Avery takes out Shears again

Paul "baby-faced assassin" Avery lived up to his name, striking late in the piece to win a pulsating Golden Shears title final for a second time at the War Memorial Stadium in Masterton on Saturday night.
The Taranaki father of two showed tremendous skill and huge heart to sneak past Napier's John Kirkpatrick in a mammoth duel and the ever-present 15-time champion David Fagan, who refused to bend to popular opinion labelling him a spent force.
Fagan could rest comfortable in the knowledge he still has what it takes to reclaim the title he held for 12 consecutive years beginning in 1990, emerging triumphant for the eighth time in the fine wool Wrightson National Shearing Championship.
In accepting the winner's trophy the Te Kuiti legend announced he would not contest the fine wool championship next year, further fuelling rumours retirement could be on the cards in the very near future.
Though his shearing speed was not what it used to be, Fagan proved unmatchable for quality in both finals and very nearly snatched victory in the open finishing third, less than a point from winner Avery.
But it was to be Avery's night as he set out to prove his 2005 victory was no fluke in front of the 2000-strong crowd, including Parliamentarians Jim Anderton and John Hayes.
In one of the most tightly-contested finals in Golden Shears history, Kirkpatrick appeared to be steaming to victory, having overtaken Avery with only six sheep left in the pen.
But the Stratford farmer launched a stunning last-minute comeback with the crowd roaring with delight as he stormed into the lead on the 20th and final sheep to finish first on time in 17 minutes flat.
Trophy in-hand and flanked by his young daughters, a very modest Avery said he never felt the title was in the bag and remained "pretty nervous" knowing quality points could well decide the outcome.
"I saw him (Fagan) shear his last sheep and it was polished, I just hoped he hadn't shorn all 20 like that," he said.
"I was really determined to win last year to get back-to-back wins but Dion (defending champion Dion King) got in the way so it was nice to finally show everyone it wasn't a fluke.
"It was always going to be tough because I know how fit Johnny is, he's pretty fine-tuned these days."
Avery said he was just rapt to make the final and put his win down to "a better performance on the night".
"If you get off to a good start it's a lot easier. If you get behind too early you're playing catch-up which is really tough," he said.
"The hardest part in this grade is making the final. There's 20 guys who on their day can pull it out of a hat, it's very nerve wracking waiting for those points in the semi-finals."
And it proved true earlier in the day with King failing to perform in his semi-final, missing out on the chance to defend his crown.
Clearly spurred on by the disappointment he returned to stage to comfortably outclass his rivals in the open plate final showing the sort of form reminiscent of his 2006 campaign.
King then teamed up with Nathan Stratford and pocket rocket James Fagan, nephew of David, to make it a clean sweep for New Zealand in the transtasman shearing and woolhandling series.
The Kiwi women put paid to their Australian counterparts with a deft performance on Friday night in the woolhandling test and the men complemented their win with a dominant display that threatened to lift the roof off the stadium as the crowd got into full voice.
Standing a head shorter than anyone else on stage, Fagan was unstoppable, leading from start to finish, spurring his team on to what was eventually a comfortable victory.
Earlier in the evening Masterton locals George Hawkins and Waimiere Peneha looked likely to add to the region's tally of titles in the open woolhandling final. However, the duo could not quite match the experience of Christchurch's Huia Whyte-Puna who comfortably claimed victory ahead of Hawkins, with Peneha finishing fourth.
Golden Shears Society vice-president and master of ceremonies Craig Cooper said the final night summed up the entire three days of competition as a "roaring success".
"This was the biggest crowd we've seen on a Saturday night that we can remember, it was just jam-packed.
"We don't even know how many there were including staff and competitors but it would have to be in the vicinity of 2000 (people)."
Cooper said he had received a lot of comments from people on the night who were adamant it was the best shearing they had ever seen.
"There were a number of new faces there which created a lot of intrigue as to who was going to win the big titles. And then there was David Fagan coming back to prove he's not a spent force by any means which only adds to the excitement for next year. We've already got seven entrants signed up to come back so the planning begins again."