The race to the finals has been thrown wide open after round six matches in the Simpson Cup, played at The Vines of Reynella.
The Grange team has catapulted itself into second position after a close win over Tea Tree Gully 4-3, The Vines moved from the bottom of the table by defeating Blackwood 4.5-2.5, Southern secured a 4.5-2.5 win over Royal Adelaide to still be a mathematical chance to make the final and Kooyonga and Glenelg squared, leaving Glenelg minor premier and Kooyonga needing a big result in the final round to force a rematch.
In the first match of the day off the 1st tee, The Vines 4.5-2.5 win sees them move from the tail of the ladder and out of the relegation zone. Beating The Vines, at Reynella, was always going to be a difficult task for Blackwood and they will now have to rely on other resutls to progress through.
Winners for The Vines were, Paul Gregory and Matthew Bell both 4&3, Tony Nobbs 5&4 and Craig Rivett 2&1. Michael Bruggeman halved with Mathew Monsma, while winners for Blackwood were Riley Marshall 4&3 and Michael Munn 1up.
In the other early match off the 10th tee, Southern notched up its third win of the season defeating Royal Adelaide 4.5-2.5.
Southern’s lower order were the star performers; namely; Chad Methven 1up, Jared Thoman 6&5 and Brad Altmann and Chris Burns both 4&3.
Nigel Turner halved with Nathan Baulderstone while Royal Adelaide’s Patric Kroschel 4&3 and Billy Cawthorne 5&4 picked up their two matches.
With its third win in a row The Grange has moved into second position and is well placed to remain there. It would take an epic 4-3 win over Tea Tree Gully, but The Grange was always up to the task. If Gullies won they would have moved from sixth to third.
Mark Demasi 3&2 and Scott Webb 4&3 both had early wins for The Grange, before Jacin Cook hit back for TTG 1up over Jack Thompson.
Tea Tree Gully needed three of the remaining four matches to secure the win, but could only register two, courtesy of top order players Chris Austin 3&2 over Matthew Lisk and Sam Burton 4&3 against Justin Crowder.
The Grange snuck across the line, with wins first to Alex Hendrick 1up and then Liam Georgiadis 1up to secure victory.
The match between Kooyonga and Glenelg was squared, which was enough for Glenelg to claim the minor premiership with one round to go. Glenelg’s three wins were courtesy of Josh Hayes 7&5, Anthony Olsen 3&2 and Sam Earl 7&6 with Ben Hallam halving with Geoff Brennan. For Kooyonga, Will Somerfield 5&4, Sam Inglis 3&2 and importantly Heath Riches winning 2&1 over Lachlan Barker gave Kooyonga the crucial halve allowing the team to stay in the race for the final.
Final Round Equation:
Next week’s round six matches are held at Glenelg with the host side coming up against The Vines. Not much at stake in this match other than The Vines would be keen to secure a halve or win to ensure Royal Adelaide (last place) can’t catch them.
The Grange play Southern, a win of 5.5 or more to Grange will guarantee a finals berth. A win on its own may still be good enough. If Southern wins 7-0 and Blackwood defeats Kooyonga 4-3, one of those two sides will make the final on games.
In the Kooyonga v Blackwood match Kooyonga would be gunning for a big win. Two matches behind The Grange they need to make up that deficit to progress through.
If Blackwood win and The Grange lose, Blackwood will make the final.
In the final match Royal Adelaide need a half or win to avoid relegation. Tea Tree Gully itself isn’t safe and if they go down 5-2 or worse they could be in trouble.
For all results and draws > click here for the Pennant Competition main page.
For a PDF version of Simpson Cup Results > click here
Round 7 – 3rd July at Glenelg GC
1st Tee 11.15 am Glenelg v The Vines
10th Tee 11.15 am Kooyonga v Blackwood
1st Tee 12.10 pm The Grange v Southern
10th Tee 12.10 pm Tea Tree Gully v Royal Adelaide