Sunbury suffered an opening round loss against Aberfeldie CBC in Bowls Victoria pennant, division 1, section 1 on Saturday.
Finally getting the season underway after being delayed due to COVID-19, it was a first up thriller which went down to the final shot.
Aberfeldie came from behind on the final shot to take the win, winning 79(16)-76 (2).
Mark Cowan’s rink was the only winning one for Sunbury, with a big win 28-19.
Marc Bullows’ rink lost 19-14, Lee Wesley’s rink lost 22-17, while Carla Kriznaic’s rink lost 19-17.
Stephen Franke, who was the lead in Cowan’s rink, was the standout.
Bullows also had a good day, saving a number of shots for his rink.
Overall, three of Sunbury’s five sides started the season with wins.
Sunbury’s David Glennon said that it’s a very different Sunbury line up in the top side this season.
“Sunbury has been depleted,” he said.
“We lost a lot of key players from the top side and further down, and have not picked up any new players.
“A number of players live in the Gisborne and Kyneton area, which is a regional area.
“They’ve been playing four three or four weeks, so we had a lot of last minute clearances, as they wanted to get some more games under their belts.”
Among the outs is the Trewarne family, with Todd Trewarne appointed Melton’s coach.
Glennon said with the different looking sides, they had set different expectations for this season.
“Normally its a prerequisite of making finals as a minimum,” he said.
“I think realistically with the players we have lost, we have got to consolidate our status in division 1. That would be a pass mark.
“And that’s the same with the second side which got promoted.”
