Deer Park’s stunning upset win over of top-of-the-ladder Altona in the Bowls Victoria premier division at Ballarat Road on Saturday has the club asking: “Why not us?”
Why can’t the Lions break the mould of promoted teams struggling to avoid relegation?
Why can’t the newcomers dare to dream about playing finals?
The Lions truly arrived on Saturday, beating the premiership favourites and ruling the west – if only for a day.
Lions president Neil Cromie was thrilled with a result that flew in the face of the cliche of promoted clubs tending to go straight back down again.
“I think a few of the other clubs expected us to be the same,” he said.
“I think this win that shows we’re nowhere near going to be the easy beats that people thought we were.”
It was a big day for Deer Park.
The Lions unveiled the new lounge that will be a centrepiece of the club’s hosting of the premier division grand final.
And all five teams won on the day – but the biggest surprise was the top side’s dismantling of Altona with an 85-64 scoreline.
The overall score was bolstered by a big rink win to David Holt, who thrashed Altona’s Brad Peck 28-6.
“We had one rink get up by a big margin, which obviously helps,” Cromie said.
“They jumped them early, got out to a big margin and kept it – and, if anything, gradually increased it.
“By the same token, all our players played really well.”
Deer Park claimed victory in three of the four rinks.
