Altona Sports skip Glenn Maxwell is hoping his side’s 78-70 win over Werribee in the Bowls Victoria division 1 at Chirnside Park on Saturday will represent a turning point for his young team.
It has been a struggle in the early rounds, but Sports returned to the winners’ circle for a second time this season after picking up their first road win of the campaign.
Not only did it give Sports much-needed momentum, but it moved the second-last side to within a point of Werribee in the standings.
Sports have a winnable game against bottom side Preston-Reservoir next up, so they could be out of the relegation zone by Saturday evening.
“In the pre-match talk, I said to the boys it’s like a mini-final for us,” Maxwell said.
“To get a win away from home, playing at Werribee, is huge.
“Some sides are probably out of our range, but the likes of Werribee and Preston-Reservoir and teams like that, they’re the ones we’ve got to win. We’ve got Preston this week, so if we can get two in a row it will give us a bit of confidence in the team.”
Altona Sports claimed two rinks over Werribee with Maxwell’s 14-shot victory enough to get the visitors over the line. Pat Delli claimed the other winning rink for Sports, coming back from two shots down late to win by three.
While Sports concede it is a rebuilding year with exciting but inexperienced players Peter Puopolo, Steve Baker, Rob Grierson, Dave Kanizsay, Sean Vogele, Peter Horton and Ethan Koek finding their feet in the top grade, they won’t rule out a late run to the finals.
“There’s no way known we’re putting the cue in the rack saying we can’t make it,” Maxwell said. “It’s about getting a bit of momentum and hopefully we can build on this win. If we get two in a row, who knows, you might get three, four or five in a row.”
In premier division, Yarraville-Footscray leapt out of the relegation zone with a 97-60 crushing of Croydon at Francis Street.
With three rinks up, the Bulldogs picked up 16 of a possible 18 points, enough to leapfrog Croydon on the ladder.
The Bulldogs have a chance to make it back-to-back wins when they visit cellar- dweller Mitcham on Saturday.
Altona coughed up top spot to Mentone in the top-of-the-ladder blockbuster at Civic Parade. The A’s picked up two rinks, but went down 76-68 overall.
Next up for the A’s is a tricky encounter with Bundoora RSL on the road.
Lance Jenkinson
