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GISBORNE
A good field of 36 bowlers turned out last Wednesday afternoon for the Ernie Robinson Memorial Triples, sponsored by Foster and Tyler.
After a dull, cool morning, the weather cleared and players enjoyed a pleasant, warm afternoon.
Three games of 65 minutes were played, and Ian Carroll (skip), Joy Davis and Kay Goldsbury were the only team to have three wins. Second place went to Carol Hawes (s), Lesley McIntosh and Eric Trafford with two wins and a draw, while Arthur Hawes (s), Kathy Carroll and Mike Harris finished third with two wins and a differential of +19.
Last weekend club members contested the championship pairs, and once again some extremely good bowls were seen in all divisions.
Ann Day and Karen Higgins won the junior women’s (up to eight years’ bowls experience) title with two lives intact. In a hard-fought final they beat Beverly Davy and Jenny Evans for the second time, having beaten them 15-13 in the second round. They also beat Janet Willson and Helen McIldowie in Round 1. The Davy pair had two wins against Ginny Sherriff and Kym Brown in rounds 1 and 3.
Ronnie Crone and Bobbie Beattie took the senior women’s pairs with a 19-18 victory over Carol Hawes and Lesley McIntosh, after each pair had earlier had one win against the other.
Both finalists also beat Adrienne Smiler and Kay Goldsbury.
Dennis Raggett and Mike Harris were the top junior men’s team. They beat Jack Notting and Tim Sherriff 19-13 in the final, having had a loss and a win against them earlier. They also beat Tony Steele and Don Green, and had two byes on the way to the final.
Notting/Sherriff started well with a good win against Rod Young and Dan Barr. This earned them a bye into the third round, where they had a 19-9 victory over Raggett/Harris.
They clashed with Raggett/Harris again in Round 4, while Steele/Green had a bye. Raggett/Harris won this time, and then had a bye into the final, while Notting/Sherriff played Steele/Green for the other place in the final.
Young/Barr beat Roger Dymock and Peter Gledhill in Round 2 before losing to Steele/Green in the third round.
A field of eight strong pairs lined up for the senior men’s event, and this went for six rounds before Jamey Ferris and Ricky Miller prevailed with a 22-12 win against Dave Beattie and Maurice Taylor.
These pairs met in Round 1, and after a tight battle, Beattie/Taylor came through with a 17-13 win.
Ferris/Miller then beat Graham Moore/Ron Seabrook and Gus McCabe/Maurice Allan, and took the first life off Steve Goldsbury/Mark Walker to earn a bye into the final.
After that first-round win, Beattie/Taylor were beaten 20-5 by Arthur Hawes and Bruce Easton. They bounced back in Round 3, however, and had a comfortable 20-7 win against Rex Richardson and Bruce Gledhill.
Goldsbury/Walker beat Graham Reeve/Ted Mehrtens, Rex Richardson/Bruce Gledhill and Hawes/Easton to be the only team with two lives intact after three rounds.
Beattie/Taylor beat Hawes/Easton comfortably in Round 4, and then had to play Goldsbury/Walker for a place in the final.
KAHUTIA
The club’s mixed pairs championship was played last weekend, and eight rounds were completed.
From the original entry of 18 teams, only two one-lifers are left in the competition — last season’s winners Glenys Whiteman (s) and Charlie Ure, and Alistair Macpherson (s) and Francie Adair. These two pairs will meet in the final at a later date.
Whiteman/Ure got away to a slow start before getting home 15-11 against Bill Scott (s) and Lucy Shanks, but were then upset by Trevor Phelps (s) and Betty Jackson, losing 19-18.
With wins against Lyn Trueman (s) and Frank McLoughlin 16-11, and Carol Jukes (s) and Jock Smith 16-12, Whiteman/Ure found themselves up against Phelps/Jackson again on Sunday morning.
Another close battle ensued. The teams went into the last end at 16-all, and Whiteman/Ure got home 17-16 to avenge their second-round loss to their opponents.
Macpherson/Adair had a good start, beating Cheryl Jenkins (s) and husband Steve Jenkins 20-3, Jukes/Smith 14-11 and Maria Bradley and Harry Green 20-3.
Macpherson/Adair had a bye into the fifth round on Sunday morning, at which point they accounted for Mike Chisholm (s) and new member Kathryn Flaugere 26-7.
Only two undefeated teams — Macpherson/Adair and Gary Tocker (s) and Joyce Wagner — were left in the sixth round, and they met while Whiteman/Ure had a bye.
Tocker/Wagner had played well for wins against MarieThomas (s) and Ray Young 16-9, Trevor and Dayvinia Mills 21-10, Phelps/Jackson 19-9 and Richard and Linda Mann 23-2.
Macpherson/Adair were too strong for Tocker/Wagner, however, winning 26-7. This which earned them their second bye, leaving Whiteman/Ure up against Tocker/Wagner.
Whiteman/Ure were too strong, winning 22-4. They then faced the unbeaten Macpherson/Adair in a possible final.
Continuing their good form, Whiteman/Ure ended Macpherson/Adair’s unbeaten run with a 15-9 victory and the two teams have to play again to find a competition winner.
The club’s men’s singles championship for those with up to eight years’ bowls experience was also completed recently. Charlie Ure overwhelmed Steve Jenkins 21-4 to take the title.
POVERTY BAY
The club’s senior fours championships were contested last weekend.
Although team numbers were down, competition was fierce. Playing four games of 15 ends on a hot day with a keen wind was demanding.
The last game, however, was in near-perfect evening conditions.
In the second round, June Stichbury (s), Val McGreevy, Agnes Gray and Kathy Carroll met Dawne Abraham (s), Sheila Grant, Marion Jones and Robyn Arthur in a remarkably close game. The score stood at 12-all after 15 ends, and a further end was required to decide the game. The Stichbury team won 13-12.
These two teams met again in the potential final. This, too, was closely fought, although after 11 ends Abraham led 13-7.
Stichbury embarked on a storming finish to pull up to 14-12 after 14 ends, and delivered a “coup de grace” of three shots to take the title on the last end.
Congratulations are due to Robyn Arthur, a new bowler who led very well for the Abraham team.
The men’s competition was interesting, as all three teams lost a life in the first three rounds. This left Mark Bain (s), Steve Berezowski, Dennis Francois and Dennis Crone to play Lex Kennedy (s), Ian Carroll, Peter Oliver and Wes Baillie for the second time.
In Round 1, Bain built up a 13-3 lead in 10 ends, which was just too difficult for Kennedy to recover from. Bain won 13-11.
They met again in the semifinals, with Bain leading more convincingly 15-9 after 14 ends. Both skips killed the end, before Bain scored three to reach the final.
Bain had lost to Larry Kaloucava (s), David Holmes, Keith Jackson and Eric Craill in Round 3, and Kaloucava received a bye to the final, which was played on Sunday in similar conditions.
Kaloucava was 13-5 down at the halfway stage, but picked up two shots and five shots to challenge at 13-12.
But Bain’s team kept the pressure on, despite two three-shot ends by their opponents, to take the title 20-18.
The senior women’s singles was concluded on Sunday too.
June Stichbury met Joy Davis in the final. They had met three times during the competition. In Round 1, Davis won 22-18 after a close game in which the score had been 15-all and 18-all.
In Round 4, the result was reversed, Stichbury winning 18-16.
With the players so evenly matched, the final was eagerly anticipated. It could have gone either way — the scores were equal six times until it was 19-all.
Davis went ahead 20-19, but Stichbury pulled out a two to clinch the title. Both teams earned praise for their skill.
The men’s competition is still going and will be concluded as soon as possible.