Aradale caused one of the upsets of the season when it defeated fourth placed Stawell Golf Pink in round 11 of the Grampians Bowls Division midweek competition on Monday.
Ninth-placed Aradale picked up the 13-shot win after Pam Wright and Sandra Tew both won their rinks to give the home side the 74 shots to 61 victory in its first match back after the Christmas break.
Ararat VRI Green and Stawell Golf Purple drew after both teams scored 63 shots but the visitors scooped seven points after Purple won two of the three rinks.
Stawell Blue kept top spot after it had a comfortable win against Lake Bolac.
The 114 to 39 shots win was one-sided with Rita Pyke winning the rink of the match by 44 shots to help her team collect 10 points from the match which puts them two points clear in first place.
Ararat had a big win against Chalambar to collect maximum points and keep them in touch with the top four teams.
The visitors won all three rinks with Marg Robertson the top-scorer with 31 in the 85 shots to 49 win.
The win leaves Ararat five points behind fourth-placed Stawell Golf Pink.
Stawell Gold picked up 11 points after its 89 to 43 shots win against Ararat VRI Red.
The Gold team won the first two rinks before Denise Troeth and Irene Helmich drew with 18 in final rink.
The win means Stawell teams still hold the top four spots but Ararat is within striking distance with only three rounds to go before finals.
