Bowls: Historic win for Bay of Plenty men

The victorious BOP men's team, from left, Andre Hudson, Nick Tomsett, Bill McCullum, Stefan McCartain, manager/coach Kevin Maxfield, Nathan Arlidge, Cliff Webber and Talor Duncan. Photo/Supplied

Bay of Plenty men's lawn bowls team headed the cream of development players in the country at the weekend to win a historic national championship.

The ecstatic Bay men derailed the hat-trick dreams of North Harbour by winning the final of the national 1-8 Years Intercentre at Howick on Sunday, two games to one.

The Bay's singles player Talor Duncan, after a mixed tournament, called on all his talent and drew a back toucher on the fast Howick green at 20-19. The well-performed Harbour player Daryl Read drove and missed and Duncan picked up the important win 21-19 to give the Bay one of its greatest bowling moments.

It was the first time the Bay had won the national 1-8 title and it signalled the province has a healthy development programme against the high-profile major centres such as Auckland, North Harbour, Wellington and Canterbury. The Bay women reached the semifinals, completing a highly-successful weekend for the centre.

Bay men's manager/coach Kevin Maxfield said the win was marvellous.

"The players had this goal for five years. Our centre didn't enter them last year and they missed out on the tournament when I thought they had a chance.

"It was the last opportunity for three players, Stefan [McCartain], Nathan [Arlidge] and Talor, and they came through with flying colours."

McCartain and Arlidge in the pairs and the four of Andre Hudson (skip), Nick Tomsett, Bill McCullum and Cliff Webber had a superb tournament. They combined to win their matches against Northland and Marlborough in post-section play to secure the final against defending champions for the past two seasons North Harbour. North Harbour and Bay of Plenty were the top two qualifiers from the same section.

In the final, McCartain and Arlidge beat the highly-regarded pair of Errol Koroi and Bevan Smith, a former Commonwealth Games sprinter, 19-16 and the Bay four was 11-14 behind with two ends to play when Duncan wrapped up proceedings with his well-timed draw.

The Bay women of Angela Stephen (singles), Adrienne Reid, Diane Burton (pairs) and Vini Smith, Jocelyn Holten, Gail Duncan, Hein Mack (fours), also showed the centre is a force to be reckoned with after their semifinal placing in the national tournament.

They beat Canterbury 2-1 in the quarter-finals with Stephen beating Kirsten Rowe 21-11 and the four winning 22-12. The Bay had three hard-fought matches against eventual winners Auckland in the semifinal but sadly they slipped away with Auckland winning 3-0.