Sport

Echuca slays Stanhope for pennant title

By Matthew Kappos

Mar 9, 2026

Echuca is the division one weekend pennant champion. Photo: Jordan Townrow. Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

Echuca has emerged above the rest to claim the Campaspe Playing Area division one weekend pennant, holding off an in-form Stanhope in the grand final on Saturday.

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The minor premier didn’t have everything its own way in the decider, but eventually, its quality shone through, the champion coming away a 71-51 winner at Moama Bowling Club.

Echuca had the lead through most of the contest, the Philip Thorn- and Steve Cunnington-skipped rinks holding on to significant advantages.

The Ian Page-led Echuca outfit was also doing well in a closer contest in the remaining rink, the club overall leading by 18 shots down the stretch.

With Cunnington’s rink, against Gregory Fitzpatrick, wrapping up its 21 ends at 28-12 Echuca, Stanhope had one final surge in it as each of the other rinks turned the tide somewhat in the 17th end.

Timothy Hancock, the skip for Stanhope against Thorn, made an excellent defensive shot to turn what could have been a big deficit into just one shot for Echuca, while in Robert Ponton’s end, against Page, his side logged a huge six shots, making big inroads into the deficit.

Stanhope still had plenty of work to do, down 13 shots with six ends to play, three each on the two rinks still in action.

However, it would be Echuca’s day, and while there wasn’t anything flashy down the stretch, the minor premier ticked over a couple of shots at a time to put things beyond the opposition’s reach at 71-51.

Club coach and skip Ian Page hailed a “great effort” from Echuca in the grand final. Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

After topping the ladder, Echuca went straight through to the grand final after defeating Moama in the qualifying semi, while Stanhope, which could have mathematically missed finals on the last day of the regular season, finished fourth and took the long road through Kyabram and the Steamers to reach the decider.

“We watched Stanhope last week, who were sensational when they put Moama out,” Echuca club coach Ian Page said.

“We went here today full of optimism, and everybody put in. It was a great effort.”

Stanhope was defeated in the final for the second straight year, going down to Moama last year.

Echuca was the first side eliminated from the final four last season, Page saying additional focus and tenacity down the stretch proved the difference for the club this time around.

“I think the close games we got over the line, whereas last year in the close games we dropped away in the last half dozen ends,” he said.

“We put a lot of emphasis on the last five ends across the club, and we’re never beaten.”

With Echuca also claiming the division two pennant, the future looks promising for the club at the top level.

“We’ll be recruiting hard because we know you’ve got to improve 10 to 15 per cent to keep getting better,” Page said.