It was a matter of inches as Altona defeated Rosamond in Premier Division Bowls. 71643 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By Liam Twomey
ALTONA has secured its first win of the Premier Division Bowls season after they defeated a gallant Rosamond 79-74.
After a nail-biting draw in round one against Werribee, the task in front of Altona looked a little easier against a Rockets outfit that was tipped to struggle in the new season.
However, the match was anything but a walk in the park as Altona was pushed to the brink of defeat with both teams playing high-quality bowls.
Altona president Neal Pattie said Rosamond took it right up to his team.
“We thought it would be a bit of an easier clash than what it was. They were in front of us a fair bit of the day and they played really well,” Pattie said.
“In the end we were happy to get over the line by five. They really are an amazing team the way they are able to compete.
“They come out each year and everyone thinks they will be easy to beat and it just never goes that way.”
The match was won when Pattie, Brenton Code, Matthew Perkins and Robert Cus were able to secure a big rink win to give Altona control of the match.
Pattie said it was a great effort from his team-mates as they prepared to welcome back more quality bowlers in the coming weeks.
“Matthew Renix played some top bowls yesterday to get the win. He has played a couple of great games now and it’s fantastic to have him at the club,” Pattie said.
“Brad Peck will be back soon as will Peter Condon which is good news for us.”
Saturday’s match was played in front of a good crowd after the start time was put back to 3pm to encourage as many people as possible to get along.
“Usually there aren’t too many people watching bowls because everyone is playing. All our players who were out at away games came back to watch,” Pattie said.
“We had a barbeque and it was great. We have five three o’clock games this year and hopefully we can get people along to as many as possible.”
Altona will look to make it back-to-back wins next week when they take on Lalor while Rosamond have another tough task ahead of them against Moonee Ponds.
