Yarraville-Footscray produced a remarkable comeback to mow down local rival Altona by one shot in a Bowls Victoria premier division cliffhanger at Civic Parade on Saturday.
The Bulldogs seemed to be down and out at the halfway mark but somehow leapt up off the canvas to emerge with a victory to savour.
Bulldogs skip Wayne Roberts said it was one of the most unlikely wins in his time at the Francis Street club.
“We were 1000-1, we were never going to win,” he told Star Weekly.
“We were behind all day but we just turned it around.”
The Yarraville-Footscray players turned up thinking their best chance of an upset was to hit hard and early.
But the Bulldogs were miserable in the early ends and trailed every rink at the match’s mid-point.
Something seemed to click for the Bulldogs as soon as the twilight hours kicked in.
“We wanted to get off to a good start because the pressure was on them after three losses,” Roberts said.
“I thought if we could get a start, they would probably have a bit of self-doubt in their heads.
“They got the start and maybe they thought they were cruising.”
Yarraville-Footscray’s turnaround was sparked by Chris Ball, who beat Mathew Rennex 24-13.
Ball trailed 12-2 before reeling off a staggering 22 shots to one.
Roberts trailed Altona player-coach Brett Foley by six but stormed home for a 23-19 win.
Ray Coulter was also six down before fighting back to tie 22-apiece with Brad Peck.
The Bulldogs’s only losing rink was that of Jamie Pearce, down 28-14 to a red-hot Shane Fordham.
“It’s one of the best wins I’ve been involved in at the club,” Roberts said. “That’s as good a scalp as we’ve had at their venue.”
Yarraville-Footscray, the newly promoted side, will move into the top four while last year’s champions, Altona, slumped to a fourth consecutive loss.
The Bulldogs have two winnable home games in the next fortnight – against last-placed MCC Kew Sports on Saturday and third-last Mitcham the following week.
The A’s face tricky road trips to Mitcham and Melbourne.
