East Maitland and Maitland City continue great Big Bowls form

At the halfway mark of the competition the Griffins top their group and overall table with 54 points.

The Hunters are second overall and top their group narrowly from the powerful Raymond Terrace, with the teams on 51.5 and 51 points respectively after five rounds.

The Griffins have been able to secure two clean sweeps and the resultant bonus points to lead by five points from Nelson Bay, who defeated them 12-3 in round four.

East Maitland bounced back after Tuesday night’s loss to defeat Lambton 15-0 and collect the bonus point on Thursday.

They are away to bottom-placed Wallsend on Friday before travelling to Kurri for the round seven encounter on October 11.

The Kurri Kurri Cannons are just one point behind Nelson Bay despite not losing a game. They have four wins and drew with the Bay in round three.

The Cannons have struggled to maximise wins against lower ranked teams and will be looking for a big win on the road against Lambton in their round six match on Thursday.

The Hunters have come out of a tough section of their draw with two wins including a 9-6 victory on the road against Raymond Terrace on Tuesday.

They backed that up with a 10.5-4.5 away win against East Cessnock Comets on Thursday night.

Maitland are unbeaten after five rounds with four wins and a draw against Kahibah in the first round. 

The Hunters travel to Kahibah on Thursday night and then face Edgeworth at home in their round seven encounter on October 11. 

Thursday’s game will be hard fought, but Maitland will be eager to score a bonus point against the struggling Edgeworth.

Maitland City’s skipper DJ Dilworth is thrilled with the depth the Hunters have established and was pleased to get through a tough section of the draw.

“The most pleasing thing for us is the depth we have developed,” he said.

“We have come away with good results despite not fielding the same team in any of the games.

“We haven’t had the same pairs back-to-back and there has been a different line up in the triples each week.

“We probably have another three or four players who are capable of coming into the team as well.

“It’s the best depth we have had at the club, the feeling among everyone is very good.”

Raymond Terrace maintained contact with Maitland courtesy of a 13.5-1.5 win against Alder Park on Friday.

East Cessnock are third in the group on 42.5 points just ahead of Kahibah and both teams still have a chance to make the top two but must posts some big results soon.

In the final group Terrigal leads by one point from the Newcastle District Bowls development team and the Beresfield Magpies in equal second.