Geraldton Blue upset Wonthella Maroon as Denison take out minor premiership

Denison women took out the minor premiership for the Batavia League Bowls series as Geraldton Blue stunned Wonthella Maroon in the final regular season round. Just half a point separated the two sides heading into round 12, as the two sides have been the standouts throughout the year, and both were expected to come away with wins leaving the fate of the minor premiership to margins of victory. But none of those permutations mattered as Geraldton Blue stunned Maroon to take their fifth win and just their second over a top-two opponent. Maroon were smashed in rinks one and three by a combined margin of 33 shots with only a split result on rink two at 17 shots apiece offering a crumb of comfort coming away with just half a point. This meant Denison only needed to avoid a whitewash against lowly Northampton and they got the job done with wins on rinks one and two. The match itself was close with Northampton almost stealing the match points with a 12-shot win on rink three but they fell two short as they finished bottom of the table with three wins. Women’s finals will be played at Wonthella on February 8-9. In the men’s games, Geraldton Red took down their Gold counterparts in a top-of-the-table clash 59-47. They could not be separated on rink one while Red lost rink two by three shots but an 11-shot victory on rink three secured the match points to move just three points behind Gold in second on the ladder. Wonthella Gold bounced back against Northampton taking the match 67-55, though the Rams came away with a point from rink three with skipper Ross Johnson securing a one-shot win. Maroon took out the Murphy/Johnson Cup with a big win on rink two by 19 shots wrapping up match points, though Mullewa managed a win on rink three to avoid a sweep. Denison Blue beat their Geraldton counterparts 64-48 with easy wins on rinks two and three while Geraldton took rink one by three shots. Wonthella Green took home the points against a spirited Deniosn White who were left to rue a 16 shot loss on rink one as they lost rink two by three and the overall match by four shots.