Gisborne East Coast women bowlers exceed expectations at Octagonal

The scene at Gisborne Bowling Club on Friday, the first day of the women’s Octagonal tournament, before the rain. Photo / Debs Hancock

Gisborne-East Coast bowlers gave their supporters plenty to smile about in their women’s Octagonal campaign at the weekend.

They completed 4-0 clean sweeps against Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay and drew 2-2 with the highly regarded Kāpiti team.

Wairarapa, Manawatū and tournament winners Wellington all beat Gisborne-East Coast 3-1, but the home team finished above Wairarapa in the standings and had a better overall differential than Manawatū.

Gisborne-East Coast selector-coach Bobbie Beattie said the results were a pleasant surprise.

“I’m pleased with all of them,” she said. “They have all stepped up to their ability.”

Five of the team – Anna Colvin, Erica Tamanui-Thompson, Hiria Nepe, Marise Raklander and Jackie Horsfall – were juniors, which was encouraging for the future, Beattie said.

The 4-0 victories were gratifying, but they had to fight for them.

In the first-round defeat of Taranaki, the triples got two shots on the last end to win by one, and the pairs recovered from being six shots down to win by eight.

The fifth-round victory over Hawke’s Bay included a one-shot fours win.

And the team had done well to gain a 2-2 result against tournament runners-up Kapiti and finish that clash with a better differential than their opponents.

“I never expected us to do as well as we have, and I think the players have done better than they thought they could,” Beattie said.

Tournament controllers Jon Davies and Peter Ferris got another round of games out of the Gisborne Bowling Club greens on Saturday morning – after three rounds on Friday – but the continued wet weather prompted a shift to the artificial greens of the Poverty Bay club and Beetham Lifestyle Village.

Games for rounds 5 and 6 were shortened from a maximum of two hours 45 minutes to two hours ... “Still a long time in the rain,” Ferris said.

Gisborne-East Coast results –

Singles: Dayvinia Mills won four games (against Taranaki, Wairarapa, Wellington and Hawke’s Bay) and lost two (against Manawatū and Kāpiti).

Pairs: Diane Tamanui-Murray (skip) and Marise Raklander won four games (against Taranaki, Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay and Kāpiti) and lost two (against Wairarapa and Wellington).

Triples: Anna Colvin (s), Joanne Wroe and Jackie Horsfall won two games (against Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay) and lost four (against Wairarapa, Manawatū, Wellington and Kāpiti).

Fours: Glenda Kapene (s), Jessie Davis-Law, Erica Tamanui-Thompson and Hiria Nepe won three games (against Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay and Kāpiti) and lost three (against Wairarapa, Manawatū and Wellington).

Gisborne-East Coast contested the men’s Octagonal in Napier from Friday to Sunday and finished seventh. Report to come.