Tongala gave Echuca a contest at Echuca Bowls Club, but the second placed side picked up the win 14-57 to 2-45.
The defining rink was between Echuca’s Steve Cunnington and Tongala’s Matthew Liverton, with Cunnington scoring a big win 22-9.
The sides split the other rinks almost evenly, with Tongala’s Stephen Hammond getting up 20-16 over Ian Page, while Phillip Thorn grabbed a rink win for Echuca, 19-16, against Bradley Tinning.
Kyabram continued its strong season, taking down Rich River 14-66 to 2-54.
In a high-scoring affair, Rich River’s Gary Radford scored a victory over Allan Donaldson 25-22, but the visitor to Kyabram Bowling Club wasn’t so fortunate in the other rinks.
Greg Shilling had the biggest win of the tie, 23-15 over Keith Hewitt, while Robert George was also successful for Ky, 21-14 over Tim Noar.
In the final match of the round, Stanhope jumped above Deniliquin and into the top four with a 14-74 to 2-52 win at Deniliquin Bowling Club.
The game swung heavily in Stanhope’s favour in Robert Ponton’s rink, as he led his side to a 31-11 thrashing over Deni’s Conway Bovell-led quartet.
Timothy Hancock was also successful for Stanhope, 22-17, over Jamie Shields, while Deniliquin walked away with a small share of the points thanks to Shane Laing’s 24-21 victory over Gregory Fitzpatrick.
The 12-point margin puts Stanhope (93) two competition points ahead of Deniliquin (91) heading into the Christmas break.
Action resumes on Saturday, January 17, with Tongala taking on Deniliquin, Stanhope playing Moama, Rich River meeting Mathoura and Kyabram tackling Rochester with Echuca on the bye.
Ladder: Moama 122, Echuca 114, Kyabram 109, Stanhope 93, Deniliquin 91, Rich River 80, Tongala 69, Rochester 62, Mathoura 60.
Lower divisions
In division two, Stanhope defeated Deniliquin 14-54 to 2-47 while Moama beat Tongala 14-62 to 2-52 and Kyabram had the bye.
Ladder: Moama 135, Stanhope 120, Kyabram 99, Echuca 97, Rich River 84, Deniliquin 71, Tongala 34.
In division three, Kyabram ran up the score over Rich River 16-94 to 0-27, Deniliquin defeated Stanhope 14-75 to 2-42 and Echuca crushed Tongala 16-73 to 0-30.
Ladder: Kyabram 142, Moama 138, Echuca 99, Lockington 96, Rich River 87, Rochester 70, Deniliquin 59, Elmore 55, Stanhope 31, Tongala 23.
In division four, Echuca beat Tongala 14-78 to 2-45 and Rich River dominated Kyabram 16-73 to 0-50, while Kyvalley View forfeited the points to Deniliquin RSL.
Ladder: Moama 156, Kyabram 105, Echuca 98, Rich River 93, Deniliquin RSL 92, Rochester 86, Lockington 77, Mathoura 52, Tongala 28, Kyvalley View 13.
In division five, Deniliquin White got the best of Stanhope 12-42 to 2-34 and Kyabram won over Rich River 14-42 to 0-32.
Ladder: Moama 123, Deniliquin Blue 116, Deniliquin White 89, Kyabram 60, Rich River 59, Echuca Blue 57, Lockington 56, Echuca White 53, Stanhope 43, Rochester 42.
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