KERANG has stormed home to take out the inaugural Northern Valley Premier League grand final by 10 shots.
While Cohuna Golf had set the pace throughout the season, remaining undefeated until their final round clash against Kerang, they hit a solid wall in facing Kerang three matches in a row, all of which Kerang won.
The grand final match on Sunday was close for the majority of the contest, but Kerang managed to win on all three rinks to get the maximum 12 points on offer.
Kerang’s skipper Dale Hancock was pleased with the team’s big win.
“It was a good win and to beat Cohuna Golf is even better,” he said.
“To get the first Northern Valley Premier League title is pretty special.”
On the first rink, Kerang skipper, Jason Lunghusen’s and his team was five shots, equal with Harrison Keely’s team at the completion of the first five ends.
Lunghusen’s team had a big four shot win at the back of the sixth end that pushed them into lead and finishing with 24 shots while Harrison Keely finished with 18 shots.
The start of the second rink was a different story, with Rodney Fletcher and his team leading by four shots after five ends for Cohuna Golf.
Jason Wilson’s team stayed in touch with Cohuna Golf though and eventually were able to fight back and take the lead shortly after the 16th end.
By the end of the contest, Kerang were able to get the better of Cohuna Golf on the second rink winning 21 to 19.
Dale Hancock’s team were blowing Cohuna Golf out of the water after 10 ends, leading 15 to four.
But Cohuna Golf’s skipper, Jarred Hammond was having none of it, and by the completion of the 15th end, Cohuna Golf were in front by one shot.
Jarred Hammond and his team continued to push forward and were starting to look likely to win the third rink, leading by six shots by the start of the 20th end.
But Kerang came back and was leading by seven shots with one more end to go.
Cohuna Golf had one last push winning the final end with five shots but it just wasn’t enough and Hancock’s team won by two shots all up.
Hancock reflected on his team win.
“After lunch, Cohuna Golf came out firing.” he said.
“We knew that they would, so we thought, we’ve got ourselves a fight now.’
“But we managed to held them off right until the very end, making it a great game to be a part of.”
Kerang won overall with 74 shots and winning all three rinks.
Cohuna Golf only managed to get 64 shots from their three rinks.
Hancock said Kerang felt the odds were against them, especially against Cohuna Golf, so they had a lot of motivation to win.
“Cohuna Golf have been the benchmark for so long, they have played in 19 of the past 20 grand finals,” Hancock said
“We have played in nine of the past eleven grand finals in the Northern District League, the majority of them was against Cohuna Golf.
“So, the motivation was definitely there to defeat them.”
Hancock also noted the success of the new league and how it might look moving foward.
“Josh Thorten basically has a plain for a three year trial and we hope to get some more teams into the series next year,” he said.
“If we can push it out to eight clubs it will make the competition really awesome.
“It very competitive this year with teams like Kerang Golf who didn’t win a game, still being able to match it with the top sides.
“They lost a lot of games under five shots, so you’re not running into teams you’re going tpo belt week in-week out.
“I think it was a good idea for both leagues to create the Northern Valley Premier League and I look forward to seeing what the competition holds for the future.”
