BY ADEM SARICAOGLU
THE Yarraville Footscray Bowls Club will go into the New Year well entrenched in the top four on the Division One section one ladder.
After 11 rounds it finds itself in third place with eight wins, two losses and a draw, only seven points behind top-placed Brighton, which has 138 points and the same win/loss record.
Those two losses came against Brighton and Fitzroy Victoria in the first four weeks of the season, but Yarraville Footscray has managed to remain undefeated in the following seven games.
Coach Wayne Roberts said the club was on the right track to get promoted into the Pennant Division.
“Everything’s going along pretty well at this stage,” Roberts said.
“We beat Essendon quite convincingly last week so we’re very happy with where we are at.
“We’re quietly confident we can make the top four.”
Yarraville Footscray defeated Essendon 16/92 to 2/59 to move up to third on the ladder, with seven matches remaining before the finals.
Roberts said minor changes to his playing stocks have helped his team remain consistent.
“We’ve made a couple of little moves, such as making Alan Dove the captain and he hasn’t lost a game since,” he said.
“Jamie Pearce and Phil Boyd have played really well lately as well.”
Yarraville Footscray is due to only meet a fellow top-four opponent once in its remaining schedule, against Fitzroy Victoria at home on January 14.
Roberts said the club needs to take advantage of its favourable schedule if it wants to be promoted.
“We now need to focus on coming second,” he said.
“But we need to make sure we don’t run into Brighton at their home indoor venue in the finals.
“We’ve got to win the section to get promoted, which means we’ve got to win two finals and then win another Division One final to get promoted into the Pennant Division.”
