By Tara Murray
It was a rare loss for Yarraville-Footscray on Friday in the Bowls Victoria weekend pennant premier division but the bigger picture was the focus.
The Bulldogs had already sealed a top two spot heading into the final two rounds, including its clash with Clayton on Friday night.
It wasn’t the result the Bulldogs were after against Clayton, losing 71 (14)-63 (4), but bowls manager Wayne Roberts said there were no panic stations.
He said they were focusing on more than just the top side.
“We changed the side a fair bit,” he said. “We had a couple of players who couldn’t come down.
“We decided to try and help the second side which had a must win game.
“Brett Mahoney, Brendan Umbers and Michael Galakos all dropped into the second side and they got all four rinks against Glenroy.
“It keeps them still alive next week. We got it half right.”
Roberts said they thought they still had the talent to get it down against Clayton but it wasn’t to be.
Roberts and Tyler Wilson were the winning skips with one shot wins each.
The Bulldogs finish the regular season at Essendon on Friday night.
No matter the result they will remain in second spot and face Deer Park for a spot in the grand final in the first week of finals.
Roberts said they felt they had a good side heading into this season and it has shown.
“We were really confident that we would be really competitive,” he said. “We were hoping to make finals.
“We’ve lost to Deer Park twice and now Clayton. Deer Park is first and they will go in as favourites.
“We’ll need to be at our best to beat them.”
Roberts said the rink draw would play a big part come finals, but it was about making sure they were at their best on the day.
“Anyone can beat anyone,” he said. “We think we can beat anyone.”
Meanwhile, Altona’s finals hopes are alive heading into the final round after a win against Bundoora on Saturday.
Altona had a strong performance, winning 87 (18)-56 (0).
Matthew Ellul’s rink won 25-13, Nathan Wilson’s rink won 20-17, Aaron Wilson’s rink won 20-10 and Dane McKinnon’s rink won 22-16.
With one round remaining Altona sits in fifth on 106, seven points behind third placed Melbourne and fourth placed Moonee Valley.
Altona faces Melbourne in the final round on Friday night.
