Ocean Grove coach Matt Flapper believes his Premier Division side is stronger than last season’s Geelong Bowls Region premiership winning outfit.
Ocean Grove is 14 points clear of Queenscliff on top of the ladder after a 28-shot win against Eastern Park on Saturday December 2 and Flapper said he is confident the side has what it takes to win again.
“I actually think we have improved it,” he said.
“It’s all going well at this stage. It’s a good side. The players are responding and obviously we achieved (the premiership) last year and we’re pretty hungry to go back and do it again.”
Max Rowley has come into the side this season.
“Max has come from South Bendigo, so he’s moving down here and that process is sort of starting to happen,” Flapper said.
“And funnily enough, two years ago we were runner-up at the state pennant and Max was playing for South Bendigo who beat us in the final so he’s playing for us now, which is pretty cool.
“He’s a young player (with) a lot of potential and he’s fitted in like a glove straight away. He’s playing two in my rank and is just a solid acquisition.”
Ocean Grove is undefeated after six rounds with five wins and a tie against Queenscliff.
“That was a cracking game of bowls,” Flapper said of the Queenscliff clash.
“And you know, if I was honest, I don’t think we played to standard. I thought we struggled a bit. We didn’t adapt to the conditions quickly enough.
“And that was certainly something we spoke about coming out of that game that we needed to improve on. You can’t be complacent, just because it worked last year doesn’t mean it’s going to work again.”
Ocean Grove’s 80 to 52 win against Eastern Park was won on all three rinks. Brad Pavey got home by one, Peter Loe won by 15 and Flapper triumphed by 12.
It sets up a huge round seven clash against Drysdale on Saturday.
Drysdale is in fourth place and defeated City of Geelong on the weekend 64 to 48 with Ashley Rees’ rink the key with a 17-shot buffer.
Queenscliff doubled Bareena’s score in a 76 to 38 win. Chris Richardson’s rink played well for Bareena, going down by only three shots. However, big wins to Steve Sullivan and Ray Butler ensured all 16 points stayed in the borough.
Highton won a thriller against a gallant Bell Post Hill by one shot. Leigh McIlvenney won for Bareena, but wins on the other two rinks were just enough to give Highton the win.
