The Tuross Head Grade 7 side has advanced to the next stage of the State Pennants competition after recording two wins on the weekend. On Saturday they hosted Moruya and held the upper hand throughout. Ronnie Richardson’s team again led the way with a comfortable 24 – 16 victory. Ray Downey’s team had to recover from a mid-game slump when they feel behind 10 – 4 after 8 ends. They won eight of the last ten ends to record a 23 – 16 win. Allan Etheredge’s team led for most of their match and looked home when they had a 19 – 15 advantage with just two ends to play. To their credit the Moruya side were able to score the 5 shots they needed to win 20 – 19.
Overall Tuross won 66 shots to 52 and picked up a 9 points to 1 win. This meant that they had to play a washed out match at Tomakin on Sunday needing to win to progress. Tuross had a great start and were well ahead on all three rinks and the master-board from the start. After 36 ends they lead 40 shots to 20. Then the Tomakin teams started to turn the game around.
They gradually narrowed the difference. As the three games moved into their final ends the scores became very close. Tuross maintained their lead on two of the rinks but on the third the Tomakin side had a real surge. Allan Etheredge had a 11 – 4 lead after 12 ends but then lost the next seven ends to slip behind 11 – 19. This changed the complexion of the match. Ray Downey’s side finished first with a 24 – 20 win. Ronnie Richardson finished next with a 19 – 13 win. The difference on the ‘ big board’ was just 2 shots with the last rink having two ends to play. In very tense conditions Etheredge managed to grab a single shot on each of these ends to give Tuross a narrow 56 – 52 win. They won 9 points to 1 to put them at the top of the table.
Both Tuross sides will now progress to the next stage of the competition to be played on May 18 and 19.
In a further match in the Major Pairs, Peter Davies and Joel Hilliard had a hard fought win over Brian Currie and Stuart Graham.
