McCartney is the number one ranked player in the division two competition, his third bowler Schram with exactly the same record, as the pair have played all 11 rounds together this season.
At the weekend the Echuca rink also included Colin Berryman and Michelle Cunnington, combining for a 22-shot win against John Weeks to have the major influence on the 72-57 (14-2) Echuca win.
Echuca and Rochester hold the top two spots on the ladder and little separated the teams two thirds of the way through the match.
McCartney’s 33-11 win and the six-shot victory of Wally Fehring, opposite Tim Quinlan, was enough to offset the one Rochester rink win of the afternoon.
Brian Trengrove won the remaining rink for Rochester by 13 shots, combining with Leigh Milgate, Brian Jones and Graeme Chambers for a 28-15 victory.
Echuca’s run to the finals is probably the easiest of any top four team, it has second-bottom team Tongala this weekend and then bottom of the ladder Deniliquin RSL in the final home and away round.
Rochester has third ranked Moama this weekend and fifth placed Mathoura in the final round.
But the division two final four looks set in concrete, with Mathoura 34 points behind fourth ranked Deniliquin.
- Mathoura did itself no favours on the weekend when, despite winning two of the three rinks, it was a three-shot loser to Tongala.
A Mathoura win would have at least given it a chance to qualify for the finals in the last two weeks, but the 63-66 (4-12) defeat to seventh ranked Tongala ended its chances.
The Tongala division two team was loaded with stars on the weekend as Tongala had the bye in division one ranks.
Stars Stephen and Jack Hammond, and Phil Cooper, all played in the match as the Tongala team won only its third game of the season.
Hammond was the difference between the two teams, his 13-shot win in tandem with Steven Usher, Kelvin Walsh and Michael Wearden making the difference in the final result.
Hammond’s win came opposite Mark Quor, who was fresh off being part of the winning Rich River five-a-side tournament during the week.
Stephen Hammond skipped Mark Golds, Kim Hanson and Greg Higgins to a seven-shot defeat at the hands of Glen McConchie, leaving it up to Mathoura skip Chris Roberts and Tongala’s Phil Cooper to decide the winner.
Roberts won, but by just three shots and it was not enough for Mathoura to claim the overall result.
- In the remaining matches it was a shock one-sided result for bottom of the ladder Deniliquin RSL which dominated the headlines.
Winning just its second match of the season, the RSL unit was on top from start to finish. In the remaining match it was another one-sided result, on this occasion for finals-bound Moama.
Moama was a 69-46 winner against Rich River, winning all three rinks on the way to pocketing the 16 pennant points. Deniliquin RSL was a shock 24-shot winner against the neighbouring fourth-ranked Deniliquin, winning 74-50 (16-0).
Peter Walton was a 10-shot winner for Moama, bowling with Ian Hamill, Ian McGregor and Ian Smith, while Geoff Halden almost repeated the dose with a nine-shot win against Rich River’s Gerry Devlin.
On the remaining rink Alan Jones confirmed his status as one of the division’s top skips. He is ranked second with a 9-3 win-loss record, with a four-shot win opposite Hugh Davies.
An 18-shot win by RSL’s Wayne Bradley, opposite Mark Law, was the major influence on the scoreline as he won the match 31-13.
Anthony Tonta and Bruce Clancy were the remaining winning skips for the RSL team.
