Tara Murray
Hoppers is showing some positive signs despite a tough season in the Bowls Victoria pennant division 2, section 1.
Knowing it was going to be a tough season with not having the personnel, Hoppers sit without a win after seven rounds.
On Saturday, it suffered another loss but it was the side’s best performance so far.
Altona Sports 2 came away with the win 86 (14)-79 (4).
Hoppers president and player Richard Lewczuk said they were pleased with how they continue to keep the pressure on other sides.
“We don’t have the players to be competitive in this grade,” he said.
“We didn’t win on Saturday, but we were two rinks up and two rinks down, that’s good for us at the moment.
“We were in the contest and up until the finish only going down by seven shots.”
Lewczuk said the performance was a big improvement on what they had done this season. He said they continue to mix around the combinations to see if they can find something that works.
On Saturday that was bringing up Shirley Butler into the top side for the first time.
She skipped and her rink won 20-19. Gregory Berry was the other winning skip, with Vincent Gerace and Stephen Bartlett the losing skips.
Lewczuk said they had also brought up some younger players.
“We can not go backwards,” he said. “The selectors need to be doing different things.
“It’s a tough season for us but we knew that at the start. We were reasonably happy with yesterday.”
The side sits at the bottom of the table with 10 points, 32 behind Melton.
Lewczuk said there had been some good results across the rest of their grades throughout the first seven rounds.
He said overall the vibe at the club was still really good.
“It’s a really good vibe,” he said. ”We’re doing what we can this year and hopefully things will turn around.
“We’re going okay across the club.”
Werribee’s good run of form has continued with a win against Melton 2.
The Bees claimed wins in three of the four rinks on the way to a 76 (17)-61 (1) win.
Mick O’Neil’s rink won 16-15, Robert Smith’s rink won 23-15 and Brendan Barker’s rink won 17-15, while Robert Panton’s rink tied 20-all.
Werribee now sits in third spot with four wins from seven matches. They sit 38 points behind Deer Park 2 and 20 points behind Altona 2.
This week Werribee hosts Deer Park 2 and Hoppers plays Yarraville Footscray 3.
In division 3, section 1, Palm Lake was too strong for Werribee 2.
The Truganina-based club won 80 (14)-66 (4). Desmond Tudor and David Gibson were the winning skips for Palm Lake, while Stephen Cohen and Michael Torney were the winners for Werribee.
Palm Lake sits in fourth spot with four wins, while Werribee 2 is in seventh spot.
In division 4, Point Cook was upset by Werribee 3. The Bees came away with the points 74 (12)-70 (6).
Point Cook remains on top of the ladder and Werribee 3 in fourth.
