WERRIBEE has salvaged some pride and avoided the dreaded wooden spoon in the Bowls Victoria premier division.
The Bees jostled it out with Lalor in the last round at Chirnside Park on Saturday and won comfortably to steer clear of the cellar.
It turned out to be a bitter pill to swallow for Lalor, which would have survived relegation with an 18-point win after third-last Mentone failed to pick up a point against minor premiers Melbourne.
The Bees were simply too good on their home green, taking three of the four rinks for a 95-66 victory.
“We said we didn’t want to finish bottom,” Bees skip Snowy Barker said. “I know it’s a small thing, but why not win the game and finish second to last? It was a good finish in the end.”
The Bees had to dig deep with three regular starters missing. They blooded youngster Aaron Evans for his first premier division game and elevated Paul Stretton from the seconds.
“He’s only a young tacker,” Barker said of Evans. “He got an opportunity, his parents really supported him and were there watching all day.”
Barker held sway 21-13 over Wally Hudson.
Darren Christie pummelled visiting player-coach Craig McCarron 34-10.
Ben Major completed a magnificent season with a stunning come-from-behind 25-21 win over Rowan Brassy, a dual world championship gold medallist and New Zealand representative at the Commonwealth Games who at one stage led by 29 shots.
All six of the Bees victories this season came on their synthetic surface at the Bee Hive.
They failed to win a game on the road and will see that as a reason for their demotion to division 1.
SCORES
Premier division: Werribee 16-95 Lalor 2-66
Division 2: Yarraville-Footscray (2) 15-80 Hoppers 3-79
