After back-to-back losses on the last bowl of the day, Melton found itself on the right side of a tight finish in the Bowls Victoria metropolitan pennants on Saturday.
In a battle between second and third on the division 1 ladder, Melton travelled to Werribee and picked up a vital away win to keep its finals push on track.
The Bees had a chance to pinch victory with one final play but fell just short of claiming the come-from-behind win and succumbed 76-74 and 14-4.
Melton secretary John Adams said it was an important win for his side, which won its first three matches before losing in rounds four and five.
“We could have been undefeated, but one game we blew and then the other team played very well to beat us,” he said.
“We went down yesterday knowing that if we lost we’d be right back in the rut with the rest of the teams.
“It was a very close game and it came down to the last bowl. Werribee did have a chance to win it.
“That’s three games in a row that have gone down to the last bowl and it’s good that one went our way.”
What made the win even more impressive for Melton was that it was able to do it without club coach Ray Morrissey, who had a knee reconstruction during the week.
In Morrissey’s absence, Ray Gnjidic and Gary Dundon ensured their rinks stepped up, winning by 20 and 11 shots respectively.
“We covered him [Morrissey] well,” Adams said. “The four rinks are all gelling together and that’s the main thing. Everyone is getting on well and if one rink goes down one week, the next week they come good again.
“Everybody is supporting one another and that’s what a good team does.”
The weekend’s win maintains Melton’s third place on the division 1 section 2 ladder, with the club 18 points ahead of fourth-placed Essendon.
Melton will have a chance to cement its place in the top four in the next fortnight with back-to-back home games against Donvale and Elsternwick.
“We’re above both of them on the ladder and if we can win both of those games we’ll be really eyeing off to play finals,” Adams said.
“We had a bit of a talk after the last game. We need to win these two to put a bit of space between us and the relegation zone.
“Then we can really push forward to try to make the finals. [But] we need to try to avoid relegation first and we’re doing a pretty good job of it so far.”
In other results from the weekend, Melton’s division 2 side also enjoyed an impressive win against Werribee, while the division 4 team is still in second spot on the ladder despite going down to Altona.
