Sport

Echuca Moama and District Sports Notes

By Contributed

Dec 12, 2025

Dianne Brown in action for Rich River in division three of the midweek pennant. Photo: Jordan Townrow. Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

Echuca Bowls Club

Last Thursday’s men’s jackpot pairs was single entry and played in 2x4x2 format with 20 teams competing in mid-thirties and with gusty winds.

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On completion of the two games there were five unbeaten teams beginning with Tim Fraser/Alan Buzza (+11), Greg Pettigrove/Ashley French (+13), John Reidell/Eddie Blampied (+23), runners-up on a count back Col Berryman/Bill Cook (+23), and the winners Jim Ferrier and Max Bennett (+26).

Best one game went to Robert Taylor/Leigh Polkinghorne.

Winners of the $140 jackpot (-11) were Kevin Bursill and Steve Campion.

Back to $40 tomorrow.

Friday Scroungers, sponsored by Intersport, went to a visitor from Mt Lewis, Sydney, Lisa McGann with runner-up Cec Moss.

Also on Friday, T and M Plumbing held their end of year break up at our club with thanks to Dick North, Daniel Vella and Steve Morgan for assisting Paul Leach who is doing a great job with barefoot bowls.

Weekend Pennant had mixed results across the board.

Division One travelled to Stanhope, and with about six ends to play looked to be in all sorts of trouble, but in true Echuca spirit came home with a wet sail (with emphasis on the wet) to get over the line (63-56) and retain second position behind Moama.

Best performance went to Ian Page (s), Stan Barker, Ivan Hicks and Evan Berryman (25-11).

Division Two travelled over the river to take on Moama and unfortunately fell short by four shots (51-55).

In an extremely tight tussle, one rink lost by one shot, one rink played a draw, and the third rink went down by three.

They are currently fifth, but only three points behind third place in a very tight competition.

Michelle Cunnington (s), Trevor McColl, Chris Campbell and Robyn Tooley played a draw, with the other two rinks losing.

Division Three travelled to Stanhope and managed a comfortable 24 shot win (73-49) with Tony Deenen (s), John Blair, Lal Whyte and Col Berryman winning by 18 shots (28-10).

They are currently 4th with Lockington breathing down their neck.

Division Four hosted Deniliquin RSL and went down by five shots (54-59), with the only winning rink Keith Robertson (s), Eddie Smith, John Clegg and Peter Cecil (22-14).

They are holding on to 4th but pressing for third place.

In Division Five, Blue was defeated by Kyabram at home (34-53) losing both rinks, while White travelled to Stanhope and was victorious (45-27).

Mike Redapple (s), Steve Nolan, Tim Fraser and Cheryl Campion won 30-12 to set up the win.

Blue is fifth and White sixth, with both pushing for fourth place.

No rest for the wicked, with the club hosting one of our many valued sponsors, the Echuca Worker’s Club, for more barefoot action on Sunday.

After a tentative beginning, the competitive juices began to flow and workmates transitioned into beast mode in an attempt to humiliate their opponents.

Thanks again to Paul Leach and his team for a job well done.

Monday’s social triples, sponsored by the Pastoral Inn, were well attended with the winners Steve Morgan, Robert Height and Tony Wagner from Alan Hopson, Michelle Love and Sue Edwards.

The singles winner was Ian Jones.

Midweek Pennant had a 50/50 result with Division’s 1 and 3 winning and Divisions 2 and 4 losing.

Division One had a 73-45 win against Mathoura at home with all rinks up.

Two rinks won by 12 shots: Jim Ferrier (s), Lee Beattie, Ivan Hicks and Rhonda Gallagher won 27-15 and Ian Page (s), Kristy Gillingham, Pat Schram and Robyn Tooley won 28-16.

The team is currently second behind Moama 120 to 112 with Kyabram third on 91 points.

Division Two lost to Kyabram at home 56-63 with Trevor Nagorcka (s), Neil Dovaston, Sue Proctor and Peter Cecil the best, winning 25-11.

The ladder is Moama 115, Kyabram 102, Echuca 87 Deniliquin RSL 81.

Division Three travelled to Rochester and won convincingly 54-24 with both rinks up.

Max Clifford (s), Bernie Johns, Lisa Humphrys and John Clegg were the best, winning 28 - 11.

The ladder currently stands at Deniliquin 108, Tongala 104, Moama 79, Echuca 77.

Division Four lost both rinks to Lockington out there, going down 37-48 and are currently in sixth position.

There was again no winner of mini bingo last Friday with the jackpot $3423 tonight (Friday) at drinks and nibbles between 4 and 6pm.

Bruce Haines was the lucky member but was not present, so the jackpot tonight is $80.

The club’s Christmas dinner is to be held on Friday, December 19 at 6pm for 6.30pm start following the championship singles matches which commence at 4pm.

Please place names on the list asap.

Rich River Bowls Club

Club Championship Update

Men’s and Ladies Club Championship Finals and Minor Singles Finals are scheduled to be played this Sunday, December 14 starting at 10am.

We encourage members to come along and support our finalists, and we wish them the best for their matches.

Men’s Championship Singles: Tim Noar v Eugene Xodo

Ladies Championship Singles: Bev Trengove v Liz Easther

Men’s Minor Singles: John Langley v Sean McCallig

Ladies Minor Singles: Barbara Dashwood v Carol Guille

Charity Round

A reminder that this week’s Pennant matches for Saturday 13 and Tuesday 16, Round 10, will be Charity Round with money raised being donated to the Echuca Hospital.

The theme for this year’s Charity Round is “Christmas” and bowlers are encouraged to get into the festive spirit and dress-up.

Club uniforms are not required in Round 10. Pennant matches will then break for Christmas and resume for Round 11 starting Saturday, January 17 and Tuesday, January 20 2026.

Ladies Social Bowls

The Ladies Social Bowls group will be having a Christmas Lunch at the club Thursday, December 18 at noon.

Bowls can be played prior for those interested, we will exchange a small gift of no more than $15. Please add your name to the list on the board to assist with catering.

Christmas Break-Up

Members are encouraged to bring their family and friends for a night of fun at Rich River Rinks.

Barbecue dinner, drinks and fun bowling activities. Friday, December 19 starting at 5.30pm. Dinner $10. Bring some loose change also to enter the activities. Please add your name to the list on the board to assist with catering.

Dates for the diary

December:

Sat, 13 – Weekend Pennant Charity Round

Sun, 14 – Club Championship Finals -10am start

Tues, 16 – Midweek Pennant Charity Round

Thurs, 18 – Ladies Social Bowls Christmas Lunch – noon

Fri, 19 - Christmas drinks and Barbecue at the rinks - 5.30pm start

Wed, 31 - Rich River New Years Eve Open 3-Bowl Pairs Tournament - 9.30am start

Weekend Pennant Results

Sat, December 6 – Round Nine

Div 1: Rich River 58/13 defeated Rochester 47/3; sixth position

Div 2: Rich River 64/2 lost to Stanhope 72/14 and retain third position

Div 3: Rich River 57/9 drew with Rochester 57/7 and retain third position

Div 4: Rich River 56/12 defeated Rochester 54/4 and retain fifth position

Div 5: Rich River 52/14 defeated Rochester 19/0 moving up to fourth position

Midweek Pennant Results

Tues, December 9 – Round Nine

Div 1: Rich River 56/1 lost to Moama 76/15; Seventh position

Div 2: Rich River 47/4 lost to Moama 59/12; Sixth position

Div 3: Rich River 30/0 lost to Tongala 44/14; Seventh position

Men’s Jackpot Pairs Results

Wed, December 10

Winners: G Devlin, S Alexander; 2 wins, 78

Second Place: D Demeo, A Daly; 2 wins, 55

Third Place: A Polack, E Xodo; 2 wins 54

Ladies Social Results

Thursday, December 4

Winners: C Simpson, D. Whalley, N McCormack; 1 win +11

Runner-up: N King, C Cargell, D Brown, M Love; 1 win +10

Lockington Bowls Club

Another week of bowls at Lockington where all members and visitors enjoyed ideal conditions.

On Tuesday, in the Campaspe Midweek Pennant, both divisions had a mixture of good and ordinary luck to finish with a loss and another tie.

Division three played Tongala and had to lower their colours in a 34-47 loss. (Denise Gilmore d. P Tinning 23-15; Phylis MacFarlane lost to B Tinning 11-32).

Division four had a right-royal battle against Rich River and came out with a thrilling tie and one rink each.

Final score, Lockington 44 and Rich River 44. (Russell Shawcross l.t. B Dashwood 17-26; Cindy Felmingham d. S Shine 27-18).

Both divisions are placed in third on their respective premiership ladders.

Tuesday evening had the Barefoot bowls in action, attracting three rinks in a game of 2-4-2 pairs.

There were three, two-game winners and the final analysis favoured the combination of Jason King and Mel Freeman on two wins plus 11 shots ahead of Jayden Wright - Phillip Cunnington two wins plus nine shots, while Shane Felmingham and Ashley Dobell had little luck in their score of two wins plus seven shots.

Raffle winners -

First: Mel Freeman.

Second: Luke Ryan.

Third: Shane Felmingham.

Barefoot bowlers are reminded that the game to be played on December 16 will be the final night before the Christmas and new year break, and the club will celebrate the Christmas festival on that night.

Christmas clothes and bring a salad or sweet for the occasion.

The club hosted the 60-and-over competition on Wednesday, attracting 26 teams and 104 players in fine conditions.

Three game winners were scarce, but there was not much luck going for our members.

Many thanks to the women in the kitchen, greens staff and all helpers.

On Saturday, the club enjoyed success in the Campaspe Weekend Pennant competition, where both division three and division four scored valuable wins against strong Kyabram squads.

Division three inflicted the first defeat for Kyabram playing at home, scoring a healthy 60-44 victory with two rinks in front. (Steve Pavone d. W Chambers 25-6; John Fisher d. P Denham 20-19; Kim Ray l.t. J Brown 15-19).

Division four travelled to Kyabram and returned home after winning two rinks in the 72-57 result. (Cindy Felmingham d. T Hazelman 32-15; Rod Fiedler d. R Harrison 21-18; Shane Felmingham l.t. G Coad 19-24).

Division five hosted the Deniliquin Blue team and fell short by five shots, losing 36-41. (Ken Burns drew A Hardcastle 16-all; Kalvin Stout lost to J Murray 20-25).

The club extends a warm welcome to Ken Burns and the return of Brian Kinnane from the Rochester Bowls Club.

Both players are showing potential and will be a great benefit to our pennant team’s run for success.

The next club tournament will be in the new year, with the running of the Annual Lockington Legends Twilight 2-bowl Triples starting at 5pm.

Entries to Cindy Felmingham and Ray Hanson.

Rich River Golf Club

Weekly Highlights:

Wayne Campbell continued the run of holes in one when he aced the 19th on Thursday.

Joe Burton and Alan Kennett had the scores of the day to fight out A-grade. The scoring was great on Saturday, with Daid O’Dea and Mick Thomson both having 44 stableford points.

JT had a day out to win A-grade, with Phill Smith on top in C-grade. Colleen Lynch is in great form and won the Saturday Ladies competition.

David Griffiths won the Sunday Medley C-grade event, with Alan Kennett and Shaun Fessey also on the winners list.

The Ladies Stellar Award for November was won by Kay Hartley with a fine score of nett 32.

Cheryl Finn had an excellent score to win the Monday Medley. Nev Speight won the December President’s Trophy on Tuesday on a countback from Ray Burgman and Clem Cregan. All Had 42 stableford points.

The Ladies Christmas party followed a 2-person foursomes event and Kim Werner and Anna Docking winning the event.

Thursday, December 4

A-grade: Joe Burton (40 points), 1. Alan Kennett (40), 2. Mick Lizza (37), 3.

B-grade: Jack Crawford (39 points), 1. David Jackson (39), 2. David Long (38), 3.

C-grade: Ian Fisher (39 points), 1. Neil Moresco (36), 2. Alan Peach (35), 3.

Saturday, December 6

Men:

A-grade: John Tomlinson (41 points), 1. Kaine Anderson (39), 2. Troy Kenny (39), 3.

B-grade: David O’Dea (44 points), 1. Mick Thomson (44), 2. Darren Kulbars (43), 3.

C-grade: Phill Smith (40 points), 1. Matthew Spence (40), 2. Dieter Zeissner (39), 3.

Women:

A-grade: Colleen Lynch (40 points), 1. Sue Byrne (38), 2. Ingrid Cockroft (38), 3.

Sunday, December 7

A-grade: Alan Kennett (39 points), 1. Cameron Dwyer (39), 2. Brett Dean (38), 3.

B-grade: Shaun Fessey (41 points), 1. Phillip Rush (40), 2. Fraser Maconachie (38), 3.

C-grade: David Griffiths (43 points), 1. Bradley Mallick (42), 2. Lorraine Bowman (39), 3.

18-hole Junior: Will Hatfield (40 points), 1. Wil Roberts (39), 2. Solomon Welch (37), 3.

Monday, December 8

A-grade: Cheryl Finn (nett 65), 1. Susan Dwyer (67), 2. Grant Stewart (68), 3.

9-hole: Kay Hartley (nett 32), 1. Megan Wetton (33), 2. Susan Walker (34), 3.

Tuesday, December 9

A-grade: Neville Speight (42 points), 1. Tony Jones (40), 2. Eden Thomson (38), 3.

B-grade: Ray Burgman (42 points), 1. Colin Tucker (39), 2. Cliff Schindler (39), 3.

C-grade: Clem Cregan (42 points), 1. Gus Arthurson (40), 2. Dean Zadow (40), 3.

Wednesday, December 10

A-grade: Kim Werner and Anna Docking (nett 62,5), 1. Glenda Phillips and Ann Velt (66.5), 2. Marg O’Brien and Diane Paterson (68.5), 3.

Rochester Golf Club

Dedicated and hard-working member in Robert Vise, played some great golf over the back nine to win last Wednesday's social golf, shooting only two over to win with 24 Stableford points.

From the unlucky Wayne Williams, his two birdies and 23 points weren't enough to get him over the line.

Other good scores were recorded by Laurie Radley 21, Alex MacQuibban, Shane Bywaters, Mike Austin and David Gebbie, all had 20 points.

Nearest-the-pins went to Alex MacQuibban on 12 and Peter Anderson 16.

Santa and his little helpers have organised some special prizes for the last official Wednesday event for the year, followed by a light lunch.

Rochester's own "Grinch" in King Richard was congratulated and thanked by those present last Wednesday for his work in organising all the Wednesday events throughout the year, which will resume in February.

Lots of work will continue over the summer months including regular watering, mowing, trimming and removing dead trees, and keeping alternative nine holes open, at present the back nine will be closed for a few weeks.