Keilor turns focus to finals

Keilor's Mark Neicho and Robert Duddington discuss tactics. (Joe Mastroianni). 305646_01

Keilor has the opportunity to fine tune its game ahead of finals in the Bowls Victoria weekend pennant division 2, section 1.

Having moved into a harder division this season, Keilor wasn’t sure what to expect against some tough opposition this season.

But with two rounds to go, the side had already locked in fourth spot and a finals berth.

Keilor’s Joe Watkins said it was a good position to be in at this point of the season.

“We can’t go any lower than fourth,” he said.

“We’re done really well and everyone has trained really hard. The first part was to make finals. That was the first part of the equation. The second part is to rely on what you did during the year and hope it holds you in good stead.”

Watkins said they would look to fine tune their game in the next couple of weeks and try and take some real confidence into finals.

He said they know when they’re on their day, they can beat anyone, despite some tough opposition.

Keilor finished runners-up in a different division last season.

“In this section there’s three sides that have premier division teams, so their second sides have some really strong players,” Watkins said.

“We have done really well and we can hold our heads up pretty high in this competition. We had a good win against Altona, who were second, but Werribee [which is now second] gave us a bit of a touch up.”

Overall it has been a strong season for Keilor. Watkins said they would have taken this position at the start of the season.

“We are thrilled with how the season has played out so far,” he said.

“We’ll have some sides in the finals which is really good. Our second side will play finals, while our third side is pretty close, we’re not sure how that will play out.

“The fourth side, there has been a lot of illness, COVID and heat. They haven’t played many games, but are still a chance to play finals.”

Keilor’s top side faced Melton 2 on Saturday with Melton trying to avoid relegation.

Melton came away with the win.