Wodonga recovers from early deficit against Wangaratta to claim Ovens and Murray title

The Bulldogs won a third straight Ovens and Murray A1 pennant premiership on Saturday with an 87-71 result against Wangaratta at Corowa Civic Bowls Club to further add its domination of the competition.

Wodonga has now won 26 of the last 32 flags in the top division in an unrivaled record in all sport across the Border.

Three of the four rinks went the way of the Bulldogs with Mason Bayliss a 26-12 victor against Greg McDonald, Paul Davies got past Adrian Pantling, 26-20, while Josh Rudd toppled Maurie Braden, 19-14.

However, arguably the most vital result of the day was Peter McLarty's fightback against Ian Brimblecombe.

The Wangaratta side won the rink 25-16, but led 21-2 earlier in the day and threatened to deny Wodonga the title.

Rutherglen earned promotion back into A1 for the 2021-22 season with an 83-61 salute over Myrtleford in the A2 decider at Wodonga.

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Bayliss crossed from Beechworth ahead of the 2018-19 season and has played in the past three premierships at Wodonga.

It was his sixth grand final victory after he featured in his first at Wodonga as a 15-year-old, alongside grandfather Paul Carey, and won another two at Beechworth before he returned to the Bulldogs.

"We certainly did it a little bit tougher this year, but I think it was good to be on the back foot and it was a good challenge," Bayliss said.

"We had to dig a bit deeper and we're happy to come away with the win.

"We'd beaten them once during the year and they'd beaten us (in the first final a fortnight ago), so we knew we had to turn up.

"We know how to win these big games and we just had to make sure we pulled together."

Bayliss said there was no concern across the green, even when McLarty's rink was well down.

"It was quite substantial in the context of the game, but at the same time I was about 10 up and Paul Davies had a similar margin, so there was no need to panic because we still had control of the big board," he said.

"We just had to rally around that rink and made sure they stuck to their guns and found a way to claw their way back.

"Myself, Paul and Ruddy (Josh Rudd) got a couple of good numbers late to make sure we won those rinks.

"It was a good tussle all day and obviously you take any win in a grand final."

Bayliss has played alongside Wodonga stalwart Ashley Bates in the past three premierships and said they've formed a great bond on the green.

"We said to ourselves during the week we wanted to take responsibility and make sure our rink was the one to take charge," he added.

Wodonga will contest the state pennant playoffs at Moama on the Anzac Day weekend, but only 12 of the 16 players from the premiership side can be selected for the event.

The Ovens and Murray pennant grand final results were as follows:

A1: Wodonga 87 def Wangaratta 71 at Corowa Civic;

A2: Rutherglen 83 def Myrtleford 61 at Wodonga;

A3: Benalla 84 def Club Mulwala at Corowa Civic;

A4: Milawa 95 def Swanpool 67 at Wangaratta;

B1: St James 65 def Mohyu 50 at Wangaratta;

B2: Corowa RSL 69 def Club Mulwala 44 at Corowa Civic;

B3: Milawa 67 def Corowa Civic 50 at Wangaratta;

B4: Corryong 57 def Dederang 55 at Wodonga.

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