Husband-and-wife teams to fore

FIRST COUPLE: Betty and Wayne Herring after their Gisborne East Coast Centre mixed pairs title win at the weekend. Picture supplied

Two husband-and-wife teams dominated proceedings at the Bowls Gisborne East Coast Centre’s 2-4-2 mixed pairs championship played at the Gisborne Bowling Club greens over the weekend.

Kahutia Bowling Club’s Betty and Wayne Herring and Te Karaka Bowling Club’s Diane and Willy Murray earned their places in the final by winning three games out of four in section play on Saturday to make the top eight qualifiers out of a field of 18 teams and then winning their quarterfinals and semifinals on Sunday.

The Herrings won the final 14-6. They are relatively new Gisborne residents, although for years they travelled from Opotiki to take part in tournaments here.

Among the eight teams making the sudden-death playoffs for the centre title were past winners Glenys Whiteman, Vern Marshall and Robin Jefferson, who were all expected to make the semifinals.

However, in the quarterfinals the Herrings put paid to the chances of clubmates Whiteman and Ray Young by scoring nine shots over the last two ends to win 12-8.

In another quarterfinal, Gisborne’s Charlie Ure and Ginny Sherriff played well to establish an early lead over Marshall and Marie Wright. They held on to win 10-6 in another upset.

Ure and Sherriff now faced the Herrings in one semifinal. In the tightest match of the weekend, the scores were tied 5-5 after nine ends. However, in the last end the Herrings drew three close shots and held on to win 8-5.

On the other side of the post-section draw, Gisborne’s Robin Jefferson and Tanya Harrison were expected to have too many guns for the Murrays in their quarterfinal as the Gisborne pair had won all four of their games convincingly on Saturday.

However, the Murrays, still in the junior ranks, had other ideas and had their opponents 7-0 down after only two ends. After four ends they had a 9-1 lead, but when faced with the expected fightback from the Gisborne pair, both the Murrays showed admirable calmness under pressure to finally prevail 12-8.

They were now up against Poverty Bay’s Steve Berezowski and Marilyn Knowles, who had a convincing 17-2 win against Gisborne’s Tim Sherriff and Lesley McIntosh in their quarterfinal.

However, the Murrays went into another gear in the semifinal, completely overpowering the Poverty Bay pair 25-4.

The Murrays matched their more experienced opposition in the early stages of the final but the Herrings slowly gained the ascendancy in the middle stages, especially when Diane Murray accidentally moved the jack to concede four shots.

The Kahutia pair then combined to draw some close counting bowls over the final stages to claim their first GEC centre title, 14-6. They deserved their win after consistent performances over the two days.

After the game, Betty and Wayne Herring were full of praise for both Diane and Willy Murray for their fine performances over the weekend.

The Herrings have been permanent residents in Gisborne since August last year, after moving into the Kiri Te Kanawa Retirement Village, shifting from their Opotiki home to continue to enjoy the great friendliness and hospitality they have received from the local bowling fraternity over many years.

While living in Opotiki, they were regular competitors in Gisborne East Coast Centre tournaments, and rate their visits to the Tolaga Bay Bowling Club as the most memorable.

The Murrays, though runners-up, have cemented their places as representative prospects for the future. They demonstrated to the spectators over the weekend that the “old-fashioned” wide drawing bowls still have a place in the game, especially on the superbly prepared Gisborne club greens.

The Poverty Bay Bowling Club hosted the consolation tournament, organised by club member Jeff Davis on behalf of the centre. It was a benefit for the hosts, with club members Lex Kennedy and Jan Powell the winners and Davis and his wife Joy finishing runners-up.