General News
16 December, 2019
Top division bowlers claim win
THE delight could not be wiped off the faces of Camperdown’s division one side following their thrilling Corangamite Bowls Division victory over Winchelsea on Saturday night.
THE delight could not be wiped off the faces of Camperdown’s division one side following their thrilling Corangamite Bowls Division victory over Winchelsea on Saturday night.
The Thornton Street-based club had double reason to celebrate, with the side’s 87-84 win lifting them into fourth spot on the ladder as the division paused its season for the festive period.
It capped off a stunning four week turnaround for the club, whose year was on the brink of collapsing following three successive defeats from rounds two to four.
But the club eventually rediscovered its winning form and embarked on a campaign to win the majority, if not all of its last five games to end the first half of the season.
They ticked off that box by winning three of their last four games after the bye, returning to the top four after finding themselves as low as eighth in the earlier rounds.
President Matthew Brewer said he was “very pleased” with his side’s win and their resurgence, which has given their finals hopes a massive boost.
“As I said four weeks ago we were hoping we’d win three out of our last four (before Christmas) and that’s what we’ve achieved,” he said.
“As a group that’s what we spoke about (after the bye) and coming home we were looking at the results still expecting to be fifth but as it turned out we snuck into the four which worked out well.
“Now we’ve got to win games (after the break) to stay in the there, we want to give ourselves a chance to be in the four at the end of the year.”
The match was a close affair which saw both sides trade the lead throughout the day as neither could capitalise on the game’s ascendency.
The margin “never got out further than 10 shots either way all day” but it was a couple of handy late ends that swung the contest Camperdown’s way.
Brewer said his and Luke Wright’s rinks both finished their matches together, with Camperdown holding a one shot lead at the time the pair started the last end.
A four on Brewer’s rink helped ease the pressure on Wright, with the latter eventually securing a 25-21 victory over Jason Armstrong despite Brewer’s 24-23 loss to Ray Thompson.
Mark McDonald then ticked off Camperdown’s victory with a 21-17 win over Jay Hawker while Len Searle was unlucky to close out the encounter with a 22-18 defeat to Rhys Jeffs.
The result has restored belief and confidence levels at Camperdown, who have experienced an up-and-down start to the year.
The side sits fourth, one point behind Apollo Bay (third), who similarly to Camperdown, have turned around their fortunes over the past month.
Brewer said the club was happy to again be inside the top four given the closeness of the season.
He said his side knew the importance of Saturday’s result but felt Winchelsea’s pain given the Blues lost what turned out to be another missed winning opportunity.
“It was really important for us to win on Saturday because we’d lost a few games to lower sides but we’d also won games against a few of the top sides,” he said.
“We went into Saturday knowing that as a group (of our form against lower sides) but it turned to be a really good game, it was just unfortunate for Winchelsea.
“They’re getting pretty hungry for a win at the moment, they’ve got a pretty good side but they’ve unfortunately been on the raw end of the deal (so far).
“I think the majority of their games have been under 10 shots but as I keep saying, it’s been bloody even all year.”
Camperdown will return to competition with a home double header against Simpson and Camperdown Golf on January 11 and 12.
In the lower grades, Camperdown recorded a 111-77 win over Derrinallum in division two, while the club won easily 166-44 against Lismore/Derrinallum in division three.
“Division two and three both had good wins so it was a good week for the club,” Brewer said.