Maitland City victory keeps them in State Pennants play-off contention

While Raymond Terrace have dominated the section, the battle for the second play-off spot is shaping up as being decided in the final round match between City and Kahibah.

Kahibah has the easier run home, but Maitland City bowls co-ordinator DJ Dilworth said his team is confident they can secure second place on the table and the final play-off spot.

City kept it’s quest on track with a three-rink 69-36 win against East Cessnock on Friday night to secure the maximum 10 points.

They sit 1.5 points behind Kahibah on the table, who defeated Charlestown 72-57 on Saturday.

To keep their play-off dreams alive City have to finish within 10 points of Kahibah going into the final round, which will be played at Maitland.

“We’re underdogs against Raymond Terrace this week, but the team is quietly confident we can cause an upset on our home greens,” Dilworth said.

“We pushed them on their synthetic greens. We won one rink by one point. They had the same margin in the second and it was only towards the end that they secured a 10 bowl victory in the last rink.” 

Kurri Kurri’s unbeaten run came to an end with a loss at home to Nelson Bay.

Kurri now sits at the top of the Hunter Section 4 table on 57 points from Nelson Bay on 47.5 points after the 51-58 loss.

They will be aiming to atone next week when they host third-placed Lambton.

In Hunter Section 2, East Maitland had a big win, defeating Warners Bay 83-49, to claim maximum points for a three rink victory.

They are third on the table with 36 points, behind Soldiers Point on 52 and Mayfield West 45.5.

They are still a mathematical chance of making the play-offs as the second placed team but have a final round encounter against Soldiers Point.

Beresfield defeated their nearest rivals Valentine 57-48 to make it seven wins from seven games in Hunter Section 3. They are on the road against bottom of the table Wallsend on Saturday.