Werribee has turned its lacklustre form on its head to move into the Bowls Victoria division 1 finals with a semblance of confidence.
The Bees struggled in the second half of the season but hit a bull’s eye in the last home-and-away round with a convincing 73-60 win over title contenders Bundoora RSL at Chirnside Park on Saturday.
The two sides will now meet in a cut-throat section semi-final and the Bees go into the game with a psychological edge after winning both games between the clubs during the regular season.
“It was good to turn it around,” Bees skip Snowy Baker told the Weekly. “It gives us a bit of confidence going into the finals.
“We’ll see if we can take our winning form into their place next week.
“We’ve actually beaten them there before so we should be fairly confident, without getting too far ahead of ourselves.”
The Bees blew their chance of a home final with erratic form after the mid-season break.
They needed a lift on the eve of the finals and got it in a three-rinks-to-one victory.
Mick O’Neil’s rink was flying out of the gates to give the Bees an early break en route to a nine-shot win.
It was the Bees’ only runaway rink with Barker winning by five and Peter Ware by a single shot. Rob Panton’s was the only losing rink, down two.
Barker is expecting a similar tough clash when the finals begin on Saturday.
“The margin probably looked bigger than it was during the game,” he said.
“They played fairly well and will be hard to beat at their place.”
If the Bees win on Saturday they will front up less than 24 hours later against the winner of the other
semi-final, between Deer Park and Kew Heights.
Meanwhile, Hoppers Crossing will host a home final against Altona in division 3 on Saturday after sneaking back into the top two on the last day of the season.
Hoppers defeated Maribyrnong Park 86-77 in the final round.
