Tara Murray
A late fightback wasn’t enough for Melbourne eXtreme to claim a finals spot in the Bowls Premier League 17 last week.
With changes made to the team for the first time since coming into the competition, with Natasha Van Eldik and Nick Cahill coming into the side, it was a new challenge for the Club-Sunbury backed side.
While eXtreme won their first match, they lost their next three to sit towards the bottom of the table.
The side won three of their next nine matches to still be behind the pack heading into the back part of the competition.
The side finally gelled towards the back end of the event and went on a winning streak starting in round 14.
eXtreme won their last five matches to get back into finals contention, with Ali Forsyth producing some magic along the way.
While they finished equal on points with fifth-placed Moreton Bay Pirates, eXtreme missed out on finals after trailing the Pirates on sets and percentage.
It was a case of deja vu, with eXtreme missing out on finals in the 16th edition of the event on sets and percentage.
The team thanked the support they had with several people from Club Sunbury making the trip to Moama.
Forsyth, the only original member of the side, paid tribute to his two teammates.
“Thank you to our two new members,” he said. “You’ve done a great job over the last four-five days.
“We’ve come together at really short notice and we got better and better each game.”
Coach Kelvin Kerkow said the group did a fabulous job representing the brand.
“We’ve stormed home and we’ve just missed out by the closest margin by the end. Well down Melbourne.”
Home franchise, the Moama Steamers, claimed the title, their third overall and first in three years.
Aron Sherriff won a sixth most valuable player award.
