Echuca Moama and District Sports Notes

Ladies singles-Louisa Dean d Pat Schram.

Men’s B-grade singles-Chris Campbell d Keith Robertson.

Ladies B-grade singles-Erica Mostert d Lisa Humphrys.

Played last Friday evening in tricky, windy conditions and watched by a large crowd, all four games were hotly contested.

In the men’s singles match Trevor won six of the first ten ends but trailed Stan 8-10 because Stan picked up three shots on three ends.

After 16 ends, scores were level at 15 each, but Trevor took over at that stage to pick up 2, 3 , 4, and 1 to win the championship convincingly 25-15.

The ladies singles match went down to the wire.

Pat won the first two ends, but Lou won the next five to lead 8-4, then Pat won four of the next five to tie the score at 10-all after 12 ends.

On the 22nd end Louisa picked up a four to lead 24-18 and looked home, but, not to be denied Pat won the next four ends to tie the scores again at 24 each after 26 ends.

What a match, who was going to be first to 25?

Pity there had to be a loser after a great match, but Louisa managed to draw the shot, with Pat unable to get closer with her last bowl.

Well done to both players.

In the men’s B-grade match, Chris Campbell was a bit too consistent for Keith Robertson.

The match was tight for the first ten ends where Chris led 9-6; however, he won six of the next eight ends to lead 19-10, and finished the match off with three twos to win 25-11.

Keith did an excellent job to reach the final.

In the ladies B-grade match, Erica Mostert led Lisa Humphrys 6-5 after six ends and picked up two twos and two threes to lead 16-7.

Lisa tried very hard, but Erica had all the answers to win 26-11.

All matches were followed by a well-attended and enjoyable evening.

Thursday’s Jackpot Pairs were attended by 18 pairs with a 10am start on a warm day where the temperature reached 32.

Four pairs won both their games starting with Dick North-Steve Nolan (+9), Col Carrington-Col Delamere (+12), runners-up Ivan Hicks-Trevor Liddell (+21, and the overall winners John Dinsdale-Bill Cook (+26).

Best one game went to Trevor Nagorcka-Bruce O’Neale (+18).

Friday Scroungers, sponsored by Echuca Intersport, were well attended with Sue Edwards holding everyone at bay, from Peter Whitlock.

There was no winner of mini bingo last week (any wonder with numbers 12, 16, 15, 14, 13), so the jackpot is $3813 tonight at drinks and nibbles between 4 and 6pm.

The lucky members draw was won by Tim Fraser who was not present so that jackpots to $50 tonight.

The first round of weekend pennant brought relatively good overall results.

Division one had the bye, however Division two hosted Kyabram with very little between the teams on the ladder and there was very little in the game until our team pulled away for an 11 shot victory (75-64) thanks mainly to a strong win by Pat Schram (s), Ian Whiting, Gordon Slimmon and Ivan Hicks (28-13).

Division Three travelled to Lockington needing a win to stay in the four.

Thanks to a huge win (30-9) by Trevor Rickard (s), Max Clifford, Neil Dovaston and Ken Main, the team managed to get home by eight shots.

Division four also travelled to Lockington and managed a comfortable seventeen shot win, with Max Bennett (s), Paul Leach, Steve Campion and June Clifford winning 40-13.

The two Division five sides played each other with the higher placed White team coming out on top 38-33.

Best were Kevin Bursill (s) ,Andy Humphrys, Linda Ormando and Noel McMaster (22-13).

Monday nights social bowls saw an excellent turnout of 32 bowlers competing in perfect conditions.

Winners on a count back with two wins +11 and 9 ends were Neil Orchard and Frank Wagner from Alan Hopson and Helen Quinn with two wins +11 and 8 ends.

There will be no social bowls next Monday because of the Australia Day holiday.

Midweek pennant produced mixed results with Division’s 1, 3 and 4 having wins.

Division one defeated Kyabram 68-49 to consolidate second position on the ladder with Roma Opie (s), Lee Beattie, Steve Cunnington and Rhonda Gallagher ensuring the win with a solid 30-15 victory.

Division two hosted Moama and lost all three rinks to go down 53-64.

They are currently in third place behind Moama and Kyabram.

Division three defeated Deniliquin at home by one shot, 34-33, and are clinging to fourth spot.

Best performance came from Max Bennett (s), Heather Trotter, Joan Dovaston and Linda Ormando (15-12).

Division four defeated Kyabram at home by four shots winning 38-34 thanks to a great win by Daniel Vella (s), Jill Young, Marg Hoelter and Erica Mostert (24-12).

They are currently sixth on the ladder.

The Tradies Barefoot Bowls competition is coming up on Friday, January 30 commencing at 4.30 until 7pm.

Teams of three or single entry at $10 per person with nibbles and practice from 3.30.

To book or for further information call John Clegg on 0488 095 432.

Moama Bowling Club

Social Bowls- Tuesday, January 13- Men’s Triples

Winners: Joe Murphy, Ian McGregor, Barry Simmons.

Runner-up: David Lonnie, Ian Smith, Brian Harper.

1st Game Winners: Kevin Connolly, Tony Hawley.

2nd Game Winners: Greg Stewart, Arch Bailey.

Thursday, January 15 - Ladies Scroungers

Winner: Carmel Simpson.

Runner-up: Wilma Curnow.

Rink Winners: Peggy Bell, Di O’Bryan, Susan Abraham, Rhonda Solomom, Mia Young.

Ditch: Cheryl Arnell, Pam Reyment.

Men’s Pairs

Winners: Barry Brennan, Glen Dorward.

Runner-up: Colin Hayes, Barry Cuttriss.

1st Game Winners: Sandy Plowman, Stuart Sutton.

2nd Game Winners: Geoff Reed, Ken Shipthorp.

Ladies Pairs- Friday, January 16

Winners: Shirley Sampson, Carmel Simpson, Mary Kaine.

Runners-up: Rhonda Soloman, Liz Doidge.

Indoor Bowls- Tuesday, January 13 - Open

Winners: Audrey Matchett, Shirley McKinnon, Denise Lee (Score 35).

Runners-up: Sue Underwood, Bob McKinnan, Joy Hooper (Score 34.5).

Thursday, January 15 - Open

Winners: Audrey Matchett, Pam Kerr, John Zealley, Ron Hooper, Bill Musgrave (20 +).

Runners-up: Sue Underwood, Roland Matchett, Shirley McKinnon, Joy Hooper, Denise Lee (Score 37).

Rochester Bowls Club

Social bowls

11 bowlers braved very windy conditions on Friday, January 16.

Overall winners were Leigh Milgate, Peter Bramm and Mary Burrow.

If you would like to play jackpot social bowls next Friday, January 23, ring the office 8.45-9.15am.

Ladies match committee

The completion dates for both 21-up and 100-up have been extended.

Round two – February 1 and Round three – February 22 and the date of the final TBC.

We hope that this helps bowlers get their games played during this busy time of the year.

Mixed pairs

The draw should be up this weekend.

Please note that the first round needs to be played by Sunday, February 1.

60 and over

This was played at Tongala, due to the fact that the Rochester facilities were booked for another function.

Three games were played straight through before lunch at 1.15pm.

There were four teams with three winning games, all playing off of the yardstick.

Tim Quinlan, Kevin Hall, Bert Smolenaars and Gerard Browne got three in the head to finish second.

Winners with five in the yardstick were Brian Kinnane, Ian Dennis, David Murray and David Burdett.

Next week, Wednesday January 21, the competition will be played at Mathoura as the Elmore greens are not ready.

As Rochester swapped with Tongala, our next game at home will be Wednesday, February 18 and our group day will also be played at Rochester on Wednesday, February 25.

Midweek pennant

Begins again on Tuesday, January 20.

There have been many changes since the sides were selected.

Skips are asked to liaise with their team.

Weekend pennant

Results from Round 11 - Saturday, January 17.

Div One: Rochester 42 shots, 0 points def by Kyabram 65 shots, 16 points.

Team One – Tim Quinlan 16 shots def by Robert George 18 shots.

Team Two – Richard Feuk 15 shots def by Greg Shilling 25 shots.

Team Three – Les Walles 11 shops def by Paul McInnes.

Div Three: Rochester 56, 2 points def by Kyabram 62 shots, 14 points.

Team One – Graeme Chambers 29 shots def Phillip Denham.

Team Two – Kevin Hall 14 shots def by John Brown 27 shots.

Team Three – Jane McCallum 13 shots def by Brad McIntosh 22 shots.

Div Four: Rochester 46 shots, 0 points def by Kyabram 70 shots, 16 points.

Team One – Wes Bertuch 16 shots def by Ted Hazelman 19 shots.

Team Two – Mick McArdle 13 shots def by Ray Harrison 22 shots.

Team Three – Jenny Major 17 shots def by Geoff Coad 29 shots.

Div Five: Rochester 39 shots, 12 points def Kyabram 38 shots, 2 points.

Team One – Joan Limbrick 21 shots def Peter O’Brien 18 shots.

Team Two – Elaine Hall 18 shots def by Jan Macfadyen 20 shots.

New members

We have two new members in the club, Ian Berry and Gary Williams.

If you see them, make yourself known and give them a good welcome.

Bar duty

Monday – Thursday 5–6.30pm

19 - 22 January – G. Willis and K. McCormack.

26 - 29 January - K. Barker and R. Feuk.

2 - 5 February - A. Williams and A. Gusak.

Lockington Bowls Club

What a big week in bowls for Lockington.

The journey started with the outstanding show in the annual Locky Legends 2 bowls Triples held on Monday evening.

Congratulations to Cindy Felmingham on her tremendous achievement in organising the field of 32 teams - 96 bowlers to contest the popular event.

Others involved included the kitchen staff, greens staff and barman.

Clubs represented included Calivil, Cohuna Golf, Dingee, Echuca, Elmore, Inglewood, Kerang, Lockington, Mathoura, Moama, Moulamein, Pyramid Hill, Rich River, Rochester, Rushworth, Serpentine, and Stanhope.

At the completion of the three games of ten ends there were four undefeated teams to compete for the major trophies generously sponsored by Westwoods - Echuca.

Following a lengthy prognosis, a Stanhope trio won the night on 80 points.

Teena Harris, Peter "Pee Wee" Harris and Greg Fitzpatrick (s) all bowled brilliantly.

Runners-up prizes on 79 points +23 shots went to the Moama team comprising Barry Simmons, Ann Vanderklay and Russell Kelly (s) on a countback from the Kerang strength in Brett Hepworth, Graeme Hayes, and Gary Borg (s) scoring 79 points +21 shots.

The Echuca team of Chris Campbell, Jerry Worster, and Steve Cunnington (s) tallied 74 points to just miss the prize money.

Best last game winner was the Echuca/Mathoura trio of June Clfford, Gayle Kerr, and Trevor Rickard (s) +12 shots.

Club President John van den Bosch thanked all bowlers for their support on a successful evening of bowls.

On Tuesday evening, a good roll up attended the popular barefoot bowls which resulted in some pretty keen action and good bowling.

The winners were Terrill Westwood, John Dowie, Shane Felmingham (s) two wins +14 shots ahead of the Oliver clan in Ace, Clint and Steve Oliver (s) 1 win and 1 tie +5 shots.

The special competition winner was Rod Fiedler, 2nd Shane Felmingham and third Clint Oliver.

The resumption of weekend pennant was not a happy return for the club with only Division five saluting the judge with a thrilling one shot victory over Deniliquin White 40-39 and making the top four (Rod Fiedler d. C Murray 21-19; Kalvin Stout lost to C Knuckey 19-20).

Both Division three and four lowered their colours to Echuca for the second time this season.

Division three had two rinks up but not quite enough in the 51-59 loss (Kym Ray d. T Deenan 27-11; John Fisher l.t. T Rickard 9-30; Leanne McInnes d. G Clymo 21-18).

The team has slipped one place to fifth on the ladder.

Division four had the one rink up as they lost the battle 57-74 (Cindy Felmingham l.t. M Bennett 13-40; Denise Gilmore l.t. K Robertson 17-22; Shane Felmingham d. M Thorn 27-12) and is in 7th spot on the ladder.

Good bowling this weekend and remember the season is quickly coming to an end.

60 and Over

The Campaspe 60 and Over Bowls Group held their Wednesday weekly bowls at Mathoura Bowls Club on a warm but pleasant day.

28 teams consisting of 112 bowlers all competing for a chook.

There were three, three game winners.

The runners-up were Ray Hanson’s team from Lockington with four bowls near the jack.

The team consisted of Phil Cunnington lead, Leon Laffy second, Andrew Harris third and Kevin Humbert was their skipper

The winner on the day was David Grants team from Stanhope, they had five bowls near the jack within the metre stick.

The team were led by John Gibbs, second David Grant, third Andrew Draffin and the skipper was Geoff Crilly.

Members of both teams received a chook each.

The next 60 and over bowls is at Stanhope on January 18 at a 10am start.

Entries to Mal McLean on 0419 797 347 or David Grant on 0412 365 298

Good bowling and see you all next week.

Goulburn Valley Veteran Golfers

The Goulburn Valley Veteran Golfers Association started its 2026 program at Kyabram Parkland Golf Club on Monday, January 19 for a 4BBB event.

The field of 82 players was slightly down on last year.

Temperature through play crept from 23°C towards 30°C as the gentle breeze was steady at 15 to 20 km/hr.

Thank you to the ladies of Ky Parklands who looked very professional in their neat uniforms, as they provided table service with an excellent luncheon and refreshing ice-cream and fruit.

Winners in the 4BBB event was a popular pairing of Lindsay Tatterson, Parkland, and Jim Dean, Kialla, with 44 points.

Runner-up was decided on countback with Laurie Radley, Rochester, and Paul Pappin, Valley View edging out the Lockington pairing of Kevin Humbert and Jeff Carnie, on 43 stableford points.

“Nearest the pin” was contested on the 122-metre first hole where Norm Purtill, Deniliquin, was nearest in A-grade; Jeff Carnie, Lockington, in B-grade; and Lindsay Tatterson awarded the C-grade prize.

Ball run down included: Ian Campbell and Norm Purtill (both Deniliquin), Jack Dell and Neil Hutchins (both Numurkah), Michael Dixey (Strathbogie) and William Wright (Euroa), Phil Cooper (Parkland) and Bill Murphy (Mooroopna), and Leo Hartup (Kialla) and Bill Waite (new member).

Our Annual General Meeting preceded the presentations from 12.45 to 1pm.

We will be led in 2026 by president Bill Chilcott, treasurer Jim Dean, secretary Rolf Weber, and captain Pooch McHale.

Other office bearers and committee members include Graham Scott, Neil Hutchins, Phil Steers, Jack Dell and Bruce Brown.

This is still short by about four committee members (including vice-president and vice-captain) that we believe is required to maintain an efficient operation throughout the year.

So please, if you love veteran’s golf, and are able to commit some time on match days, please come forward to nominate, as the committee has power to fill the casual vacancies.

Our next event is at Numurkah Golf Club on Monday, February 9 at our summer assembly time of 8.30am.

Booking and prepayment ($30 per player) is required for the GV versus Central District challenge on Monday, March 2 at Bendigo Golf Club.

With the field limited to 60 players from each district, registration at the Numurkah event is essential.

Assembly and tee times are our usual 9:30 for 10am.

For information about, and updates to, our 2026 syllabus, please refer to the Victorian Veteran Golfers Association (VVGA) website/district information.

Echuca Moama Croquet Club

Monday, January 19

We had 19 members who came to play, great numbers for the first days play after the Christmas break.

The winner today was Russell Smyth from the Rich River Club.

Sadly, we all had to farewell both Di (EMCC) and Russell (RR) as they are returning to Melbourne after 10 years in Echuca.

You will both be missed.