New recruit brings city club NZ title

In-form Mary Campbell has yet to play a championship match at Tauranga South, but she has already given her new club its second national open bowls title in 84 years.
She drew some crucial shots over the closing ends leading for former international Sharon Sims (Palmerston North) in yesterday's women's pairs final at the Pakuranga club.
They beat an unheralded Wellington combination of Dale Lang and Fiona McKinlay 16-12 and collected their third national pairs title in four years.
Campbell has also finished runner-up twice in the national open singles. ``It's fantastic to get the hat-trick _ this was our tightest final,' said a happy Campbell.
New Zealand singles player Campbell joined South at the start of this season knowing she was moving up from Taupo to be closer to her daughter and two grandchildren.
But national commitments and shifting house have so far kept her away from competition at the club, although she's practised there and played the Baywide inter-club for South.
Told it was the club's second national open championship in its 84-year history, Campbell said: ``That's wonderful. It's a nice way to start with the club.'
Fellow international Patsy Jorgensen, who now plays out of Mount Maunganui, won Tauranga South's first national open championship when she skipped a composite side for the fours title at the Matua club in 2003 soon after moving from Napier and joining South.
The Tauranga South men's division two inter-club team also won the New Zealand final last season, and present member Peter Clark won the national open pairs in Wellington in 1987 but he was playing for the Whakatane club at the time.
Campbell and Sims had to work hard in the clammy, breezy conditions yesterday after the underdogs Lang and McKinlay, playing in her second season, jumped to a 5-0 lead after three ends and then 8-4 after six ends.
The experienced international combination finally caught up at 8-all after 10 ends and then held on to slender leads.
Lang drew last bowl touchers on the 14th and 15th ends to get back to 12-all but Campbell and Sims led 14-12 in to the final tense end.
Campbell got two bowls close _ after nailing the kitty on the 17th end _ and that was enough for her third national title.
``It got a little frustrating because our opponents spent so much time talking and walking to the head (between shots) and slowing the game down,' said Campbell.
``We just had to keep our nerve and get the job done. I was confident when we were two ahead playing the last end.'
It was almost an historic all-Tauranga South final. Experienced Marilyn McLeod, and former clubmate Elaine McClintock lost their semifinal to Lang and McKinlay after surprisingly falling behind 15-1 halfway through the match.
McLeod, a Bay representative, finally lost 23-11 after earlier beating Auckland's Mere Ansell 17-10 in the quarterfinals.
Campbell has a big chance for a second title at the present national tournament when fours qualifying begins today.
She is playing three in a strong team featuring three Manawatu reps _ Sims, Desire Lambert and Feona Sayles, a singles semifinalist.