Long blue indoor alley claims another victim

WERRIBEE was left feeling a little blue after Saturday’s 96-77 loss to Brighton in the Bowls Victoria premier division.

The Bees failed to adapt to the unique conditions in the home side’s aptly named Blue Room.

No visiting side has won at the venue for three years, with the Bees becoming the latest in a long line of casualties.

Skip Snowy Barker is adamant his side was not psyched out by the blue surface, but by the incredibly long green, err blue.

“It’s a special rink they’ve got,” he told the Weekly. “It’s one of a kind in Melbourne.

“Our blokes didn’t handle it well.”

The rinks in the Blue Room are about 40 metres long.

The length at the Bee Hive is 37 metres.

“It’s amazing the difference in length,” Barker said.

“It’s another 10 per cent.”

It was a momentum-sapping loss for the Bees.

They went in full of confidence having upset Bundoora RSL in a shock result in round one.

“It’s disappointing,” Barker said.

“They just played better and handled the conditions better.

“You can’t hang on the result, you can’t look back. We’ve got another game to prepare for.

“We travel to Essendon this week and we’ll take on the challenge.”

The Bees go to Windy Hill with one rink in hot form.

Mick O’Neil was the only winning skip by one shot and his second Tyson Sheills hardly put a foot wrong.

Rob Panton was another stand out in a disappointing outing for the Bees.

Hoppers was thrashed 91-72 by Werribee (2) in the division 2 local derby on Saturday.

Bowls

Premier division: Brighton 16-96 d Werribee 2-77

Division 2: Werribee (2) 18-91 d Hoppers 0-72