General News
29 January, 2021
Unbeaten Camperdown well placed
CAMPERDOWN president Matthew Brewer admits his side could not be better placed after starting the Corangamite Bowls Division season with back-to-back victories.
CAMPERDOWN president Matthew Brewer admits his side could not be better placed after starting the Corangamite Bowls Division season with back-to-back victories.
The Thornton Street-based club is unbeaten after two rounds following a 94-89 win over Apollo Bay and a 118-64 triumph against Lorne last Saturday.
Brewer said his club “couldn’t be happier” with its start after it decided to forgo fielding a third team this year.
“We thought the first game would be tough and we came away with a win at Apollo Bay which was really good,” he said.
“We knew Lorne would be tough too, we thought we’d be a fair chance here at home but we certainly didn’t think we’d win as well as we did.
“We’ve only got the two sides this year and we’ve got two wins in both divisions already which has been really good.
“It’s also been important given it’s a nine week season, there was a few worried about relegation and what might happen but with two wins it looks like we’ll be pretty safe and hopefully now we can both make finals.”
The two victories has Camperdown on top of the table in division one and Brewer admits his side can now strive for a top four position.
He said not only was winning early important to avoiding relegation for his side, it was also crucial to establishing its finals hopes in the condensed season.
Rink points will also become invaluable according to Brewer, with Camperdown picking up 12 extra points out of the available 16 in the opening two rounds.
“Everyone is saying you need to win your home games and any games you win away are a bonus so to do that was really good,” he said.
“We go into the double header this Saturday and Sunday against Colac City and Colac (2) and we’re going really well so if we were to win these two this week we’d be right in the thick of it because our season is pretty much halfway done after this weekend.
“It (relegation) is already a bit of a talking point for some clubs. Cobden made finals last year and has lost two games and is struggling and has a long road ahead and Apollo Bay is probably in the same boat.
“It’s going to be about every rink from here because every win on them is important given they’re worth a couple of points.”
Brewer credited the performances of Ian Henderson, Harry Van Someren and Sam Whytcross in the two victories and said the trio were “stepping up” in the top grade.
He said they would be important once again this weekend, with Camperdown travelling to City on Saturday before fronting up against Colac (2) at home on Sunday.
“To be honest this weekend is the most important weekend of the season,” Brewer said.
“If we came away with two wins and were sitting with four wins (after the weekend) I’d be over the moon.
“I’d be happy to win one but two wins could really set us up for the rest of the year and if we do add two wins we’ll be looking at finals well and truly.
“It’s very important, that’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, Camperdown Golf president John Molan believes wins are just around the corner for his side despite successive losses in the first two rounds.
Golf suffered a 95-91 loss to Colac (2) first up and then went down to Simpson 89-84 at home last weekend.
Molan said both results could have gone either way, with Golf unluckily dropping 10 shots late in the Simpson clash.
“We’re not far away – a combined total of nine shots is not much so it quite easily could have been two and zip instead of zip and two but that’s bowls,” he said.
“I reckon we have a fairly handy side on paper and I reckon once we get one win, then we’ll hopefully put a few together.”
Golf will take on Colac Central at home this Saturday before facing reigning premier Colac at Colac on Sunday.
Molan said his side was aiming to be competitive in both games, but was unsure how it would match-up against the other two sides.
“It’s a little bit unknown,” he said.
“We don’t know what they’re like, who they’ve picked up or who they’ve lost and it’s probably much the same for them with us.
“Colac will be hard to beat on home turf so we’re probably looking at beating Central at home and then hopefully coming away with a win against Colac.
“But as I said, it’ll be tough down there (Colac) as was proved when we played their number two side.”
Molan added the return of David Bateman would strengthen Golf’s side this weekend, while the club’s division three side was undefeated thus far, providing the top side with plenty of depth.