Sport
5 February, 2026
Settled: Top four bowls teams now in place
THE top four in the North Central Division One pennant bowls competition will remain unchanged after Wedderburn convincingly defeated St Arnaud on Saturday.
THE top four in the North Central Division One pennant bowls competition will remain unchanged after Wedderburn convincingly defeated St Arnaud on Saturday.
Wedderburn has now cemented fourth place, sitting 20 points clear of fifth-placed St Arnaud.
St Arnaud Country gave ladder leaders Wycheproof a major scare in the home and away season’s penultimate round that was brought forward to a 9.15am start for play to be finished before afternoon temperatures peaked in the 40s.
The top four — Wycheproof, Donald Golf, St Arnaud Country and Wedderburn — are all secure and set to contest what promises to be a compelling finals series.
St Arnaud Country Club hosted Wycheproof in ideal conditions, with perfect sunshine, minimal wind and greens that played true all day. Spectators were treated to some top-class bowls across both divisions.
In Division One, the contest at St Arnaud Country was tight early and remained close at the break, with Wycheproof holding a narrow advantage of one rink.
The afternoon session gradually swung the visitors’ way as they secured two winning rinks to claim the overall win.
Country fought it out right to the final bowl in a valiant effort.
In Division Two, the story was reversed. Country made a strong start, played some telling bowls before lunch, and went in with two rinks up.
The momentum continued after the break with consistent bowling across the board, securing a solid win and lifting Division Two into third place on the ladder with a terrific performance.
In town, St Arnaud began strongly, leading by 10 shots after five ends and nine shots after 10 ends in the crucial match against Wedderburn who were looking to gain traction ahead of the finals.
Wedderburn then took control, scoring 17-5 over the next five ends to claim a two-shot lead before extending the margin to 20 over the final 10 ends.
Steve Zsigmond, Glendon Hancock, Paul Micallef and Tom Amos stormed to a 19–2 lead over Bob Montebello before conceding seven shots on the 20th end, though Zsigmond’s rink still won by 14 — St Arnaud’s only winning rink.
Terry McSwain, Greg McNally, Maurie Wood and Tony Marland won the first four ends against Alan Jackson to lead 8–0, but dropped five shots on the fifth end and then lost nine of the next 10 as Wedderburn took charge, sealing the result by claiming the last five ends.
Phil McRae, Col Marchment, Darren Shepherd and Peter Duncan were competitive early against Laurie Witham but were overrun in the second half, going down heavily.
In Division Two, Wedderburn claimed a tight contest, defeating St Arnaud by three shots.
Wayne Rourke, Gerald McIntyre, Di Ostarcevic and Andrea Tyler scored a commanding 15-shot win over Ruth Hall, taking 17 of the 25 ends.
However, Laurie Goodwin, Marie Hufer, Margaret McRae and Garry Smith, after leading 11–1 after ten ends, were eventually reeled in by Lance Stanfield. Scores were locked at 18–18 by the 23rd end before Wedderburn secured the final two ends.
Colin Coates, Sandra McIntyre, Brian Eccles and Jason Barron started poorly against John Grant, trailing 1–11 and winning only three of the last 12 ends.
Despite the narrow loss, St Arnaud remains in fourth position on the Division Two ladder on percentage, holding 117.47% compared to Donald Golf’s 114.67%.
Read More: St Arnaud