Werribee let a massive lead slip in a shattering one-shot loss to Deer Park in Bowls Victoria men’s division 1 at The Hive on Saturday.
The Bees were in a commanding position for most of the day, only to leave a wad of premiership points on the table at the end of an 83-82 defeat.
It keeps the Bees firmly entrenched in a relegation battle.
“We were nine up at the break and then we got it to about 20 up,” Bees skip Snowy Barker told Star Weekly. “Then we just capitulated.
“It was a perfect storm for them.
“They stole it and probably didn’t deserve to win it.”
The inability to win the close ones has been a crippling trend for the Bees and when it came to the crunch, Deer Park came up with the big shots. That included a final-end drive that proved the difference on the scoreboard.
“The boys were holding five and on the last end they drove and smacked the jack out to the side and we got only one,” Barker said. “They played big bowls to win the game.”
The Bees are just two points clear of the bottom two in third-last after a wretched summer of close losses, and it’s making for a nervous end to the campaign.
“That’s why we’re where we are,” Barker said. “We’re down the bottom of the ladder because we can’t win the close ones.
“You’ve got to perceive that we’re under pressure now.”
Werribee will be desperate to get back into the winners’ circle when it travels to Melton on Saturday.
In division 1, Hoppers Crossing is all but relegated after an 81-72 loss to Keilor on the road on Saturday.
Hoppers is 56 points behind third-last Williamstown with four games to go and even the most optimistic mathematician could not make a case for them now.
Meanwhile, Werribee will not shirk the challenge of a daunting run home in the Bowls Victoria mid-week pennant.
The Bees are ready to put their best feet forward in the chase for a finals berth when they face a host of premiership contenders in coming weeks.
No one outside of the Bees camp could have tipped the newly promoted Bees to remain in the mid-week finals hunt so deep into their first season since promotion to premier division from division 1.
The Bees have shown an incredible amount of fight to still be among those teams in the finals hunting pack.
Bees player Denise Thompson says the team is full of fight and loving life in the top division.
“We do a lot of travelling but that’s not worrying us – it’s a really good competition to be in,” he said.
“It’s a strong competition and you come up against really good bowlers.
“The other clubs have made us welcome and we’re just thoroughly enjoying the journey.”
Werribee has exceeded most expectations to this point in the season so reaching the finals could be seen as something of a bonus.
Having come so far, the Bees would love a chance to make the finals – they have enjoyed playing in the top-flight so much they don’t want the season to end.
“It won’t be the end of the world if we don’t make it,” Thompson said.
But now the business end in the season has arrived and it’s time to sort out whether the Bees can cut it among the top sides.
Big games against Yarraville-Footscray (on Tuesday), Clayton, Lalor and Glenroy will determine the Bees fate.
“When the footballers say it, I hate it, but it is one week at a time without doubt,” Thompson said.
“We’ve got some hard games coming up and we know that. We want to put our best foot forward and be up to the challenge.”
