General News
23 December, 2021
Lakers upstage bowls powerhouse
MORTLAKE Blue produced one of its biggest performances in recent years to upstage a Western District bowls powerhouse last Saturday.
MORTLAKE Blue produced one of its biggest performances in recent years to upstage a Western District bowls powerhouse last Saturday.
The Lakers defeated the highly-fancied Warrnambool Gold 60-55 at Mortlake in the final round of pennant matches before the Christmas break.
Skippers George Draffen and Darren Grant secured important victories, while Peter Summerhayes’ rink, featuring the returning Shane Cashill, lost by four.
Grant said the victory was one of the club’s best.
“Obviously the win over Koroit Blue to make the finals a couple of years ago was a big win but any win against the top four sides is a good win,” he said.
“I reckon I said the other week we seemed to be not too far away but just far enough away to win the games.
“It’s just all confidence building at the end of the day, it builds confidence in the players that we can beat anyone.”
While many would have considered the Lakers to be an outside chance of victory, internally the belief never wavered.
“We went in to the game reasonably confident after Dunkeld had beaten them the week before,” Grant said.
“We’ve always had a pretty good record against Gold up at Mortlake.
“Last year we drew with them and I reckon two years ago we only lost by a shot.
“Absolutely it was a huge win.”
The win gives the Lakers some breathing space on the bottom sides entering the break, but the prospect of relegation still lingers.
Mortlake sits sixth on the ladder, 16 points clear of bottom side Port Fairy Red, with Grant admitting the Lakers could be better placed.
“It doesn’t guarantee that we’ll avoid relegation but it certainly gives us confidence,” he said.
“It’s been a disappointing start to the season because we’ve beaten Warrnambool Gold but then dropped easier games.
“I think we can do better but having said that we’re also doing the best we can so we can’t ask for too much more.”