BAREENA is the surprise ladder-leader after round five of Ballarat-Geelong premier bowls. The reigning Geelong division one premiers cruised to a 21-shot win over Avenue in one of only three pennant matches to be completed on SaturdayIn a weekend of heavy rain, all Ballarat Regional Bowls Association pennant matches in divisions 1-9 were abandoned.Two premier league clashes between Queenscliff and Central Wendouree, and Webbcona and Victoria were also not played.Points were shared nine apiece in the two washed-out premier fixtures.The other three completed matches constituted an official round.No points were allocated in any of the division 1-9 fixtures.Bareena's ability to quickly adapt to life in the top flight has been amazing.The Newtown club has won all four of its matches (one wash- out) to lead last year's champions Queenscliff by five points at the top of the ladder.Saturday's clash was billed as a battle between the league's newcomers.Avenue also gained promotion after winning the BRBA division one flag last year.But the Bacchus Marsh club struggled to match it with the classy Bareena outfit, which won three of the four rinks in its 106-85 success.Brannon Shelton's rink, which prevailed over Simon Cornock and co. 38-20, was the biggest blow for Avenue, which managed just one success for the afternoon, a 27-18 win by Rodney Keith's team.This helped Avenue claim two points from the encounter to leave it in fourth spot on the table.
- HIGHTON secured its first victory with a 21-shot home win over Sebastopol.The Geelong club won three of the four rinks in the 104-83 result.This sees last year's runners-up Sebastopol in an unusual second-last place on the ladder.The only win from the Kookaburras' camp came from the quartet led by Rob Baker, which prevailed 23-21.
- GEELONG West has left Ocean Grove as the only winless team in the competition.West's 10-shot victory, 82-72, lifts them to sixth spot.