grabbed a big 5 shotter and took over the lead. From there Monbulk won more ends, including a couple of 3s. They won the rink 22 shots to 15.
Peter Lee’s team was up 6 shots to 5 going into the eighth end. Then they dropped six ends in a row to trail by 8 shots. They clawed back some of that margin, especially with a good 4 shotter on the sixteenth end, but Vermont hung on and Monbulk lost the rink 14 shots to 21.
Alan Hamilton’s team trailed all day, but never by a huge margin and they won a similar number of ends. Going into the last end, Monbulk trailed by just a single shot. Vermont claimed the final end and Monbulk lost the rink 16 shots to 18.
Overall Monbulk 2 won by 75 shots to 74 with two rinks each. Monbulk 2 has claimed third spot on the final ladder, with nine wins and five losses, which means they will host a semifinal next weekend against Ferntree Gully 4.
Cockatoo/Monbulk played away against Yarra Glen 3.
Mark Blythman’s team had a 7 shot lead by the eleventh end. In the race home Yarra Glen won more ends and trailed by a single shot with two ends to go. But Cockatoo/Monbulk was able to win the rink 21 shots to 19.
Anthony Young’s team dropped only seven ends for the day. Their wins included four 3s, and two 5s. By the halfway mark they led by 18 shots. They increased that margin in the back half, to win the rink by 34 shots to 8.
Mark Coulter’s team was 8 shots all after the seventh end. Then they won five ends in a row to lead by 7 shots. With a big 5 shotter on the sixteenth end, the composite team then led by 12 shots. Yarra Glen put in a big finish but Cockatoo/Monbulk hung on to win the rink by 23 shots to 20.
Ken Earle’s team had a close front half, but Yarra Glen won seven wins in a row in the back half. With the final two ends, Cockatoo/Monbulk was able to reduce the margin but lost the rink by 18 shots to 20.
Overall Cockatoo/Monbulk won the round by 96 shots to 67 with three rinks up. They are on top of the ladder with nine wins, three losses and two byes. Their final score difference was a massive 337 shots, or 142.07 per cent. Next Saturday they will host Lilydale 4 at Cockatoo in the semifinal.
