Tara Murray
Werribee has thrown open the race for a top two spot while keeping alive its small minor premiership hopes in the Bowls Victoria weekend pennant, division 2, section 2 competition.
The Bees took on ladder leaders Bacchus Marsh on Saturday and were able to come away with the points after trailing for much of the day.
The Bees managed to get the win, 77 (15)-61 (3) on Bacchus Marsh’s home green.
Chair of selectors and one of the top side’s skips, Mick O’Neil said it was a pretty handy win in the context of the season.
“They beat us at home last time,” he said. “We had a couple of skips out with COVID so we went in understrength
“To go up there and beat them with a couple of skips missing was really good. We trailed them for the first three quarters of the game before we got on top in the closing stages.”
Nick Alderson and Robert Smith, who were filling in skipping with Brendan Barker and Rob Panton both missing, were the winning skips.
Alderson’s rink was the one that got them over the line, winning 27-10. Gavin Joyce’s rink had to share the points, while O’Neil’s rink went down.
O’Neil said it had been good the last two weeks to get wins with Barker and Panton missing the week before as well after being away.
He said they would both be welcomed back this week and they tried to lock in a top two spot.
The result and Deer Park 2 suffering a shock loss opened the race for the top two.
Bacchus Marsh sits on top, eight points clear of the Bees and Deer Park 2. The Bees currently sit in second on score difference.
Keilor will finish fourth.
The Bees face Club Sunbury 2 in the final round on Saturday. Sunbury sits in seventh spot.
O’Neil said they were hoping to finish the regular season on a strong note.
“If we can have a good win, hopefully if we can win all the rinks we’ll seal a top two position,” he said.
It was a tough day for the rest of the Bees sides, all suffering losses.
Three other teams remain in finals contention, with one needing everything to go its way to move into the top four.
In other results, Hoppers fell just short of making it two in a row in division 3, section 1.
After getting their first win of the season the previous round, the Hawks lost to Deer Park 3, 78 (12)-77 (6).
Victor Rivera, Edward Szuszkiewicz and Mark Coleman were the winning skips for the Hawks.
The Hawks finish their season against Altona Sports.
Palm Lake suffered a close loss to ladder leaders Williamstown in its match.
Williamstown came away with the points, 74 (14)-66 (4).
David Manning and Patricia Thick were the winning skips for Palm Lake. Palm Lake sits in seventh spot.
