Holding a one-shot lead over City Memorial Red with just seven ends to play, the Dennington team could sense an upset win when the rains that had threatened all day to curb the preliminary final finally came.

Dennington’s Ian Quigley thought that enough ends had been played to call a result — but the umpires believed otherwise.

Resuming after a 45-minute break while the deluged greens were cleared, the momentum that had been with the underdog swung towards City Memorial.

“It was a little bit controversial in the finish,” Quigley said of the confusion that ensued during the rain delay.

“We finally got in sight of the winning post and were in front, so it was a good comeback.

“But we had to play another seven ends, and unfortunately in the wash-up we lost.”

The one-shot lead turned into a six-shot deficit at the

close of play, with City Memorial Red prevailing 85-79. Dennington won three of the four rinks, gaining a 15-shot advantage over its more fancied rivals.

But the decisive factor was City Memorial’s Kevin McMahon, who won his rink over Peter Neal 31-10.

“That’s the ball game — one rink can turn a loss into a win,” said Quigley, who had a 23-18 win over Peter Maddern.

City Memorial will now tackle Warrnambool Gold in the grand final at Port Fairy next Saturday.

It went down to Gold by five shots in the second semi-

final on February 27.