Sports News

Hook, Line and Sinker with Lindsay Doust

Numbers up due to colour change

Today's picture is of John Bryant, normally known as a cricketer with North Goonellabah RSL in the Hooker League, with a lovely 52cm bass caught in the Clarence River recently.

Fishing has really been good in the last ten days because of the coloured water around Ballina. I have caught quite a good number of large bream and whiting from the North Wall on live yabbies and reports are that they are even better out in a boat drifting down the porpoise wall.

In the early stages of the dirty water, there were some very nice large jewfish caught off both the north and south walls. I know of one jewfish caught that was 18kg and another angler had two quite nice Spanish mackerel to the wall but was unable to gaff them. The tailor have also been quite good from the south wall.

On the freshwater scene the good news is that Toonumbar Dam is open and is fishing for bass extremely well.

Last Sunday at sea was a rough day in terms of the sea conditions and fish were rather scarce. The mackerel outside seem to be making an appearance at long last and I saw one catch on Sunday of four Spanish mackerel and I know another angler who caught one that weighed 19kg.

Winners

The competition for the tickets to the Gold Coast 4WD & Camping Show created quite an interest and one angler got the answer absolutely correct. He was Dave Devlin, who got the correct weight of 402 lbs or 182.72Kg, so Dave has won two tickets to the Show, along with Shane Hambley (180 kg), Edda Witchard (211kg) and Kim Macleay (126 kg).

A sign of things to come - Soccer FNC

Coaches and club administrators have long tried to play down the significance of matches played before the season proper gets underway. Even when the competition carries the high level of regard and history that the Anzac Cup does there are often excuses such as "Not a really important fixture to us" etc, etc, after a disappointing pre-season loss.

But sometimes the coaches have to just sit back and take the bad medicine.

This was the case for the brains trust at both Stars and Maclean on the weekend. Both teams came away from their first round Anzac Cup matches with a lot more questions being posed rather than answered. Maclean where walloped 7-0 by cups specialists Byron Bay while reigning premiers Italo Stars were dumped 3-nil at home by the revitalised Richmond Rovers.

With Pool A's other team, Casino notching up a 4-3 victory against Thistles, Stars are all-but out of the Anzac Cup after just one match. They face Byron Bay at home on Friday night and will need to find the answers to their defensive lapses and striking impotence quickly.

Rovers win should not surprise as they have built up a very strong forward line over the off-season.

Workers 4-1 victory over Ballina was a definite surprise as Ballina showed last year that they are now a very competent outfit across the field. But one sparrow does not make a spring and it will be a long season for all, especially Alstonville and Bangalow who struggled to a 2-all draw. Bangalow should have put the game away but squandered a 2-nil lead late in the game.

Casino showed the benefit of having dual Golden Boot winner, Wayne Mortimer return to the fold

In the Callan McMillan Shield Workers demolished Thistles 8-nil, including an astonishing seven goal haul to North Coast Flames captain Krystal Gollan. Rovers edged past Woodburn 3-2 in an entertaining game while SCU took the points against Casino with a 2-nil home victory on Friday night.

Byron and Ballina showed commitment to attack and entertainment with Ballina winning 5-4 at Mullumbimby. Lennox Head showed why they took out the Soccer FNC Champion Club title with a 4-1 victory over Tintenbar.

"You put your left hand in ..."

Players from the Woodlawn Whistling Eagles and Workers Wonders (white skirts) Under 12 teams appear to be reviving the Hokey Pokey dance during their trial match at the Lismore Netball Courts last Saturday.

Trials and grading games will continue this Saturday prior to the start of competition rounds.

Junior numbers down - Table Tennis

Numbers were down in the junior sections of the annual Far North Coast NSW Open Table Tennis titles, held at the Goonellabah RSL on the weekend.

Although there was strong support in the senior ranks some of the planned junior events had to be scrapped due to insufficient numbers.

In the junior girls events only Michelle and Rebecca Seckington from Wynnum competed, forcing the cancellation of all but the Girls under 14 event, which went ahead as a straight final.

Players from Brisbane, Armidale and Coffs Harbour converged on Lismore to take on a strong local veteran and junior contingent.

The pickings were rich for the visitors in the Open events, which were all taken out by Wynnum players. In the Open Singles final regular FNC championship visitor Peri Campbell-Innes overcame club-mate Seref Bakanay, and in the Ladies final Claire Campbell-Innes defeated Mariana Lee, also of Wynnum.

Bakanay teamed up with Bodo Rose to overcome Stephen Gao and Andy Shih, also both from Wynnum.

Local winners included Wade Townsend, who won the special singles, under 18 singles and under 18 doubles (with brother Kane). This was an excellent result for a young boy who can still walk into any venues for half-price. Kane Townsend took the Under 12 title.

In the senior ranks Andy Jackson flew the local flag high by teaming up with Redcliffe's Mike Jenkins to win the B Grade doubles and come second in the Reserve Doubles. They were defeated in the reserve doubles final by Far North Coast's Col Gradwell and Gary Kennedy.

Veteran star Werner Borkhardt again displayed his phenomenal skills by taking out the Over 60's singles final and the Over 40, Over 50 and Over 60's doubles titles. For good measure he also finished runner up in the Over 50's singles final.

When only the best will do ...

Lismore sporting teams are being encouraged to apply to have an elite coach in their sport come to town to provide expert advice and coaching.

Under the AMP Coaching Clinic program sporting teams around Australia are selected to benefit from the advice of an elite athlete or coach in their field. The program is part of AMP's 'Personal Best' scheme that also includes 'Personal Best Grants' and 'The Search for a Community Hero'.

Local AMP financial planner Susan McDermott is encouraging the people of Lismore to apply to be selected by nominating their team or club.

"Every month some teams around Australia will be selected to take part in the coaching clinics to improve their skills and help them achieve their personal best," said Ms McDermott.

"To be in the running for this unique opportunity, all you need to do is complete a nomination form at your local AMP office or complete a form by logging onto www.amp.com.au/sport."

Ball is having a ball in '04

Aaron Teys, 10, (above) shows good form playing lead-off for Ballina in their 6th Grade pennant match against Lismore City on Saturday. Below: Aaron (the shorter one) with one of his opposition on Saturday, 75-year-old Laurie Batchelor.

David Ball's recent run of excellent form, including the 2004 District Fours title and second place in the Electric Light Triples, continued on Sunday in the final of the NRDBA triples. Ball's Casino RSM side won 27-12 in a one-sided final against Mark Lavelle's triple from Evans Head. Played on the greens of the Lismore Workers Heights Bowling Club, the secret of their victory was in stopping Lavelle's team from scoring off consecutive ends throughout the final. Ball's victory in the fours final earlier in the year was also against a side skipped by Lavelle.

Lismore City Grade Six pennant bowler Laurie Batchelor had to wait sixty-five years for the lead-off bowler for Ballina, his opposition on Saturday, to be born. In what may constitute some kind of record Laurie, 75, found his four was up against a Ballina four that included Aaron Teys, 10. Aaron has been playing for five years, but has entered pennant ranks for the first time this season. For the record, experience won out over youth on the day with Laurie's side winning 31-9 to contribute to Lismore City's 65-60 victory.

Casino RSM (27 points) edged to within half a point of section-leading Evans Head (27.5) after they defeated Evans 6-nil in Fifth Grade action in Round Seven of the 2004 Pennant competition. Evans will face away fixtures to Lennox Head (14), Ballina RSL (13.5) and then finish at home to the tough third-placed Lismore Workers Heights (25).

Casino face Ballina RSL in Ballina this Saturday followed by home fixtures against Bonalbo (18.5) and Lennox Head to finish up the season. The pressure is very much on the players from Evans Head and Casino RSM because for a team to drop a point in the final three rounds could ultimately cost a pennant.

Pennant Round 7

Grade One

Alstonville 5 d Ballina 1; South Lismore 6 d East Lismore 0; Casino 5 d Lennox Head 1. Leading team: Casino RSM 32.5.

Grade Two

Casino RSM 5.5 d Lismore City 0.5; Evans Head 6 d Ballina RSL 0; Ballina 5 d Lismore W/H 1. Leading team: Evans Head 36.

Grade Three

South Lismore 5 d Ballina 1; Kyogle 4 d Evans Head 2; Lennox Head 5 d Broadwater 1. Leading team: South Lismore 28.5.

Grade Four

Alstonville I 6 d East Lismore 0; Ballina RSL 5 d Lismore W/H 1; Woodburn 6 d Alstonville II 0. Leading team: Alstonville I 35.5.

Grade Five

Lismore W//H 6 d Ballina RSL 0; Bonalbo 6 d Lennox Head 0; Casino RSM 5 d Evans head 1. Leading team: Evans Head 27.5

Grade Six

Ballina RSL 5 d Nimbin 1; Kyogle 4 d South Lismore 2; Lismore City 4.5 d Ballina 1.5. Leading team: Kyogle 28.5.

Grade Seven-A

Evans head 5 d Casino RSM 1; Kyogle 5 d South Lismore 1. Leading team Evans Head 32.

Grade Seven-B

East Lismore 4.5 d Evans Head 1.5; Casino RSM 4 d Alstonville 2. Ballina - bye. Leading team: Ballina 28.5.

Campbell takes L'Oreal Cup by two - Golf

Hazel Campbell won the L'Oreal Cup at Woodburn Evans Head on Wednesday March 10. Returning a fine score of 39 points Hazel took out the 18-hole stableford competition from Marina Davey and Lyn Jeffery, both on 37. Davey took the runner-up position from Jeffery after a countback.

Lismore's annual Nutrimetics Invitational went to local golfer Aiden Richards in partnership with Mark Starks from Bayview.

At Casino Gary Shephard and Gary Randall, playing off 25 and 19 respectively, are the leading qualifiers for the Hahn 4 Ball Classic, after racking up 48pts, on a day when, for no obvious reason, scores were a little down on those usually needed to win a four-ball.

Joining Shephard and Randall in the next round will be Des Heath (13 handicap) and Graham Coss (19), plus the team of Dennis Wyatt (15) and Phil Sheehan (15). Both teams scored 46 points, as did Dave Newman and Wayne Jackson, who missed out on progressing to the next round after a countback.

Next Saturday's event at Coraki is a 4BBB Stableford, a qualifying round for the Blanch's Knockout and Hahn NSW Members 4BBB Knockout.

Next Saturday sees the annual pilgrimage by Coraki golfers to Kyogle for the first round of the Digger Roberts Jug, with travellers asked to meet at the club at 9.00am.

Honour Roll

Ballina

Wed 10 Mar: Jochen Fergen

Fri 12 Mar: Ray Lynch

Sat 13 Mar

Overall: Dick Besseling

A Grade: Peter Sculley

B Grade: Brian Rawle

C Grade: Barry Webber

Webber Shield 1st Round Ballina 9 Mullumbimby 1;

(2nd Round at Mullumbimby: Sat 27 March.

Mon 15 Mar

Vets: Dennis Morrissey

Coraki

Wed 10 Mar - Ladies

Div 1: Kerry Dalby

Div 2: Nerelle McKenzie

Sat 13 Mar

Overall: M Gow, R Davison

Casino

Thurs 11 Mar: Gary Plows

Sat 13 Mar

Winners: Gary Shephard, Gary Randall

11 hole: Phil Sheehan

Kyogle

Sat 13 Mar

Monthly Medal

A Grade: Damien Everingham

B Grade: Scott Job

Vets: Vic Worth

Lismore

Thurs 11 Mar

Ray Nugent

Sat 13 Mar

Nutrimetics Invitational

Aiden Richards (Lis.), Mark Starks (Bayview)

Woodburn/Evans Head

Wed 10 Mar - L'Oreal Cup

A Grade: Hazel Campbell

B Grade: Rosanne Kinnane

Thurs 11 Mar - Vets

A Grade: Bill Ferrier

B grade: Jim Bogie

Sat 13 Mar

Hahn Qualifier: Daniel Grebert, Sam Ayres

Ladies: Betty O'Grady

Hole In One

Wayne Jackson: 12th hole, Casino, 13 March, 2004.

Golden Gloves Belt challenge accepted

Story by Laurie Axtens

The passion is evident as Deece MacDonald is declared the winner, on points, of the welterweight Golden Gloves Belt for the Northern Rivers, over Manning River's Max Raglus on Saturday night at the Lismore Workers Club.

Max Raglus exercised his right of challenge only moments after suffering a points defeat to Deece McDonald in the Northern Rivers Golden Glove Belt at the Lismore Workers Club Auditorium on Saturday night.

MacDonald, the victor, welcomed the promised return match with apparent derision. The two will meet again on Saturday, March 27, in Kempsey.

It had been a spiteful encounter where each glove impact was welcomed with rancorous applause. During the evening's 16-fight schedule the audience had swollen to an impassioned crowd of 400. Emotions reached a fever pitch when, in the penultimate super heavy weight fight, Tim MacGregor bounded enthusiastically into the ring only to be knocked cold one minute into the first round by blood-nut Moree fighter Tony Hall. As the deafening cheer subsided, MacGregor stumbled to his punch drunken feet and the referee stepped in to finish the bout.

Arthur Maloney - promoter, organiser and legendary trainer - seemed pleased with the turn out. Contenders were drawn from as far a field as Caboolture, north of Brisbane, Kempsey and Moree, and mostly the match ups were fair. Contrary to the animosity of the main event the majority of the bouts were concluded with amicable hugs and camaraderie between the contestants.

Jamahla Roberts, of all of the frantic young contenders, displayed a tigerish ferocity and the beginnings of good technique and it may well be worth keeping an eye on his progress in the ''sweet science".

Coastal teams left to whistle Dixie

It was a sad weekend for cricket teams east of the Lismore-Wollongbar line. On Saturday the final four for the LJ Hooker League was decided, with the only hope from east of the range for a finals berth being reigning premiers Tintenbar East Ballina. Even though Tintenbar won their final match, against Alstonville, they were kept out of the finals by Norths Goonellabah RSL on run-quotient.

On Sunday, Casino defeated Alstonville by three wickets with 2.4 overs remaining in the final of the LJ Hooker League one-day competition at Oakes Oval. Casino's victory was underscored by a brilliant bowling display by Al Nowan, who finished with 6-23 off nine overs. Returning for his second spell with Alstonville looking strong on 3-124, Nowan took the wicket of the dangerous Greg Potter (44) with his first ball. It was Potter's second score in the forties in two days after his 41 against Tintenbar.

In the final day of the home and away matches in the two-day competition on Saturday the Casino Cavaliers wrapped up a sensational undefeated season with a 76-run victory over Lennox Head. Opener Adam Shields, and number four, Sam Irvine, were the equal top scorers for Casino, each registering 68 in their total of 8-225. Lennox's only hope lay with the bat of Ben Peterson. When Peterson reached 69 Casino captain Adam Shields must have thought enough-is-enough, and brought himself on to bowl, immediately taking Peterson's wicket. After that the result was academic.

Alstonville lost their chance of making the finals after failing in their run chase against Tintenbar East Ballina. The combine batted consistently throughout the line-up to notch up 204. After figuring in an opening stand of 57 Tintenbar captain Brett Crawford took 3-31 from his nine overs to lead his team to a 58 run victory.

At Oakes Oval Easts looked to be struggling while Norths Goonellabah RSL's Adam Osborne (58) was at the wicket. His dismissal, after a 76 run partnership with Nathan Bonamy, was the beginning of the end for Norths as they scored only a further 34 runs before the close of their innings at 9-173. With Tom Cooper (65) at the helm Easts scored the required runs with four overs to spare.

The only surprise about the Souths victory over Brunswick Valley at Thompson Oval, Brunswick Heads, is that they made such hard work of it. After a very poor season Brunswick fully deserves its wooden spoon, so it was surprising to see them limit Souths to just 141. The natural order was restored once Brunswick came in to bat as they struggled to maintain the run rate, ending their innings at 8-113.

Marist Brothers season limped to an end with a tame effort against Ballina. Ballina batted first, scoring just 169 off 44 overs. Brothers collapsed to be all out for 122.

In the semi-finals, starting on Saturday, Casino take on Norths Goonellabah RSL at Queen Elizabeth Oval and Easts will play Souths at Oakes Oval.

FNC Rah Rah's double Country Championship win - FNC Rugby Union

Both the senior and colt Far North Coast Rugby Union teams had convincing wins against Mid North Coast at Ballina on Friday night.

The teams will now travel to Inverell to take on Central North this Saturday to earn a place in the next stage of the competition - against the qualifying teams from the central provinces.

The Dolphins 32-5 victory was built on their dominance in the forwards, leading to a wealth of first half ball. FNC had three tries on the board by the change, including one in the corner by winger Matt Scheibel after only two minutes had elapsed on the clock.

The Colts (Under 20) recorded a whopping 51-0 victory in the curtain raiser in a one-sided affair that did not fully test the talented squad.

Far North Coast Dolphins: 32 (J Coote 2, M Scheibel, S Paisley, B Graham tries, J Lea 2 conversions, 1 penalty goal) d Mid North Coast 5 (A Brunton try).

Far North Coast Colts: 51 (M Lloyd 2, T Majchrzak 2, J Mison, J Nash, D Kedraika, T Gerrard, K Choppy tries, L Watling 4 conversions, 1 penalty goal) d Mid North Coast 0.

Jones to miss camp

Eddie Jones, the coach of the Australian Wallabies rugby union team, has had to cancel his attendance at April's Far North Coast Rugby Development Camp due to 'unforseen circumstances'.

The Australian Wallabies defensive coach, John Muggleton, has taken Jones' place at the camp.

Muggleton has a very impressive resumé, having been responsible for the preparation of the Wallaby defensive units for the last two World Cups, during both of which Australia recorded the best defensive record.

Camp director Dave Schmude said that Muggleton understood the importance of positional play and tactical kicking.

"He will show our campers some of the best - and safest - techniques in today's rugby. John is a world expert on tackling and effective defence, and can teach young players the most subtle ways of handling a contact sport like rugby," Schmude said.

Those interested in the camp can call Dave Schmude on 0418 436 267.

Reps to give Trinity a run - Basketball

Lismore representative teams will play two matches against the Trinity senior basketball teams at Albert Park on Saturday night to help Trinity warm-up for their tilt at the national Marist Brothers Basketball Championships later in the season.

The first game will pit the Lismore Under 18 women's team against the Trinity's Open Women's squad at 5pm, while the men's clash will start at 7pm. The Lismore men's team has had to look to its reserves, including a few Under 16 rep players as some of the Lismore Under 18 team are members of the Trinity team.

The Northern Junior League will get underway on the weekend of April 3-4 with Lismore doubling the number of teams it has entered. Lismore boys teams in the Under 12, 16 and 18 age groups will travel to Grafton for their first round of games while the girls Under 12, 14 and 18 teams will play in Tamworth.

Mackney takes second oz title - Speedway

Bryan Mackney, of Casino, has every cause to celebrate this week after winning his second consecutive Australian Street Stocker Championship, held at the Wagga Wagga Speedway on Saturday night.

Mackney took his Casino Smash Repairs Torana to back-to-back Australian Title wins in a "hard fought" race to the chequered flag.

Also making the trip south were Casino teammates Quinton Clarke and Justin Wells.

Wells qualified for the A-grade main event, finishing toward the rear of the field with team mate Clarke, who unfortunately failed to qualify.

The right to display the number 1 on the side of a car, which comes with a national title, is always hotly contested at Australian Championships. Mackney earned the right to proudly display the number 1 for yet another speedway season after a race in which he fought hard to maintain the lead and take the win.

Mackney will now be setting his sights on capturing the NSW Street Stocker Championships, to be held in Lismore next month.

Local V8 Dirt Modified racers have only one more chance to fine tune their racecars this weekend in preparation for the upcoming NSW V8 Dirt Modified Championship at the end of the month, when they head to Brisbane International Speedway to battle it out as support to the Queensland Sprintcar Title.

With the rain-postponement of the two most recent V8 Dirt Modifieds race meetings, this weekend's race meeting in Brisbane will be vital for the local Lismore contingent as they prepare for what should prove to be a close, fiercely contested NSW Title at Parramatta City Raceway on Saturday, March 27.