General News
17 February, 2022
Lakers still in the hunt
MORTLAKE Blue are still alive in the finals race after a hard-fought victory over Terang Green.
MORTLAKEBlue are still alive in the finals race after a hard-fought victory over Terang Green.
The Lakers beat Terang by 11 shots at home, winning two of their three rinks.
Darren Grant’s team beat Denis Delaney 20-14, and Peter Summerhayes’ rink won 18-12.
George Draffen went down to Daniel Morrison by just a single shot in a battle that swung back and forth throughout the day.
Only weeks ago, Mortlake were facing the prospect of relegation but after a series of wins against opponents, including top teams Warrnambool Gold and City Red, the Lakers have turned their season around.
But the race to the finish line will be tight, with Mortlake facing fourth-placed City Red in the last of their two remaining matches.
Skipper Darren Grant acknowledges his side have earned themselves a free shot at the finals.
“We did this a couple of years ago, playing finals after coming from nowhere,” he said.
“I think I made a comment three years ago that we’d never play finals, but that our aim was to finish as high as we could on the ladder and beat some top teams along the way.
“And then we played finals, and it made me realise that it’s possible.”
Grant said the win against Terang was a shot in the arm for Mortlake.
“They’ve been an adversary for a fair while, we’re similar sized clubs,” he said.
“We don’t take them lightly, and they certainly made it difficult to win, but we got there.”
Grant said his side saw their next two matches – the first against top side Dunkeld, the last against rivals for fourth spot City Red – as an opportunity.
“We’ve got nothing to lose, the opportunity is in front of us,” he said.
“Against Dunkeld we’re playing the top team at (their) home, some of the guys have never played there.
“That’s what we’re playing against, a foreign surface, home ground advantage, a top team who’s flying.”
Having pulled free from the relegation battle, Grant said getting in the top four would be a bonus.
“We have a chance to play finals, but if we don’t beat them it’s still a tremendous effort to get to that point,” he said.
Terang, on the other hand, sit in last spot and have two games to get themselves safe from relegation.
But selector Jamie Heffernan said he believed his side could do it if they performed at the level they were capable of.
“We’ve underachieved this year with the players we have,” he said.
“When we put it together we’re dangerous, we just haven’t put it together enough.”
Heffernan said the key to surviving this season was taking shots early, which would enable Terang’s rinks to defend leads rather than chase.
“We’ve got to get to the jack first. If our leaders and seconds get close, it sets it up for the people behind them,” he said.
“It’s hard when you’re down all the time, trying to save ends instead of being in a position to make numbers.
“I think they’ll be a lot more comfortable on our home green this week.”
Terang hosts third-ranked team City Gold this week, and Heffernan believes his side are capable of pulling off the win.
“We’ve been close to Dunkeld, we’ve pushed City Red, and we pushed City Gold down there too,” he said.
“We’re a lot better team than we’ve been showing.”
In other results last weekend, Warrnambool Gold beat City Red, Timboon narrowly defeated Koroit Blue, City Gold triumphed over Warrnambool Blue at home, and Port Fairy Red fell to top side Dunkeld.