By Tara Murray
Deer Park was out performed on the final day of the Bowls Victoria weekend pennant premier division season, falling short of a third straight premier division title.
The Parkers were seeking to make history on the long weekend, becoming the first club to win three successive premierships in the top grade. Yarraville Footscray was going for its first premier division premiership.
The minor premiers faced Yarraville Footscray in the grand final, having lost to the Bulldogs in the semi finals before beating Melbourne to win through to the decider.
Deer Park started the better of the teams in the grand final, but the the Bulldogs were able to stick with them.
The two teams then traded the lead before the Bulldogs managed to hold a 12 to 14 shot lead for the dying ends.
The Bulldogs were able to hold on to that lead.
With the margin 14 shots heading into the final end, the match was called with Deer Park no chance of winning.
The Bulldogs claimed the win 79 (14)-65 (2).
Head of bowls operations Mark Casey said it was a disappointing result.
‘Full credit to Yarraville-Footscray, they performed at a high level and were too good for us on the day,” he said.
“Clearly, we had some players not quite at their best and that was probably the difference in the end.
“There are no excuses from our end, we were beaten by the better side and we need to wear that.”
Casey’s rink, which ended one end early, won 17-15, while Lee Schraner’s rink won 21-17 for Deer Park.
Kevin Anderson’s rink lost 23-13 and Matthew Baus’ rink lost 24-14.
Casey said overall the side had a strong season despite the way the season ended.
“We had a great year, we were able to give some experience to a lot of our youth academy players which will only hold them in good stead for the future,” he said.
The grand final was the Parkers fourth straight in the top grade.
Casey said they were proud of that achievement.
“However, a lot of work and effort went into getting the result this year so to fall short really hurts at the moment, but there is no doubt we will come back bigger and better next year.
“Our planning for the next season has already started, we need to be better, it’s as simple as that.”
Casey said overall the club had a fantastic season with the club winning the midweek division 1 title, while its division 3 and 5 weekend sides have been promoted for next season.
“Having all teams playing finals is something we are very proud of,” he said.
