After winning the opening two rounds by the barest of margins, the Panthers again showed their ability to close out the contest, securing nine points with the 64-57 result.

The game was relocated to the Commercial Club after originally being scheduled as a Lavington home game, but it clearly didn’t worry the Panthers.

Ken Allen won a close contest over Les Murphy, 22-19, Vic Moore returned to the skipper’s role and came away with a 20-14 win against Bernie Mahlo, while Commerical’s only point came thanks to a 24-22 result for David Barnes against Lavington’s Adrian Pantling.

North Albury registered back-to-back wins with a 63-46 triumph over Henty.

Stephen Broad accounted for Peter Forck, 24-19, while Allen Ross swung the game in North Albury’s favour with a comfortable 24-10 victory against Glen Harrison, but Kim Maher prevented the clean sweep to give Henty its only rink win, 17-15, against Norm Honey.

Howlong maintained top spot on the ladder by taking maximum points against Culcairn, charging to a massive 81-34 victory away from home.

Phil Slater’s 23-16 win against Jim Lee was the closest match-up, with Howlong’s Ian Doolan recording a 27-9 victory over Dave Trebley, while John Dawson beat Terry Hensel, 31-9.

The ladder is: Howlong 32, North Albury 27, Lavington 25, Commercial 20, Culcairn 12, Henty 4.