General News
3 February, 2020
Finals hopes fade for Camperdown
CAMPERDOWN president Matthew Brewer admits his side has no choice but to produce three big victories to ensure it embarks on another Corangamite Bowls Division pennant finals campaign.
CAMPERDOWN president Matthew Brewer admits his side has no choice but to produce three big victories to ensure it embarks on another Corangamite Bowls Division pennant finals campaign.
The Thornton Street-based club lost ground in the race for a top four spot on Saturday, going down to second-placed side Cobden 95-75 in wet conditions.
They fell to sixth on the ladder, 10 points outside the top four after Colac City upset ladder leader Simpson.
“Obviously we wanted to play and try get a result but it wasn’t the result we did want,” Brewer said.
“We’ve got no option now, I don’t know what the other results were (when interviewed), a couple of them will only be half points, so they’ll only get five points anyway for a wash-out.
“But we’ve just got to pretty much win the next three games to be any chance. We’ve just got to go from there and see how we go.”
As misty rain and heavy showers fell throughout the afternoon, Brewer conceded his side failed to adapt to the conditions better than their opposition.
Geoff Roney, Peter Hassett, Lud Gungl and skipper Luke Wright were the home side’s sole rink team to relish the wet weather and win their contest, with the quartet downing Graeme Fitzgerald 20-15.
The remaining three rinks did not fare well, with Kelvin Rundle’s four suffering a 25-20 loss to Damian Riches while Brewer’s rink was well held by Peter Richardson’s in a 24-17 defeat.
But the biggest damage came on Mark McDonald’s rink. His team endured a horror start, dropping a seven on the second end, in their eventual 31-18 loss to Ben Robertson.
“We’re used to a wide-drawing green, but it was pretty heavy today (Saturday),” Brewer said.
“It was a totally different ball game in terms of playing the bowls, so it probably took a few of our players out the game I reckon.
“And they just adapted better than what we did, as simple as that. I mean they’re second on the ladder for a reason and are going along well.
“They were just too good.”
Brewer said the three rink losses would be assessed by the club’s selection panel as they aimed to find the right balance for their final three matches.
“Obviously we have a couple of things to look at on a couple of rinks,” he said.
“I don’t know what they’re (the selectors) going to do going forward but I wouldn’t have thought there would be too many changes.
“It will just be a matter of trying to swap a couple of people around to try and get something to click but we’ve just got to come out and win next week, simple as that.”
Camperdown will favour its chances of returning to the winners’ list this weekend, with the side to face a sliding Colac Central (eighth).
However, they must overcome some mental demons to do so, with the match set to be played at Central on a carpet surface.
Camperdown recently struggled on the change of surface, with the club losing by 20 shots on their last trip to face a Colac-based side a fortnight ago.
But Brewer said his side would be making a bigger effort to better prepare for the weekend’s contest.
“We’ll be making an effort to get down there early next week,” he said.
“We’ll try and get ourselves ready and have a few ends in the morning before lunch but we’ve just got to come out and win as simple as that.
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the Winchelsea-Central result...but anyone can beat anyone so it’s up to us I suppose in the end.
“We’ll see how we go.”