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The Roseland team this week hosted the Cossy Shakers and the match turned out to be a thriller.
Roseland point pair John Kingsbeer and Mike Jones started convincingly and defeated Cossy Shakers’ Levi Tamihana and Rihara Moeke 2-0.
Isaiah Leach, Cossy Shakers’ No.1, and Mia Leach — in equally convincing fashion — overcame Roseland’s Kevin and Wayne Morrell to level the match 1-1.
Cossy anchor pair Kauri Leach and Aubrey Ormond then won their game against Black Wanoa and Nigel Higham 2-0.
Kingsbeer and Jones continued their strong game, defeating first Isaiah Leach and Mia Leach 2-0 and then Kauri Leach and Ormond 2-1 — an outstanding three-out-of-three pairs performance for Kingsbeer and Jones.
Roseland’s Morrell brothers, a strong pair as a rule but certainly unlucky this week, lost to Kauri Leach and Ormond but showed their nerves were still intact by beating Tamihana and Moeke 2-1.
Roseland anchor pair Wanoa and Higham lost the remaining pairs games, first to Tamihana and Moeke 2-0 and then to Isaiah Leach and Mia Leach 2-0. This gave Cossy a 5-4 advantage after the pairs.
In the singles, the challenge went tit-for-tat and followed strictly the paper form of the evening in relation to 100-plus scores.
Roseland players named first, number of 100-plus scores in brackets: John Kingsbeer (5) lost to Levi Tamihana (9) 1-2; Mike Jones (6) defeated Rihara Moeke (2) 2-0; Kevin Morrell (3) lost to Isaiah Leach (11) 0-2; Wayne Morrell (4) defeated Mia Leach (0) 2-0; Black Wanoa (2) lost to Kauri Leach (6) 0-2; Nigel Higham (6) defeated Aubrey Ormond (3) 2-0.
With his singles win, Cossy Shakers captain Kauri Leach took the visiting team to an 8-6 lead and secured the match.
Roseland captain Nigel Higham, unbroken in spirit, polished up the result to a respectable 8-7.
The Cossy Shakers, with most of the players new to the GCDA competition, went into the battle, fearless of notable “big guns”, and showing exceptional skill and maturity, justly earned the reward.
The Roseland’s outstanding performers on the night were Mike Jones, who won all his games, and Wayne Morrell, who had an excellent 129 finish.
The Roseland Tavern Makaraka is hosting this year’s first GCDA tournament on Sunday, May 20. It is a drawn pairs handicap with section play and knockout rounds, handicap meaning male/male pairs play 601, best of three; male/female pairs play 551, best of three; and female/female players play 501, best of three. See details following and the poster on www.sporty.co.nz/gcda
COMING UPGisborne Club Darts Association (GCDA) drawn pairs (handicap) — Sunday, May 20 — at Roseland Tavern, Main Road, Makaraka: Register by 10am, start at 10.30am. Entry fee $5.