mmg.com.au

Shepparton RSL chairman of selections Gary Mansfield hopes his side has the ‘‘monkey off our back and we can go forward’’ after defeating potential finalist Seymour on Saturday.

Seymour slumped to its fourth straight loss against Goulburn Valley Bowls Division’s division one cellar dweller and has picked up four points in four rounds.

This was Shepparton RSL’s second win of the season and Mansfield was especially pleased with the form of RSL’s leads Drew Shadbolt, Warren Bovell, Craig O’Shannessy and Joey Lia.

‘‘The main thing was our leads got us away to a good start for a change ... which takes the pressure off the rest of the team,’’ Mansfield said.

Shepparton RSL won three rinks playing on Shepparton Park’s carpet and all three by an 11-shot margin.

Dennis McHarry defeated Rod Baldwin 30-19, Mick Hanna beat Matt O’Sullivan 31-20 and Mansfield toppled Greg Whiteman in Whiteman’s first match back since round 12, 24-13.

Seymour’s Maurie Houghton fought back after trailing early to defeat Callum Hanna, 26-22.

After a few weeks of absences, Seymour had its full side back in on Saturday except for Jika Spargo who has confirmed his retirement.

Brett Spargo and John Cummins also returned in Whiteman’s rink, but Houghton’s third Scott Fletcher said the team was not up to its usual standard because the players had limited practice time while away.

He said there was a bit of spirit in Shepparton RSL with the couple of changes it had made and that confidence might have rattled a few Seymour players.

‘‘We were never in it,’’ Fletcher said.

‘‘Our guys just didn’t look anything like it on the carpet. We played under cover and they just couldn’t adjust.

‘‘We were lucky enough on Maurie’s rink to get over the line at the end of the day by four shots, but everyone else went down quite badly, dropping multiples, dropping fours and a couple of fives.

‘‘We just can’t afford to drop multiples like that.’’

Seymour tackles Kyabram next round, which is coming off two maximum-point losses, while Shepparton RSL takes on Euroa which is also trying to avoid possible relegation.

‘‘Hopefully it’s got the monkey off our back and we can go forward. We’ve got a big match next week against Euroa, so hopefully with that bit of confidence all will go well,’’ Mansfield said.