THE Mount Gambier Eight Ball Association winter season finished with its grand finals at the Commercial Club, which saw most teams claim comfortable victories – on paper.
However, there were many close games throughout each grand final which the final tally did not reflect.
In Division 1 Underdogs claimed an upset win over Gatecrashers, who had gone through the minor rounds undefeated to sit top of the ladder.
Underdogs had plenty of firepower, having been Mount Gambier’s number one side to contest the state carnival the last two years running.
Both sides hailed from the German Club, making for the perfect rivalry.
Underdogs proved it was no fluke when they beat the ladder leaders 8-4 in the second semi-final two weeks prior when they triumphed once again in the grand final 8-5 to claim the premiership.
But it was not easy.
Old dogs Tony Montesanto and Darren Pink, together with young gun Joe Ratcliff got the 2018 premiers to be off to a good start, up 3-2 at the conclusion of the first round.
But six frames into the match the score sat at three apiece after Gatecrashers vice-captain Benny Placucci got his second win for the night.
By the end of the second round Underdogs had earned themselves a handy 6-4 lead through good playing from the pups Ratcliff, Corey Gordon and Shaun Patzel.
German Club veteran and stalwart Bob Huebner then claimed the first frame of the final round to keep Gatecrashers within reach at 6-5 and only one game off the pace.
But it was not to be as Underdogs finished things off by winning the next two frames, the match and this year’s premiership.
Player of the match went to Ratcliff who did not drop a frame, while Gordon also performed well for the Dogs.
The best for Gatecrashers was Placucci, who was well backed up by Jimmy Spiridis and “Baby Gatecrasher” Isaac Manterfield.
DIVISION 2
LAST year’s runners-up Eastern Crawlers went one better in 2018 when they came up against previous Division 2 premiers Chaos and defeated them to take the flag 8-2.
It was almost one-way traffic to Crawlers except for the lone hand effort of Kenny Bradley, who won two from two for Chaos.
Jim Wastell, Daryl Fox and Scott Cram were all solid contributors for the Crawlers, winning two frames each.
DIVISION 3
CAVEMEN, who came from fourth position in Division 3, convincingly beat last year’s fourth-placed team and Division 1 qualifiers Lakers 8-4 to claim their second Division 3 flag in as many years.
They will now most likely look to set themselves another challenge by stepping up a division next year, which they nearly accomplished this season.
Cavemen started well and were 4-2 up by the beginning of the second round, but Lakers got one back to be within one frame through Millicent recruit Toni Greenwood.
However, that was as close as it got when Caveman went on to win four of the next five games to claim victory.
Best for Cavemen were Ben Laidlaw, Aaron Nemes and Sam Batty with two wins each.
DIVISION 4
AFTER going down to Park Rangers in their second semi-final, Commersh Breakers, back at full strength, had the last laugh when they faced the Rangers once again in the grand-final.
After a great start, Breakers were 3-0 up, only to let Rangers back in the contest with the next two frames through Kevin Kemp and Mason Bird to trail by the narrowest margin at the first round.
From there it was a bit of a walk over as Breakers hit their straps and won five from the last six frames, with the only real resistance coming from the experienced Di Pannenberg, who demonstrated why she is still in the game.
Breakers went on to win 8-3.
Stand out players for the victors, all winning two frames, were Peter Young, Brenton Foster, Damien Gleeson and John Schembri, who all contributed to yet another piece of silverware for the Breakers trophy wall.
