Ordered restored in latest round of Batavia League men’s but women see upsets

Order was restored after last week’s surprise results as the top teams enjoyed wins against their less-fancied rivals in the latest round of the Batavia League Bowls. Wonthella Gold recovered from their shock loss to Denison White last week but had to do it the hard way after coughing up a 16-shot deficit after losing the opening rink 30-14. Kerry Easton led a second rink recovery as they took the second rink 24-14, but it still left them with a six-shot gap at the last if they were to take home the match points. Kimberly Cross led his fours to a 24-17 victory in the final rink as they took the match by a singular shot 62-61 to take home five points and leave Maroon ruing a missed opportunity after such a strong opening. Meanwhile, Geralddton Gold crushed Wonthella Green 95-30 in what was both the most shots recorded this season by any team while Green posted the fewest of anyone. The match was over after the 32-5 opening rink but Gold were keen to not let their foot off the throat with a 28-14 second rink before Michael Ford maintained his perfect record as skip with a 35-11 final rink. He is the only skip and also the only player to win every match he’s been involved in so far this season. Geraldton Red enjoyed a comfortable win against Denison Blue on the back of two strong opening rinks, outscoring Blue 26-15 and 29-18. They did, however, drop the final rink 18-14 allowing Blue to take home an important point to remain in touch with the top four. Geraldton Blue breathed life into their season with a 70-58 win against Mullewa to keep them just about hanging on to the coattails of the top four. The teams could not be separated in the opener drawing 23 shots each before Blue took the second rink 24-21 and claimed the match with dominant third rink 23-14. It gave Blue 5.5 points, which is the margin they trail Wonthella Maroon by in fourth place. Denison White could not replicate their stunning performance from last week as they were well beaten by Northampton in a bottom-table clash. They lost the opening rink 28-10 putting White on the back foot early and while they pushed in the second 21-18 it was too high a mountain to overcome. They did avoid a whitewash winning the final rink 20-16 but it was a disappointing return to type after last week’s efforts. In the women’s league Wonthella Maroon took the match points 4-2 despite winning just one rink as Denison were made to pay for a horror second rink. They won the first and third rink 22-18 and 21-16, respectively, but lost the second 30-10 allowing Maroon to win the overall shot count 64-53 and hand Denison just their second loss. Northampton picked up just their second win of the season against Geraldton Blue on the back of their own blowout second rink. The teams could not be split in the opener at 26 shots apiece but Northampton took the second 27-15 giving them a large enough buffer to take the match points despite losing the final rink 18-20