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ONE BLUE NORTH REVIEW
March 11, 2008 ROUND FIFTEEN REVIEW
--------------------SEAGULLS, STIRLING & SWANS SOAR
The three teams that benefited most from last Saturday’s round of fixtures were the Scarborough “Seagulls”, Stirling and the Sorrento “Swans”. The results have effectively lifted (at least temporarily) Scarborough away from that dreaded relegation zone, kept Stirling in with a chance of finishing on top, ended Doubleview’s chance of being the top placed team and demonstrated that Sorrento are a team to be reckoned with when considering promotional opportunities
------------------SCARBOROUGH CRUNCH OSBORNE PARK
-------------------Scarborough 99 (8) def Osborne Park 66 (0)
It was difficult to recognise the Scarborough team that turned up on Saturday to the one that played so poorly against Morley at their last outing. The players were the same but the attitudes were poles apart. In a must win game for both sides and I think I am not being too biased with this observation that Scarborough completely outclassed the “Saints”. Whilst the winning margin ended at 33 shots there was a point when Scarborough led by 52 shots on aggregate with big leads on all rinks.
Brian Axford’s new rink with Sid “Juggernaut” Baverstock and Barry Powell in scintillating touch ended Ben Poggi’s great run as a skipper (6-0) with a 28-20 win.
Steve Stokes and team continue to perform well and deserved their 23-18 win over Ken Sutcliffe.
Michael Murray & Ron Kuziela combined well for a comprehensive 28-13 win over Stan McFarlane whilst Peter Thomas and Robert Trow were standout performers in the 22-17 win over Ron “Daicos” Francesoni.
Full credit to “Daicos” for an outstanding game with the final score being as close as they got all day after dropping a 5 on the first end. I reckon Ron saved twenty (20) shots on a day when things could have got very ugly for his team.
-----------------STIRLING DASH DOUBLEVIEW’S HOPES
------------------Stirling 82 (6) def Doubleview 56 (2)
Any chance that Doubleview may finish on top of the ladder after the home and away season were dashed when they were thrashed by Stirling out on the carpet in Jones Street.
Tom Norac Stirling (pictured) Top line player doing his bit for Stirling in their bid for promotion to One White
Tony Krajancic and team completely outplayed Doubleview’s best rink skippered by Gary Nelson with a 28-10 hiding. Things got even uglier with Mark Pasalich handing out a 30 shot “thanks for coming” lesson to Winton Langdon. Kenny Screech and Jason Wholohan salvaged some pride for “The View” with narrow wins.
It is quite easy to see why Stirling are travelling so well with the players at their disposal but the form reversal of Doubleview is perplexing. Their teams don’t look quite right to me and to play Eddie Johnson as a third is a waste of a valuable resource. However, I am not that close to the club so they must have their reasons.
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MAGPIES DODGE BULLS CHARGE
----------------------Warwick 84 (6) def Bedford 80 (2)
In a game that I thought Warwick would win comfortably they dodged a bullet with a four shot win over Bedford. The move of Jeff Sheppard back to skipper has been a masterstroke as he now adds support to the best rink in the division namely Brian Friend (12-3 + 99). Both these teams won and provided the impetus for the Warwick win.
For Bedford, David Crook continued his solid form with a good win and John Carlsen is obviously enjoying his time as skipper with another win. (Don’t worry John, the time will come quickly when you think to yourself “What the bloody hell am I doing standing up here?”)
BLUES FALL IN AGAINST MORLEY
North Beach 78 (7) def Morley 72 (1)
North Beach won a narrow but important game against the last placed Morley on Saturday. The “Blues” are in a fair degree of trouble with the next two games seeing them visit Scarborough & Stirling before hosting Warwick in Round 18.
On Saturday the rinks of Mike Vitale, Alan Schrauf & John Coles all recorded wins whilst Wayne Mitchell accounted for North Beach’s best performed rink skippered by Geoff Devenish.
SWANS UPSET ROOS IN SHOW OF STENGTH
---------------------Sorrento 75 (5.5) def Wanneroo 73 (2.5)
Sorrento Travelled up Wanneroo Road on Saturday knowing they were taking on a team that was sweeping all before them. That did not faze Alan “Angry” Anderson and his team as they dismantled Echo Widermanski 24-13.
That sole win was enough to grab Sorrento the points and ensured that Wanneroo won’t sleep easy at night about finishing on top. Sorrento has been slightly underperforming this year so they may have picked the right time to peak.
My selections for this week
Round 16
Some great and season defining games next round.
Wanneroo to account for Bedford
Doubleview to return to winners list at expense of Warwick
Stirling to press on against Morley
Scarborough at home against North Beach
Sorrento to make life hard for Osborne Park