After the sixth round, they sat on 64 points. Bay of Plenty were still in second place, but back on 51 points and falling off the pace.
From Round 7, after five hours of bowls — when they could have been expected to tire — Poverty Bay-East Coast turned it on.
They had no losses in rounds 7 and 8. Spectators, Malcolm Trowell and team manager David Lynn were shaking their heads in disbelief as the team amassed so many points that tournament controllers stopped play after Round 9 because Poverty Bay-East Coast were so far in front.
“It was an awesome team effort,” Malcolm Trowell said.
“Our young ones have great attitudes. They listen, and are dedicated to a sport they love.”
Trowell said they all could have a huge future in the game. Notching up a total of 102.5 points was “the icing on the cake”.
Team manager Lynn said it was great to see the team with a dedicated coach who put hours of time into junior bowls in the region.
“Malcolm is dedicated to our sport,” Lynn said.
Young players in this district were “at least 10 years” ahead of their age group when it came to shot selection, attitudes and body position, he said.
“It was a pleasure to manage such a great bunch of youngsters.”
Points for the other teams were: Tauranga, 77.5 points; Bay of Plenty, 73.5; Auckland, 51.5; North Taranaki, 38.5; Waikato, 34.5.
On the Saturday afternoon, a new challenge trophy was put up to be contested. As the Poverty Bay-East Coast and North Taranaki teams were already in Hamilton, they played for it.
Poverty Bay-East Coast were far too strong for their opponents and won the match, 56 points to 14. All nine PBEC bowlers got to take part, switching positions in games of fours, singles and pairs.
Gisborne bowler Matthew Foster defeated his cousin and fellow Gisborne Boys’ High School student Nathan Trowell in the final of the North Island secondary schools tournament in Mount Maunganui.
Foster, 15, beat 14-year-old Trowell 13-5 in the 12-end final to win the gold medal. Trowell won silver.
Foster got off to the best of starts, playing superbly to be 7-2 up after six ends.
On End 7, Trowell killed the end, which meant Foster gained two penalty points that took him to a 9-2 lead.
Trowell picked up two shots on End 8.
On the ninth end, Foster was two shots down when he played a weighted bowl into Trowell’s two bowls and picked up the point on an umpire’s measure to take the score to 10-4.
Trowell didn’t seem to pick the mat as well as Foster. On End 10, Trowell played a forceful shot that pushed the kitty back towards Foster’s bowls, and Foster picked up two more shots. One more point to Foster on End 11 took the score to 13-4.
Trowell picked up a shot on the last end and the players shook hands.
Trowell and Foster combined in the North Island secondary school pairs to win the bronze.
Gisborne Boys’ High School won the top-school trophy, with Akuhata Keelan and Dylan Foster also contributing to the Boys’ High result.
In qualifying rounds, Lytton High School bowlers kept coming up against Gisborne Boys’ High School bowlers.
That meant Gisborne teams eliminated each other in qualifying, much to the displeasure of the bowlers and those parents who had travelled to the event.
