Centre teams stand tall

Centre Men’s reps: The Gisborne-East Coast centre men’s team beat some of the big guns at the national intercentre bowls championships in Christchurch. Picture celebrating their successes are, back (from left): Boon McIlroy, Shaun Goldsbury, Jamey Ferris (former GEC player now playing for Burnside), Malcolm Trowell and Marcus Merrick. Front: Tim Sherriff, Paddy Stewart, Geoff Pinn and Steve Berezowski. Picture supplied

GISBORNE-EAST COAST men’s and women’s teams had their moments at the four-day national intercentre bowls championships in Christchurch.

The men’s team narrowly missed qualifying for the semifinal, losing the last-round match against Northland. However, they produced some top performances against larger centres.

Team members were: Shaun Goldsbury, Malcolm Trowell, Steve Goldsbury, Boon McIlroy and Geoff Pinn (Gisborne), Paddy Stewart (Te Karaka), Steve Berezowski (Poverty Bay) and Marcus Merrick (Tolaga Bay). The manager was Tim Sherriff

The fours beat Auckand 19-9 and Dunedin 19-8.

The pairs drew with both Auckland and Dunedin. The Auckland pairs players were New Zealand squad members Jamie Hill and Tony Grantham.

In the singles, Gisborne-East Coast lost to New Zealand player Mike Galloway, of Auckland, but beat the Dunedin rep 24-18. 

Overall, the singes won two games against Dunedin and Manawatu; the pairs won two games, drew two and lost one; and the fours won three games and lost two.

Gisborne East-Coast men finished fourth in Section 1. 

The women’s team members were: Tanya Harrison, Carol Hawes and Dianne Phillips (Gisborne), Dayvinia Mills (Kahutia), Jessie Davis-Law and Joy Davis (Poverty Bay), Glenda Kapene (Wairoa) and Jasmine Merrick (Te Karaka). The selector was Bobbie Beattie and the manager, Anita Vaotuua.

The women’s team were drawn into a difficult section, but they achieved some successes along the way. For the second time they beat Nelson, who went on to be the winners. 

Gisborne-East Coast failed to qualify but at one stage were second in their section. A bad round put them down to fourth position. The players responded well and won their next two rounds, putting them up to third position.

In Round 6, they won all their games against North Otago. The singles won 25-6, the pairs won 16-9 and the fours won 25- 5.

Out of six rounds, the pairs won four games, the fours won three and had a draw, and the singles won two games.

In the end, the women’s team had 9.5 points and finished third in their section, a great achievement for a small centre.

Although they did not qualify for the the semifinal, both Gisborne-East Coast teams earned kudos for their efforts and played some great bowls throughout the national intercentre tournament.