Gwen Lawson: Latest news from Northland’s bowls scene

Janice Little, from the Kensington Club, took out the Northland Women's Centre Singles bowls tournament at the weekend

Two delayed tournaments were completed last weekend - thank goodness for the fine weather.

The Junior Singles post section was played and it was a double for Jeff Cole (Hikurangi) and Heather Conaghan (Kamo), who both won their respective events after winning the same event last year.

For Cole, it was a steady-as-he-goes event and he had a comfortable win over Grant Jones (Kensington) 21-11. For Conaghan, it was a very tight match against her fellow club member Lynn Simon, the match going for 28 ends before she finally reached the 21 shots required for the win, the final score being 21-18.

Both Cole and Conaghan showed their experience, concentrated on keeping the matches close and were prepared to go one down on an end to keep themselves in the match.

Final scores:

Men

Round one: Graham Ball bt A. Westlake by default; Jeff Cole bt Keith Marshall 21-12; Grant Wilson bt Neville Rogers 18-13.

Round two: Grant Jones bt Graham Ball 21-18; Jeff Cole bt Grant Wilson 18-13.

Final: Cole bt Jones 21-11.

Women

Round one: Fran Waterhouse bt Denise Barnes 21-5; Lyn Simon bt Ally Connery 20-15; Jenifer Kitchen bt Anita Peachey 19-14.

Round two: Heather Conaghan bt Fran Waterhouse 20-17; Lyn Simon bt Jenifer Kitchen 19-13.

Final: Conaghan bt Simon 21-18.

Meanwhile, at the Kensington green, the post section of the Women’s Centre Singles was completed. This event had four women qualify. Patricia Murray played Wendy Sarjeant in round one, with Murray’s singles experience giving her a dominant win over her opponent. Murray scored on the first five ends before running away with the match, and Sarjeant had no answer. In the other semifinal, Janice Little had a comfortable win over the experienced Diane Strawbridge. Little scored on eight of the first nine ends and had a comfortable race to 21 shots to win the match.

The final saw Murray play Little, and it wasn’t until the 23rd end that Little took a six-shot lead, then faltered on the next two ends, which saw her drop five shots. She managed to hold on to one shot on the 26th end and won her first singles event by playing steady bowls.

Final scores:

Semifinal: Little bt Strawbridge 21-9; Murray bt Sarjeant 21-4.

Final: Little (Kensington) bt Murray (Kensington) 21-19.

This Sunday will see the postponed Champion of Champion Fours played at Ngunguru Green. Play starts at 8.45am, with those with a bye reporting at 10am.

The women qualifiers will also report at 10am.

Clubs entered are:

Men

Maungatapere, Kamo, Onerahi, Maungakaramea, Maungaturoto, Dargaville, Hikurangi, One Tree Pt, Mamaranui, Whangārei, Mangawhai all report at 8.15am. Arapohue and Kensington report at 10am.

Women

Onerahi, One Tree Point, Arapohue, Waipū, Kensington, Mangawhai, Hikurangi, Kamo all report at 10am.

The winners of this event will represent Northland at the NZ Champion of Champion event to be played in Auckland/North Harbour at the end of July.

The postponed Mercedes Cup 1-5 Year Interclub has been rescheduled for July 1 at Kamo greens. Five centres will take part. Clubs involved will be Ōkaihau, Onerahi, Helensville, Howick and Manurewa.

Howick will be defending the title they won last year.