Gold defeated intraclub rival City Memorial Green 77-58 at the Cramer Street greens, taking the spoils on two of the three rinks.

Shirley Brown defeated Trina Dycer 27-16, having jumped to an early lead.

Barbara Bibby was locked in a tight battle against Karina Ellery but pulled away after lunch to win 28-19.

And Denise Hillier lost 22-23 to Pauline Burleigh, but limited the damage with a strong second-half display.

Bibby said Gold, which dropped to second despite the win, had to earn its points against Green.

“They made us work for our win,” she said.

“Denise’s rink, they were really battling for quite a while and my team to lunchtime was having a close battle.

“But after lunch we drew away and Denise was able to get it back to level pegging. 

“At lunchtime it could’ve gone either way.”

Bibby said the post-match atmosphere at the club was jovial, with players leaving the friendly rivalries on the green.

She said the performance of Brown’s rink, which was again without usual skipper Chrissy McMahon, was promising.

The rink suffered a heavy loss in Gold’s only defeat of the season, to Terang a fortnight ago, but has bounced back with consecutive wins despite being understrength.

Bibby said Gold was “pretty happy with how we’re going”.

“Things are going along quite nicely but anything can happen,” she said.

“You only have to have a couple out and you have to rearrange teams and it depends on how they gel.

“We’re happy with how we’re plodding along.”

In other matches, Terang scored an away victory over City Memorial Pink, 76-60, winning all three rinks in the process.

Margaret Sumner had the biggest triumph, an eight-shot win against Lorraine Dakin.

Port Fairy Gold jumped to fourth after beating Warrnambool Blue in a thriller at Port Fairy, 70-69.

Gill Phillips and her rinkmates were the heroes, with their 28-20 win over Pat McCorkell Port Fairy’s only victorious rink. 

New ladder leader Warrnambool Gold was consistent in its big win against Timboon, 81-53.

Kaye Madden won by 10 shots, while Faye Bolden and Brenda Hawker each won by nine.

afawkes@standard.fairfax.com.au