Languishing at the foot of the table, Rich River wouldn’t have been the neutrals’ first pick to topple the dominant leaders, but it almost pulled off the feat in its visit to Echuca Bowls Club.
Rich River took two rinks, skip Dennis Demeo prevailing in a tight contest 22-21 and Gary Radford getting up 19-15.
Skip Kerryn Evans bailed her side out of trouble, her squad of Di Payne (lead), Michelle Cunnington (second) and Philip Thorn (third) picking up a 21-13 result, allowing her side to pull out the win overall, 12-57 to 4-54.
Mathoura was able to continue its strong form this year, claiming victory over Stanhope 14-63 to 2-48.
Skip Peter Pangrazio logged a big score for Mathoura, 23-8, while Troy Mansbridge also grabbed rink points for his side, 26-20.
Jennifer Crilly narrowed the margin for Stanhope but overall points was out of reach for her side.
Moama was a big winner over Rochester, 16-77 to 0-46, gaining slightly on the leading pair.
All three Moama skips ran up big scores, Robyn Thomassen earning the biggest margin - 29-16.
Fellow skips Trevor Eastwell (23-11) and Marilyn Stephenson (25-19) also banked impressive wins to secure the Steamers maximum points.
Deniliquin had the bye in the final round before the Christmas break.
Echuca goes into the hiatus on 107 points, nearest rival Mathoura on 96, with Moama on 74 rounding out the top three.
The competition returns to action on January 14.
Division two
Echuca drew within five competition points of Moama after defeating the leader 14-59 to 2-46.
Trevor Nagorcka scored big for Echuca, his rink getting up 28-12, while teammate Pam Lewis eked out a 17-16 win.
Skip Mia Young pulled some points back for Moama, but her side was well beaten on overall shots.
Rochester had a strong win over Ky Valley View winning two rinks and drawing the third in a 15-62 to 1-43 victory.
Skip Anton Gusak doubled his opponent's score 24-12, while Margaret Knight also earned rink points for Rochy.
Valley View’s Helen Emery and Rochester’s Lyn Moon couldn’t be separated 18-all.
In a vital mid-table contest, Deniliquin RSL came out on top over Rich River 14-68 to 2-41.
RSL picked up two wins by big margins, Mary-Anne Spizer prevailing 24-13 and Linda Harris 28-10.
Robert Thomas was able to sneak some points for Rich River, skipping his quartet to an 18-16 result.
Division three
Moama picked up a 12-38 to 2-31 win over Echuca, skip Jan Sullivan earning a 22-13 win to keep her side unbeaten.
Elmore took both rinks against Deniliquin RSL, Ann Williams quartet earning the biggest rink result of the fixture, 22-12.
The result between Tongala Red and Lockington wasn’t yet available at the time of writing.
Division four
Rich River held onto top spot, courtesy of a three-shot win, 12-45 to 2-42, over Rochester, the overall result falling its way as the sides split the two rinks.
Stanhope had a big win over Echuca, 14-45 to 0-23, Barry Williams’ 26-7 scoreline helping his side to the strong margin.
Tongala Red narrowly took both rinks against Lockington, skips Betty Ozols and Noel West doing enough for a 14-46 to 0-39 win.
Division one ladder
1. Echuca (7-1-0) 107 points
2. Mathoura (6-1-1) 96
3. Moama (4-1-3) 74
4. Stanhope (3-1-3) 56
5. Rochester (2-1-5) 42
6. Deniliquin (1-1-5) 30
7. Rich River (1-0-7) 27
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