Red (105) toppled the tenth-place Port Fairy Red (78) by 27 shots to move into second place on Saturday, after Koroit suffered a shock 40-shot thumping at the hands of Warrnambool Gold.

City Memorial’s triumph meant it gained a cosy one-point lead over Koroit, who slipped to third with the loss to gold.

Experienced City Memorial bowler Kevin McMahon said next Saturday’s Warrnambool derby would be an opportunity to examine where both clubs were at before finals competition.

He said Port Fairy provideda a tough battle for his title-chasing side.

“They are always very competitive at home. Always very competitive on their home green,” he told The Standard.

“They won one and half rinks and we took out the others – it was a solid win.

“I think we very comfortably beat them up front and that is so important. People sometimes don’t realise how important it can be. It’s first in, best dressed on synthetic greens.”

McMahon believed the race for the premiership to be wide open.

“It's made things very interesting for next week against Warrnambool,” he said.

“We’re into second place now, Warrnambool are fully safe on top. Next week will be good for us to sound out to see where we’re at. It was a shock with Koroit losing by as much as they did but bowls can be a bit like that sometimes.

“We could easily end up playing City Memorial’s other side (Gold) because they could move up into fourth if they beat Timboon next week.”

Elsewhere, Terang Green overcame bogey side Mortlake Blue to steal a 14-shot victory.

Dennington Red steamrolled Warrnambool White to solidify its mid-table billing, posting a 39-shot thumping.

Lawn Tennis Red couldn’t overcome City Memorial Gold, going down by 65 shots.

Warrnambool Blue and Timboon Maroon also played out a thrilling 99-shot apiece draw.