Wairarapa registered a stunning effort to share the honours with Kapiti in the men's section of the Quadrangular Trophy outdoor bowls competition at the Massey Avenue Bowling Club in Woburn.
Wairarapa and Kapiti finished with 14 points with Kapiti having the better points differential; plus 14 to plus four.Hutt Valley and Wellington finished on 10 points.
The highlight for Wairarapa in this competition for players with five or less years of experience was the effort of singles player Scott MacKenzie in winning all three of his games. He comfortably beat his Kapiti and Hutt Valley opponents and prevailed in a 17-16 thriller with Wellington
First round: Singles: Scott MacKenzie beat Kapiti 25-15. Pairs: Richard Anderson and Jurgen Snyman beat Hutt Valley 21-17. Triples: Greg Calkin, Evan Morsh and Hayden Freer beat Wellington 17-11. Fours: Ray Simonsen, Steve Willis, Rodney Taucher and Jake Halford lost to Kapiti 9-26.
Second round: Singles: MacKenzie beat Hutt Valley 25-4. Pairs: Anderson and Snyman beat Kapiti 15-12. Triples: Calkin, Morsh and Freer lost to Hutt Valley 10-24. Fours: Simonsen, Willis, Taucher and Halford beat Wellington 17-9.
Third round: Singles: MacKenzie beat Wellington 17-16. Pairs: Anderson and Snyman lost to Wellington 11-18. Triples: Calkin, Morsh and Freer lost to Kapiti 11-21. Fours: Simonsen, Willis, Taucher and Halford lost to Hutt Valley 15-16.
Wairarapa also fared well in the women's section where they placed second with 11 points. Wellington took the honours with 16 while Kapiti secured 10 and Hutt Valley 9.
The overall winner of the Quadrangular Trophy was Wellington with 26 points, followed by Wairarapa 25, Kapiti 24 and Hutt Valley 19.
Bowls Wellington president Charlie Clayton admitted the efforts of Wairarapa and Kapiti caught him by surprise.
"I nearly blew it in my opening welcome by challenging both Kapiti and Wairarapa to lift their games as the trophy does not have their name on it after more than 10 tournaments," Clayton said. "The big rush for me was watching Wairarapa emerge as potential big-time players, holding their own in every discipline and excelling in some."
Clayton made special mention of Wairarapa women's singles player Fiona Mancer in beating Wellington development squad member Nicole Toomey 25-21. Clayton also paid tribute to the coaching skills of Wairarapa mentor Ian Monaghan. "He deserves all the accolades he receives. This was a massive effort by Wairarapa who have been wooden-spooners more than runners-up.".
