Sport
31 October, 2019
Terang seeking change of fortune
TERANG Green is confident it can turn around its pennant form following a losing start to the Western District Bowls Division season according to skipper John Gherashe.
TERANG Green is confident it can turn around its pennant form following a losing start to the Western District Bowls Division season according to skipper John Gherashe.
For the second successive week Terang was beaten in their contest, this time by Timboon Gold 87-74 on their home green, winning just one of the three rinks of play.
“It was disappointing although the two rinks that lost were up against very strong teams,” Gherashe said.
“They were against Shayne Pudney, who was a skipper at Warrnambool but has crossed to Timboon, he is a top bowler and Arthur Finch was the other skip, he is also a very good bowler and a state champion indoor bowler.
“We were up against it but it was disappointing especially on our home green.”
Jamie Heffernan and Andrew Taylor both lost their matches, with Heffernan falling to Finch 27-19 and Taylor going down to Pudney 34-19.
Gherashe ensured Terang walked away with two points, winning his contest with Brett Mungean 36-26.
“Arthur got the jump on Jamie Heffernan but he fought back and almost caught up but Arthur kicked away in the last half dozen ends,” Gherashe said.
“Every time Andrew was holding shot, Shayne Pudney would either come down and kill the head or alter it with his drives.
“And my team gelled really well, we played good consistent bowls and had bowls in the head which allowed Barry Stonehouse and myself to play shots to build on that.
“It forced the opponents to run into the head and play heavy shots, so it was an advantage having shots in there.”
Despite their recent run of losses, Gherashe said he felt a win was not too far away for Terang given they have dropped both of their matches to teams expected to be competing for a finals berth.
“The way they’ve structured the competition is these teams that want to be finalists all seem to be playing each other first,” he said.
“We lost to Dennington at Dennington and Timboon on our home green and this week we play Port Fairy Red at Port Fairy so that’ll be a hard game too.”
Gherashe said his side would go into the Port Fairy clash with confidence but would need to “be on their best for every game” starting with this weekend considering it was an even season.
He said “consistency and bowls in the head” will determine the contest, wanting his side’s leads and seconds to create opportunities for their thirds and skips.
“On our day we’ve got very good rinks but the opposition are probably thinking the same thing,” Gherashe said.
“I anticipate it will be a close game over all three rinks, so we can’t afford to drop a number.
“We can’t drop a four or a five because it’s too hard to pick that up, it might take four or five goods end to pick that up again.
“But I reckon consistency and bowls in the head against Port Fairy is what we’ll need but they’ll probably need that too.”