Sports News

Hook, Line and Sinker with Lindsay Doust

Winter Fish Warm Up

Here is one of nearly 300 barramundi hauled in by a group of local anglers who recently spent time on the waterways of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, fast becoming recognized as one of the world's great fishing attractions.

Winter fishing is heating up. That is, if you take a nice flask of coffee and rum for the cold nights.

Some good reports have been coming in about last weekend's fishing. Blackfish seem to be patchy - on one day, off the next. It will not be long before it is bag limits for every outing. They seem to be best on black weed, if you are able to get some.

Some nice bream were caught of a night at Ballina. Not big numbers yet, but the beginning of what we hope to be a good bream season. They seem to be best at the moment on something like mullet gut or blackfish gut.

There are also some reports of nice tailor, mainly from the break walls and headlands.

Around Swan bay in the river there are also bream being taken. There was one report of eleven being taken on soft plastics.

Bass seem to be in the river at present and have reportedly slowed quite considerably at Toonumbar Dam.

Offshore has also been patchy. Those going wide seem to be having the best results, with pearl perch, parrot fish and the usual "mother in law" morwong.

Mud crabs are slow because they tend to hibernate during the colder months. On Saturday, one angler, however, caught the best-sized crab he had caught the whole season.

This coming weekend, read the tide times and it should be top feeding times on Saturday and Sunday from 1.30pm to 4.30pm. Good time to try for a bream or blackfish in the Evans, Richmond and Brunswick Rivers.

A reminder to all anglers who do the right thing. Recently there was a good supply of black weed available on a private property. The owner was happy for anglers to take what they needed. However, one person spoilt it for all when the fence was cut and a vehicle driven in. Now access for all of us has been lost.

Lopsided league to get live saver? - Rugby League

Damien Bryant crashes through the Ballina defence to score at the Cathedral end of Oakes Oval in Brothers 30-10 victory on Sunday.

Lower Clarence continue their push up the standings, nudging past Byron Bay on the ladder after overwhelming them 52-24 on the field. Brothers saw off Ballina 30-10 to hold onto the second spot behind Mullumbimby, who had the bye.

At the bottom end of the table South Grafton overwhelmed Kyogle in almost every department to come away with a 60-12 differential booster. Kyogle, as a club, must be looking hard at the future and wondering what they can do about giving their constant flow of outstanding juniors a decent senior team to graduate into.

Although they are playing at home Kyogle officials must be wondering if their players will turn up this weekend to face the dominant team of the decade, Marist Brothers, as the Turkeys appear to be having major difficulties in the top grades.

In the final game of the round in First Division Grafton Ghosts overwhelmed a clearly under-manned Casino 30-10.

The undefeated Mullumbimby side returns to the park this weekend after resting up with the bye. They travel to Byron to take on the Red Devils in the match of the round.

Ballina should get back onto the winners lists on Sunday as they are hosting Casino RSM. Casino and Kyogle will end the weekend with 13 losses between them and no victories. Everyone is waiting for them to meet head-to-head to sort out whose name gets inscribed on the wooden spoon.

Grafton Ghosts have a chance to string a couple of wins together when they meet the inconsistent South Grafton. Both teams have tasted success over the last couple of seasons, with Ghosts lifting the crown in 2002 and South making the decider last year, however, it is likely that only one of them will be able to squeeze into the finals with the improvement of Byron, Lower Clarence, and of course, Mullumbimby this season. This will be a physical encounter and could lead to some overtime claims at the disciplinary tribunal later in the week.

Showcase game a pioneer display

Northern Rivers used to be regarded as a heartland for rugby league. That can hardly be said of the sport now. The second grade competition has collapsed to only four teams over recent weeks, Marist Brothers is now the only senior Lismore-based club in either division, and there is a vast difference in quality between the top clubs and the strugglers in First Grade. So much so that it would be hard to imagine the club patriarchs at Kyogle not being worried about the future of their club.

Yet again there have been noises about Lismore hosting the annual City v Country game coming to Lismore, with murmurs about it being the saviour of Oakes Oval.

One of the problems with Oakes Oval is that, just a few years ago, a sporting body pushed for a 'colour television friendly' grass (the green showed up better) to be planted across the outfield. The choice of grass was a shocker. It grows as a mat and requires a special mower to be hired from the Gold Coast every time it needs to be mown. Even when it is mown the grass mat absorbs most of the energy generated into a well-struck cricket ball. It killed the ground as a major cricket venue, the broadcast game never eventuated and there has been precious little elite sport on the ground since.

If Lismore does get the City v Country game, and this isn't just another beat-up to put the sport on the front pages, then let us hope they get it right and the ground can be used by the rest of the sporting community after they are finished.

Who would have thought a decade ago that Lismore would need a showcase event like the City v Country game to help promote the sport. It is as though rugby league is a pioneer sport in a region that was once it's exclusive domain.

Lismore put away Lennox - Table Tennis

The Lismore - Lennox Head clash in Round Six first division action in the 2004 FNC Winter Teams competition. Led by Tony Coronakes, who won all three of his matches, Lismore won 8-3. Andy Jackson also performed well winning two singles rubbers for the Lismore team.

In the first match of the night at the Goonellabah RSL table tennis centre Byron, led by Werner Borkhardt, just edged ahead of Ballina 6-5. Borkhardt was well supported by team-mates Graham Bultitude and Col Phillips although Ballina's Henning Hansen and Ken Hudson both won two rubbers apiece.

1st Division table.

1st Byron
2nd Lismore
3rd Ballina
4th Lennox

Red Cross Day at Ballina

This Sunday will see Ballina host the Red Cross/Australian Business Limited Charity Ambrose competition. Registration for the shotgun-start event is only $25 and includes golf fees, lunch and nibblies to coincide with the presentation at 5pm. Golfers who would like to enter can contact the club on 6686 0144. The event carries over $3,000 in prizes and registrations will need to be completed before lunch is served at 11 am. Golfers will tee off at midday.

Bill Ferrier has been in commanding form down at Woodburn Evans Head. On Sunday he combined with David Ferrier to take out the 2004 Club Foursomes title over 27 holes. Alan Sheather and Jim Gould come in at the head of the pack in the nett championship.

It's time to doff one's hat when passing by Jack Huxley in the streets of Kyogle.

After more than thirty years of practise Jack finally achieved his first hole-in-one at the second hole in club competition at Kyogle, thereby winning the Nearest-The-Pin for the second hole plus the turkey's nest. Both the Kyogle and Casino club championships will conclude on Saturday with fourth and final round.

Also, congratulations to Wayne McInnes for his ace at Lismore's second hole last Saturday during club competition.

The Ballina Veteran Golfers have voted in their new committee for 2004-05: President: Bill Brown; Vice President: Brian Shelton; Captain: Lyle McKellar; Vice Captain: Ron Smith; Secretary: John Wilson; Treasurer: Bob Blacklidge; Handicapper: Norm Heyhorn

Committee: Ron Sewell; Ian Beattie, Ian Kemp, Ray Doxey, Alan Young,

Honour Roll

Former Stars stars prove Stars nemesis - Soccer FNC

Former Stars players Wayne Mortimer and Scott Creighton welcomed their former team-mates to the pairs 2004 home at casino with a gaol apiece, ensuring that Casino keep a firm grip on top place on the TNR Premier Division ladder. The 2-nil result in favour of Casino sees them move three points ahead of Stars.

Mortimer, who took the 2002 and 2003 Golden Boot titles, has had a slow start to the season in front of goals with this being his first goal of the season. However, his strong play and experience has helped the Casino outfit to create numerous goals.

Tom Guttormsen is eyeing off a Golden Boot of his own after his display for Workers club against Thistles. The Workers Redmen won 4-1 with Guttormsen bagging all four.

Byron and Ballina could both consider themselves unlucky not to have come away with the points after their one-all draw. The experienced Bruce Morhaus put Byron in front after a scoreless first half, but Troy Percival cancelled out his goal from a magnificently taken free kick.

Alstonville's season keeps slipping further into the mire. Their 3-1 home loss to Maclean leaves them languishing at the foot of the ladder with just three points from a win over newly-promoted Bangalow in the second round.

Bangalow's match against Rovers had to be abandoned after a power outage on Saturday night that didn't allow the player to take the field for the second half. Bangalow can consider themselves unlucky as they had held the potent Rovers forward line at bay for the first half.

This weekend Casino will travel to Maclean in the match of the round. Maclean's form has improved noticeably since their 2003 slump, while Casino has met every challenge put in front of them to date.

The Thistles vs Rovers derby will pit two of the traditional powerhouses of far North Coast soccer against each other. Usually the tussles are so close that the favouritism falls to the home team, but the Rovers strike power is so potent this season that they will go into this encou8nnter full of confidence.

Alstonville will try to start rescuing their season when they travel to Byron Bay while Stars should get back on track at home against Bangalow in a twilight match at Barrow Lane.

Lismore Workers will host Ballina at Rec 12 on Sunday afternoon with all eyes being on Tom Guttormsen to see if he can maintain his goal-scoring heroics. The Ballina set-up is one that is well prepared to reduce the options for an opposition strike threat. The problem for the Ballina backline will not be just Guttormsen as Workers possess many avenues to the goal.

Workers in professional display

Workers confirmed their top place on the ladder and title favouritism with an emphatic 6-0 victory over Woodburn on Friday night. Proven goal-scorers Krystal Gollan and Renee Cowan both bagged a brace as Workers went about their business with a professional display.

SCU, after their stunning seven-player victory to start the season have found the going very tough. They played two games on the weekend and came out with two 2-all draws, including one against their vanquished opponents from the opening day, Lennox Head. On Sunday they added to Rovers slow start to the year. Even though they sit in third place on the ladder Rovers would more than likely be disappointed with their inconsistent results to date. More in keeping with their expectations was Rovers 4-2 away victory over Byron on Friday.

Woodburn notched up their second win with a 1-nil victory over Lennox head while Ballina did all that was needed to roll Thistles 3-1.

The Northern Rivers Echo is once again sponsoring the Soccer Far North Coast Golden Boot competitions in the Men's Premier Division and Women's First Division.

Thomas Guttormsen was the big mover this week with an astonishing four goals against

TNR Premier Division

9 - Thomas Guttormsen (Workers)
8 - Matthew Olley (Rovers)
5 - Adam Bostock (Ballina)

Womens' First Division

8 - Krystal Gollan (Workers)
7 - Renee Cowan (Workers)
6 - Rose Argent (Byron)

Headlanders warm up for regionals

The Headlanders Bodyboard Club will hold the third round of their winter series this Sunday, with competitors meeting at Lighthouse Carpark in Ballina at 6.30am. This weekend members will be honing their skills for the regional titles, to be held in Ballina the following weekend (May 29-30).

The fledgling club is open to bodyboarders of all ages, with competition events and social activities.

Featuring this weekend will be a BBQ along with a swag of prizes to be won.

The regional titles will give local riders a major preliminary event to hone their skills prior to competing at a state level. Entry forms for the Regional Titles can be downloaded from oneightee.com/headlanders.

The Headlanders club welcomes new members with all fully paid members receiving a club shirt, membership card, insurance cover and the chance to win great Members prizes at every comp.

For more information, contact Simon Bruncke on 0421 789 758.

Phyl's loyal service recognised

Phyl Thompson (centre) celebrates her elevation to life member status with fellow Lismore Croquet Club life members Amy McLean (left) and Ada Somerville.

After almost a quarter of a century of service to the Lismore Croquet Club Phyl Thompson has been awarded Life Membership of the club in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the club, and the sport.

Phyl was one of the first Official Referees in the Northern Rivers, and has served as the club secretary for over a decade, as well as holding a position on the handicapping committee for five years and was the club Public Officer for six years.

Pioneers show they have drawing power - FNC Rugby Union

For the second time in two weeks the Wollongbar Pioneers have found themselves walking off the field without either that winning, or losing, feeling. Instead they have found a home in the void zone between success and failure.

After drawing their match against Casino the previous week Wollongbar were facing a Ballina outfit that had struggled to a one-point victory over lowly Grafton.

Unlike their game against Casino, where the Pioneers blew a lead late in the game to come away with a lucky draw, this time they were facing a 17-point deficit that would require better than point-a-minute play to overhaul. There didn't seem like enough time - and in the end there wasn't, with the sides being locked at 20-all at the final whistle.

The Pioneers have suffered from the loss of key players back to league and may be finding that some of their old stagers are becoming just that - old stagers. However, it does not pay to bury a side that has that much talent too early in the season - but.

Grafton were desperately unlucky not to come away with at least a bonus point from their encounter with the Lismore City Greens. The Redmen from Grafton were leading with less than a quarter of an hour to go and were looking 'good-things' to complete the victory as Lismore had not yet troubled the scoreboard attendants. Then, for the second week in a row the fates stepped in the way. Lismore rattled on 13 points to keep Grafton winless for the season and forced the Redmen to miss out on a bonus point for being within seven points of the winning team. Grafton were eight points adrift!

Southern Cross University, as so often happens, have started the year off well. They had another good win on the weekend, taking Casino's scalp 29-12 after being well beaten the previous week in the grand final replay against Lismore. The students travel to Ballina this Saturday and will need to get another win under their belt prior to the start of the student semester-break, the traditional weak point of the season for all Uni sporting teams.

Casino can further press the legitimacy of their top three placing this week when they travel tp Lismore City while Grafton players will be avoiding black cats, walking under ladders and possibly doing a little extra conditioning work in their attempt to finally win a game after having led their last two games with just 15 minutes to play.

Best singles game in 40-50 years - Bowls

The level of play in the opening three rounds of the NRDBA 2004 District Singles championship has been nothing short of stunning. The head to head clash between David Ball and Brian Nixon, both of Casino at Evans Head was promoted as the feature of the first round and they didn't disappoint. There was more than the district singles title at stake as they had been team-mates in the 2004 District Pairs (runners-up), Triples (Champions) and Fours (Champions), making this singles match a critical encounter in the District Bowler of the Year standings.

Brian Nixon held the lead early on but was eventually overtaken to go down to Ball 31-29.

But the excitement didn't stop there for Ball. In the second round, that afternoon, he again found himself again fighting to the absolute death, this time prevailing over Barry McKenzie 31-30.

But for Ball the real excitement had yet to come. On Sunday he had to hold off 1996 NSW Singles Champion Neil Burgess. NRDBA Executive members present at the match described it as the best singles match played in the region for 40 to 50 years. Burgess looked to have the game won at 29-26 and was holding three shots before Ball interceded. Locked together at 30-all (the target winning total being 31) two consecutive ends were killed off, with Ball eventually taking the crucial shot and a place in the fourth round.

This will be a very busy weekend on local rinks with the President's Day being held at Lismore Heights on Sunday, while across town the Coaches and Umpires Day will be held at Lismore City. Meanwhile the Casino RSM will be hosting their Beef and Burgundy Day.

Triple play amid homer feast - Baseball

Country NSW batter Tim Atherton gets a sizeable lead from first base as USA pitcher Matt Binkle prepares to pitch during the 2003 Timberjack Friendship Tournament. The tournament has more than doubled in size for 2004 (see below)

In the week that Lismore was announced as host for the 2005 Australian AAA Championships the Easts first division side executed a triple play - three players out off the one-pitch

Last Saturday's Rex Airline Far North Coast Baseball Major League action was underpinned by a score line from the Workers - Easts match-up that would not have been out of place on a rugby union field. Workers were not troubled in their 29-10 obliteration of the Easts battery. The other top-flight fixture was also a run-feast, resulting in a 12-10 victory for Norths over last season's faltering champions, Marist Brothers.

Easts Redbirds were struck an early blow in their first innings when lead-off bat and strike pitcher, Luke Davis, dislocated his right knee cap in the batters box whilst executing a regulation hit to left centre. Davis's injury delayed the game by 40 minutes as Ambulance officers attended to his injury and fed the young Redbirds a dose of Morphine that saw him smiling for hours. Davis in likely to be out for several months as a result of the injury will likely make a full recovery.

The weekend was a little like the home run derby at the MLB All Star Game. There were so many long-ball efforts that they were apparently becoming common-place. Brother's Jeff Mackney picked up two homers and 5 rbi's with his first two at-bats. Meanwhile, Workers pitcher Josh Daley also dropped two over the fence for 5 rbi's of his own.

In First Division, Easts Redbirds completed a rare feat against North's Legends. With two runners on base, Norths batter Nathan Bonamy line drove a pitch to first base, who proceeded to tag the first base runner, and throw the lead off runner out at second base after they had failed to tag up on the hit. At least Bonamy didn't hit into a double play!

The triple play is a rare feat in baseball and the team handled the execution to perfection. The feat was last achieved locally by Workers Club in an under 16's match against Ballina last year.

This weekend Norths will take on Easts, and Workers will take on Brothers in double header. Workers will be looking to win both games so that they can extend their one game lead over Norths at the top of the ladder.

AA Nationals come to town

Lismore baseball has been given another vote of recognition by the national baseball community with the announcement this week that Lismore is to host the 2005 Australian AA Championships in January.

Also, the annual Timberjack's tournament has been expanded to include under 12 and under 18's, complementing the successful existing under 14 and 16 tournaments. As a result the competition will now be spread over two weekends. Last year's tournament attracted 16 teams, including the USA Coast-to-Coast representative team.

The upgraded 2004 version of the Timberjack Friendship Tournament has an astonishing 41 entries to date, including the traditional visit by last year's under 16 runner-up, USA.

Lions break through for maiden win

The Cassino Lions have broken through for the club's inaugural win in the Summerland AFL competition, defeating the Lismore Swans 12-10-72 to 10-8-68.

The club was formed in late 2002, lining up for their first competition game at the start of last season.

After struggling through the early rounds the Lions began to show marked signs of improvement towards the end of the season. They were able to lead a number of games after the first quarter and caused a major shock on August 2, 2003, when they produced a superb effort to earn a draw against grand finalists Nimbin.

The experience of 2003 plus the acquisition of some skilled players from around their district has seen the club build at a slow but steady pace. Casino is a proud sporting town and the Lions could become a force to reckon with in years to come.

Byron continued to press home their superiority over Nimbin with a 14-10-94 to 7-4-46 victory over the Demons. The Byron Magpies have cleared away at the top of the ladder but will find the trip to the Murwillumbah Showgrounds this week a stern test.

Ballina took Saturday's game against Murwillumbah by the scruff of the neck, winning 20-14-134 to 8-3-51. As mentioned last week Murwillumbah has a bad reputation on the road but rise a notch at home when they have all of their players available.

Ballina will travel to Lismore this weekend looking to consolidate their second placing on the ladder.

Casino has the opportunity to make it two wins on the trot when they play Nimbin at Nimbin this Saturday. The home team improved a couple of weeks ago with the return of Blair Paterson, but last Saturday showed that they still lack the consistency to become a permanent power.

Juniors vie for 'cluster' title

NRL scouts will be prowling the rugby league grounds of Lismore this weekend. They will be here to watch the talent go round as Group One Junior rugby league hosts the regional, or 'cluster' rounds of the NSW Country U/13 and U/14 Championship rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

Juniors will be arriving in Lismore to represent Group 2, Group 18, Group 19 and, of course, the local competition, Group 1.

Each team will play three games over the next two days, with points awarded for each game. The winner of the cluster will be announced after the last game on Sunday.

This is the first time the cluster concept is to be trialed by NSW Country Rugby League. Cluster carnivals will be held throughout NSW for all U/13 and U/14 Group representative teams. Members of the winning team will be presented with a winners shield with all other player being presented with a commemorative pennant.

Brian Rix, the President of Group 1 Junior Rugby League believes the Group One teams are both very strong. "We are expecting them to perform very well as they have played trials against most of the other groups and have been very competitive" Brian said early this week. "These Country Championships are very important to the many kids we have playing Rugby League at this level. There will be development officers and scouts from many NRL clubs present on these days. Its a great opportunity for our young players to be showcased."

Chesworth takes out target-treble

Competitors taking aim along the line for the Classic Calibre section of the NSW Lever Action Titles.

Local sporting shooter, Julie Chesworth of Alstonville, won the NSW Ladies Classic Calibre, Open and Two Gun titles over the weekend in the annual state Lever Action championships.

The Sporting Shooters Association of NSW, Northern Rivers Branch hosted the New South Wales State Lever Action Titles last weekend at the Casino Rifle Range.

This rifle shooting competition, open to any SSAA member throughout Australia, attracted twenty-0three competitors from Queensland, ACT and NSW.

Lismore and Casino business houses got right behind the event, providing trophies and prizes for the annual Open, Classic and Two Gun competitions.

In perfect shooting condition there were some thrilling contests. The Two Gun title went right down to the wire with just 0.3 points separating the winner, David Parker (Warwick, Qld) from Taree's Jake Cross.

The Classic Calibre crown went to Mark Murray from Newcastle while Jake Cross put the disappointment of the Two Gun result behind him with victory in the Open section.

The challenge with the lever action rifle competition is increased by using open sights (without optics) and shooting from various positions such as prone, sitting, kneeling or standing with the range distances vary from 100m to 25m.

Fundraising raffles held by the SSAA Northern Rivers Branch were able to raise $500 that will be donated to the Westpac Surf Lifesaving Rescue Helicopter.