By Lance Jenkinson
A western suburbs derby win could be the start of an uplift in form for what has been an off-colour Altona in the new year.
The A’s got the pick-me-up they needed after failing to win their two previous Bowls Victoria premier division games.
Even Saturday’s opponent, Yarraville Footscray, the third last team on the ladder, proved no pushover for an A’s team looking to regain early season form.
The A’s eventually secured a 90-79 victory on a slippery day at Francis Street, albeit only securing two of the four rinks. A’s skip Brett Foley felt the derby was a danger game heading in, so he was pleased to walk away with the points that will see his team move into second place.
“Last year we played them and they beat us by 50 there, so we had that in the back of our minds,” Foley said.
“It’s always a tough game and they always push it to you. “We needed the win and they’re our cross-town rivals, so we were happy at the end of the day.”
Altona’s main weapon was the Brad Peck rink.
The quartet of Peck, Colin Davis, Snowy Barker and Ray Coulter unleashed all its might on the hapless rink of YarravilleFootscray player-coach Wayne Roberts.
Peck marched to a massive 22-shot win – the rink that made all the difference overall.
The A’s other winning skip was Foley, who finished clear of Garry Ball by 15 shots. While it was not a win for Yarraville Footscray, it at least claimed four important competition points in its battle to stave off relegation.
The rinks of Nelson Ball and Geoffrey Robinson claimed two points each. Robinson’s two-shot win was the tightest rink on the day.
There is little time for Altona to lap up the bragging rights from this win. It will face long-time foe Melbourne at Civic Parade on Saturday in a second-versus-third blockbuster.
“Melbourne are the rivals we’ve had ever since premier league has been running, so it’s always big, no matter where we are on the ladder,” Foley said.
“We win that and we put a game on them and we’ll sit nicely in second.”
