Port Fairy Red’s 109-89 win against struggler Timboon Gold on Saturday elevated it to fourth spot on the Western District Bowls Division ladder behind Warrnambool Gold, City Memorial Red and Warrnambool Blue.

Lowe said Port Fairy Red had to work hard for its win against Timboon Gold, with rinks shared.

Steven Gibb (34-16) and Chris Fox (26-18) did enough to give Red the advantage. 

“It was a close game. We got away early but they came back,” Lowe said.

“We managed to get over the line comfortably in the finish.”

Lowe’s rink suffered a four-shot loss to John McIntosh.

“We were neck-and-neck all day,” he said.

“It could have gone either way. It was luck of the draw at the finish.”

Lowe said Timboon Gold, which sits one rung above bottom-placed Warrnambool White, was gallant in defeat.

“They are struggling a little bit with players being away and like with all small clubs, it’s hard to replace players,” he said.

“They have to really dig hard to stay off the bottom.”

Warrnambool Blue recorded the round’s only single-figure win.

The third-placed team crept home against Koroit Blue, 97-89. 

Neville Lynch (30-19) and Steve Mitchell (29-21) were Warrnambool Blue’s rink winners.

But Brendan Sheehan said Warrnambool Blue’s two losing rinks helped it snare the “hard-fought” win.

Tom Pemberton lost to Shane Cashill 25-16 and Dennis Beriman suffered a 24-22 loss to Brendan Keane.

“Tom was down all day but didn’t let it get blown out of proportion and Dennis was down by maybe 10 shots and came back at it and was only two down in the end,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan said Koroit Blue was a challenging opponent.

“Koroit are a pretty good side. They are not in the top four but they give everyone a run,” he said.

Sheehan moved to Warrnambool Blue three weeks ago with his brother Bryan replacing him in top side Warrnambool Gold.

He said Blue was travelling well but was wary of complacency.

“It is pretty tight,” he said. “Any other side can beat you if you drop your guard.”

All other round 10 matches were lop-sided — Warrnambool Gold crushed City Memorial Gold 125-84, Terang Green was too good for Warrnambool White 100-80, and City Memorial Red accounted for Dennington Red 102-80.