The Myrtleford Bowls Club Midweek B1 Pennant team took out the Ovens and Murray 2025/26 championship in an absolute thriller, just days after the club won the weekend pennant.

Playing at the Wangaratta Bowls and Sports Club against Swanpool, it was a match which went down to the wire, but Myrtleford saluted 58-56.

After days of welcome rain, the Wangaratta staff had done well to prepare the greens so the season final could proceed.

In misty rain, Myrtleford started slowly and were behind for most of the game.

Things started to get exciting when with only a few ends remaining the aggregate score board was updated and Myrtleford found they were only two shots behind.

In the last end, Myrtleford were leading until they played an unfortunate shot creating an ‘own goal’ when they moved Swanpool’s bowl into a winning position to level the overall score 53 shots all.

Under the rules for pennant finals, a drawn game requires that all rinks play another end.

When two rinks had finished their extra end, Myrtleford were three shots behind.

Myrtleford’s hopes rested on the final rink where Jon Dunell, with Sam Bonacci, Bev Griffith and Wayne Stephens, pulled off a miraculous five-shot win to give Myrtleford a championship.

On the other rinks, Lindsay Hamiton with Col Smith, Wayne Langdon and Liz Saunders won 21 shots to 11, while Les Brown with Phyllis Swindley, Terry McCaw and Graeme Piazza went down nine shots to 26.