Sunshine VRI had the look of a side heading for a relegation scrap in Bowls Victoria division 3 only two weeks ago.
But back-to-back wins, including Saturday’s stunning 79-77 road upset of top-of-the-ladder Williamstown … and the outlook is suddenly not so bleak.
“It has been a turning point,” VRI skip Steve Tucker said. “We beat the top side today and they have only lost one game.
“We’re on a bit of a roll at the moment.”
It all came down to the last bowl of the day for Sunshine VRI.
Wayne Cooper had already surrendered his rink, but still had a chance to be the hero for VRI when it came to the overall score.
“He won the game for us with the last bowl,” Tucker said. “At that stage, it was 77-76 our way, and they had two, and then he took the kitty and opened it up, drew the last, and we won. We won by two overall,” Cooper said.
“Everyone was watching and cheering.”
Sunshine VRI would not have been in that position had it not been for the Chris Bucksby rink, which cantered to an 18-shot win.
Tucker was thrilled with the output of his own rink, which won by nine.
Some might have doubted that VRI could go into Williamstown and get the victory after their rough start, but the players always had belief.
“We went there thinking we could win,” Tucker said. “Everyone has confidence in each other.
“We’re playing as a team and that’s half the battle, so everyone is happy.”
Sunshine VRI has rocketed into top four contention, just four points behind fourth placed Altona, and can now leapfrog fifth-placed City of Melbourne with a win when the sides meet at VRI’s Kent Street home on Saturday.
“We’ve got two home games in a row coming up,so if we can win those two, we’ll probably be in the four,” Tucker said.
Second-placed Deer Park closed to within two points of Williamstown in the standings after a 92-63 mauling of Altona.
The Parkers will have a chance to go top when they host Williamstown in one of the most anticipated games of the season so far.
In division 2, Keilor lost 95-63 to Maribyrnong Park.
It has left Keilor fourth-last on the ladder, 22 points out of the top four.
