ONE WHITE REVIEW ROUND NINE 15/1/06
January 15, 2006
Safety Bay v Kalamunda
The boys from the hills enjoyed their sea change yesterday when they
travelled to Safety Bay for the top of the table clash. In what I term as
an upset the Kalamunda lads answered everything thrown at them and produced
a knockout blow to come away with maximum points. 
Skippering a rink for the
first time this season Brett Tie produced the goods with his team of Kalamunda
legend Mark Clancy, wily veteran Harry Clifford and the true gentleman Dennis
Hay all pitching in for a 10 shot victory.
Brett Tie Kalamunda ( pictured) first up win in his role as skipper. Well
done Brett!!
Before Christmas I spoke with Kalamunda
skipper and astute student of the game Neale Griffin and he told me that
I was barking up the wrong tree in selecting
North Beach to finish on top. Maybe Rowdy is correct with his team sitting
pretty at the head of the table at the halfway mark of the season.
In a fortnight
Kalamunda travels to Morley in what is labelled a crunch match for both teams.
Morley v Innaloo
As expected Morley produced the goods when they hosted cellar dwellers Innaloo.
Peter Aungier and his team recorded a resounding 16 shot rink win to ensure
that the aggregate was never in danger.
Picking up 7 points sees Morley hovering
just outside the top 4 and with a win over Kalamunda when pennants resume
will see them well and truly entrenched
in the battle for semi final positions. It appears the Morley boys have regrouped
well after the Christmas break and have picked up 15 of the possible 16 points
on offer in their last 2 matches.
Kardinya v North Beach
Are North Beach the great pretenders? I am starting to think so. After securing
3rd spot on the ladder last weekend the Beach Boys travelled to Kardinya
with high hopes of claiming victory. However after 84 ends of hard work they
went home on the slippery slide to 8th position losing on all rinks by a
total margin of 28 shots.
Life is not going to be much easier in round 10
when the northerners make the trek to Thornlie in what looms as a vital encounter
for the teams at the
lower end of the ladder.
On a positive note Kardinya are high flyers this season
and are very happy sitting just behind Kalamunda as we enter the second round
of home and away
fixtures.
On January 28th Kardinya host 3rd placed Gosnells in the match of
the day.
Every week I mention the Tony Cocodis rink and I will continue to do
so whilst they march on their winning way. I mentioned in my round 1 report
that this
guy can really play and he has proved me right with 9 wins from as many outings.
Thornlie
v Scarborough
Thornlie and Scarborough remind me very much of the weather that we have
experienced over the past few months. Very good one day and very bad the
next. 4 wins from 9 games see the Ravens sitting down in 9th position but
are still a realistic chance of finishing in the top 4 if they can find
some consistency.
Likewise Scarborough has been up and down like a bride’s
nightie in the first half of the season. Once again consistency is required
as their score
card to date reads win, loss, win, loss, win, win, loss, win and loss. In saying
that, the west coast boys are still a chance of playing in the semi finals.
Last
year’s premier skipper Les Carruthers continues to be the shining
light for Thornlie recording 7 wins from 9 matches this season. The Ravens
will be very satisfied with their 7-1 result against Scarborough and will come
out with all guns blazing when they meet North Beach in 2 weeks time. Scarborough
could find the going tough when they travel down the coast to Safety Bay.
Gosnells v Warwick
After an indifferent start to the season Gosnells have now won 5 of their
last 6 outings and have jumped into 3rd position on the ladder. Alan Hogarth
tried valiantly for Warwick to overcome the losses of Brian Friend, Tom
Gates and John Mather but his efforts were in vain as the Magpies fell
2 shots short of Gosnells.
Warwick has lost its last 3 matches and has ungraciously
dropped from 1st to 7th position on the ladder. I do expect the Warwick
team to win its next
two games when they play Innaloo in round 10 and Kardinya in round 11. Gosnells
focus will be on beating Kardinya in 2 week’s time and then pushing on
for a possible top of the table finish and promotion to the big league.
WRAP
In what is the most open competition I have seen in the last 10 years we
see 9 teams separated by only 10.5 points at the halfway mark of the season.
Any of these 9 teams can finish on top of the ladder.
Home green advantage
has not come to the fore with only 29 home teams winning compared to 16 away
side victories.
I am sticking with my original 4 teams to play off in the
semi finals. Those teams being Kalamunda, Morley, North Beach and Gosnells
however I think Kardinya,
Safety Bay, Warwick or Scarborough are quite capable of upsetting the apple
cart.
Kempy picked winners 3 in round 9 taking his tally to 29/45 for the first
half of the season.
Tips for Round 10: Warwick, Gosnells, Morley, Safety Bay,
North Beach
Kempy