Southern states start to stride at Sides
Two southern states are starting to firm at the Australian Sides Championships, with South Australia marching forward in the men’s competition, while Victoria have gathered pace in the women’s. South Australia remain in pole position after extending their unbeaten streak to three in the men’s battle for the Alley Shield at the time-honoured event. Whilst the tournament is not yet at the halfway point, the Croweaters, who are gunning for only their second ever win of the men’s tournament, have established themselves as the clear front-runners after their campaign continued to gather momentum this morning in South Burnie. Pitted against the ACT in the round three rubber, the South Australians survived a harrowing scare in two of the three rinks, with former Australian A squad member Max Kleinig’s 28-8 margin over Damon Jeffery’s team enough to earn to provide the South Australians with third straight victory, 61-49, despite Australian Jackaroos member Wayne Ruedgier and Adelaide Endurance star Scott Thulborn’s narrow defeats. In the other encounters, Queensland found themselves in a similar position, able to accumulate an aggregate score, of 54-50, to secure a win despite falling short on two of the three rinks to Victoria. The result has the Maroons in second placing, down by 2 rinks, while the Big V rests in third spot, with a huge 7.5 rink wins compared to Queensland’s 4, but a game behind. Meanwhile, Victoria’s bid to capture its first women’s Marj Morris Trophy in a decade remains well placed, after continuing their unbeaten streak with a 64-53 win against the highly fancied Queensland contingent. The female Victorians sit a game and 2 rinks clear of their opposition, and will continue to press the claim the silverware against South Australia in this afternoon’s rubber. There’s a log jam of contenders trailing behind, with NSW, Western Australia and Tasmania equal on two wins and 5 rink points, with 24 net shots separating the second-placed Blues to third-positioned Sandgropers. Click here for more results on the 2013 Australian Sides Championships.
