Things looked grim for the Wairoa side after an 18-9 loss to Tolaga Bay in their second game but they recovered to beat Kahutia’s Murray Murton, Gary Tocker and Harry Green 18-8 in their third game.
This meant the Wairoa team were drawn to play fellow one-lifers Te Karaka on Sunday morning. They would need to lift their game considerably to stay in the competition.
Whatever skip Fitzpatrick said in his team talk certainly worked as Wairoa sneaked home 13-11 after a cliffhanger last end that could have gone either way.
The win against Te Karaka boosted the confidence of the Wairoa team and their supporters. In a crucial game against the unbeaten Tolaga Bay team, that confidence paid off. Wairoa won 21-12 to avenge their second-round loss the day before.
Now it was sudden death.
Marshall, Maunder and Duncan combined well but Wairoa gained a crucial advantage from the 14th end and ran away with the game in the final stages to win 20-11.
A fine performance by skip Fitzpatrick gave him his second Gisborne East Coast Centre title (the first was when his visiting team won the Burton Cup centennial tournament in 2009).
His lead, third-year player and new club member Vern Withey, was steadiness personified in all of his games, while Brent Smith lifted his performances on the second day and more than matched his opposition in those three crucial games on Sunday.
The Wairoa senior women’s team of skip Glenda Kapene, Donna Smith and Jo Sturmey nearly made it a double celebration for the club. However, they lost on the last end of their third game against Kahutia’s Glenys Whiteman, Marie Wright and Dayvinia Mills, 17-16.
In the first game, Wairoa raced away to a big lead but Kahutia finished strongly to win 14-12.
On Sunday morning, the unbeaten Kahutia side had a bye and Wairoa just got home 17-16 against Te Karaka’s Sarah Brown, Janet Baty and Del Tamanui.
Wairoa found another gear in their next game against Kahutia, winning 18-7.
The crucial third meeting between the teams — with each having lost a life — was much closer.
Kahutia raced out to a 16-10 lead but Wairoa fought back and levelled the scores at 16-all with one end to play.
In a tense final end, Kahutia lead Dayvinia Mills drew an early close shot that Wairoa failed to beat.
The Wairoa players matched their Kahutia opponents and produced bowls of a high standard in all three games and must be considered for representative sides next season.
Both the junior men’s and women’s triples events for players with eight years of playing experience or less were played in conjunction with the two senior events.
Three teams fronted in the women’s contest and Gisborne’s Ginny Sherriff (skip), Kay Goldsbury and Beverly Davy went through undefeated.
They beat Poverty Bay’s Kym Walters (skip), Ngawai Turipa and Norma Miller 22-15 and Wairoa’s Raelene Tangiora, Penny Mitchell and club president Hine Whaanga 15-12 and 28-4 in the final.
Only two teams contested the junior men’s event, with the Gisborne Bowling Club side of Gisborne Boys’ High School student Ashli Ferris (skip), Tim Sherriff and first-year player Peter Clay beating Kahutia’s Joe Wimutu (skip), Neville Wagner and Ray Young twice, 18-10 and 17-15, to take the title.
Visiting players appreciated the tremendous hospitality of the host club over the two days.
