Bowls Gisborne-East Coast lost the two-day Challenge Cup series of games against Bowls Hawke’s Bay in Napier at the weekend, but the selectors are accentuating the positive.
“I was really pleased with the performance,” women’s selector Bobbie Beattie said. “The seniors and the juniors supported each other all theway through.
“Conditions on the first day were a big test for everyone. The winds were up to about 37km/h. That blew the bowls about on the carpet [artificial surface], which was very quick.
“There weren’t many tight heads [bowls near the jack]. The heads were fairly widespread, but they kept with it.”
Gisborne-East Coast (GEC) women were ahead by one game after the first round, but won only one game out of four in the second, which put them one game down for the first day.
The women played their second day’s games on grass at the same venue, the Bowls Napier greens, and the wind had died down.
GEC drew level by winning three of the five games in the first round of the day and needed to win three of the five games – all pairs – in the last round to take the honours for the women’s section of the challenge. They won two.
Beattie said she was looking ahead to the Octagonal representative fixtures, which, for the women, would be played in Gisborne in mid-February.
“To me, winning wasn’t the important part of the weekend. It was about getting the juniors used to playing with more experienced players to get an idea of positioning bowls on the head and things like that.
“I can’t complain about anyone. They all coped very well in two different conditions and greens.”
Dayvinia Mills had three wins (two in singles, one in pairs), Glenda Kapene had three (all pairs), Jessie Davis-Law three (all pairs), Lesley Seymour two (pairs, fours), Deborah Hancock two (pairs, fours), Diane Murray one (singles), Jackie Horsfall one (pairs), and Marise Raklander and Erica Thompson one (both fours).
Gisborne-East Coast player/selector Mal Trowell was pleased with the performance of the junior players in the Challenge Cup rep fixture.
Men’s selector Malcolm Trowell is also looking ahead to mid-February’s Octagonal, which for the men will be held in Napier on the greens they played on at the weekend.
He was encouraged by the form of the GEC representative debutants – 14-year-old twins Kyle and Liam Pinn – and Warren Gibb. With Steve Berezowski, they formed a four that achieved a 24-9 victory in the first round.
Shaun Goldsbury lost his first-round singles match to an opponent who clinched a 25-23 victory with his last bowl.
“It was difficult in the wind, but the boys did really well,” Trowell said. “You don’t have to be brilliant on a rough day. People go for the perfect bowl, but you don’t have to be perfect, just get it near enough.”
The men changed from a grass surface to “carpet” for the two rounds on Sunday.
“It was a quicker surface and I don’t think we really adjusted,” Trowell said. “We struggled with the weight [of shots] and the conditions, although it wasn’t as windy as the first day. We lost all five games in the first round of the day, and only Shaun [Goldsbury] and Liam [Pinn] won their game in the final round, which was pairs.”
The team had a few regulars missing, but it provided an opportunity to “develop three or four players and have another look at a few others”.
“It was good to see where the young boys were at, being thrust into the rep scene and playing with more experienced players,” Trowell said.
“They didn’t look out of place.”
Liam Pinn had three wins (two in pairs, one in fours), Trowell had two (singles, pairs), Shaun Goldsbury two (both pairs), Kyle Pinn two (pairs, fours) and Gibb and Berezowski one (fours).
