Fresh from a premiership in the 2019-20 Ballarat Highlands Bowls Region Saturday Pennant Premier competition season, Sebastopol remained around the mark last season, but just missed out on the final prize.
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It managed to secure a finals spot, finishing in third position on the ladder come the end of the regular season.
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It was +105 in shots, ranked third-best in the competition, an important part of its game to continue to perform strongly in this upcoming season.
The good form went unrewarded in terms of silverware, Sebastopol falling to eventual premiers Victoria in a semi final, 60-45.
Across the three rinks on that particular day, Sebastopol lost by six, four and five shots respectively.
While it's never fun to lose, the knowledge that it is not miles away from the best in the competition will give Sebastopol some confidence heading into the upcoming campaign.
Despite a disappointing end, Sebastopol remain in the hunt for a second premiership in three seasons.
A couple of Premier players have departed, however, a couple of returning players (Robert Baker and Scott Roberts) will bolster the line-up that already had a strong core from last season.
The Courier caught up with Sebastopol's Premier manager Robert Baker to chat about returning to the side, the upcoming season and how the side will fare.
Q. How has the preparation for the season been?
A - Pretty horrendous. We've obviously only had limited contact with the desired number of members. We have to be very strict with our club given that we're a very commercial based business.
We have only been able to give access to the actual outside greens to our members and not the clubhouse to any extent. We have only also been able to have three particular days where they can come and practice and two hour sessions each day.
Being quite a regulated business with the gaming area and everything, we need to make sure we're doing everything exactly right.
Q. What are the emotions like heading into the season given what everyone has been through this year?
A - Probably the best word would be eager. That's all our members, they're very keen to get out there. We've had a good rate of response from members wanting to play again.
Probably lost fewer members than most other years on average.
Q. Are you expecting similar personnel to return this season?
A - We've lost two Premier players, but we're having two return. So, that's myself returning to Premier and Scott Roberts. They're (last season's team) all keen to play, if they make it to Premier, but they're keen to play in general for us.
Q. Besides yourselves, who do you see as the team to beat?
A - Obviously Victoria, apart from us of course.
Q. Who do you see as the big improvers?
A - It's nearly impossible to tell because there's just been no communication between clubs. I find it's going to be a bit of a lucky dip this season.
Q. Are you confident of going one better this season than your semi final loss from 2020-21?
A - Yeah I believe we're quite a bit stronger than last year.
Q. Is there something in particular you've worked on to improve this season?
A - We just feel that the players that we've got in the side are either stronger than what we've had or they finished the season off with a very good record last season. The individuals we've got performed well towards the end of last season.
Sebastopol's 2020-21 Saturday Pennant Premier season
Ladder position: Third
Record: +105 shots, 147 points
Semi final: defeated by Victoria 60-45
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