Aramoho and Castlecliff men fail to win

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Neither the Aramoho nor Castlecliff men's teams were able to claim the titles they coveted at the 2014 Bowls New Zealand National Interclub Finals at the Palmerston North Bowling Club last weekend.

Both teams had qualified for the Division 1 and Division 2 grades respectively after winning at the regional zone finals in Lower Hutt at the start of the month.

However, the 2013 national runnersup Aramoho finished third this year with 15 points (+42), behind champions Alexandra on 18 (+10) representing Central Otago, and locals Northern with 17 (+7), representing Manawatu.

Aramoho started well with three-straight victories in the singles, pairs and fours in Round 1, but could not keep the momentum going through the weekend, although the fours team won three out of their four games.

There was heartbreak for Castlecliff in Division 2 as they finished runnerup to Mt Maunganui on differential after both teams were tied on 17 points.

Alan Dickson competed in the singles and had a great run winning all five of his matches against the representatives from the clubs of Darfield, Mt Maunganui, Heretaunga, Forbury Park and Mangawahi.

Manager Aka Alder said Dickson's 25-11 win over Forbury Park's Oliver Mason in Round 4 was particularly impressive, as the 19-year-old from Dunedin had won three games straight before meeting the Aramoho veteran.

"The potential that Oliver showed can only enhance his capability as an upcoming player of the future.

"The experience and hunger to win gave Alan the upper hand."

The pairs team of Chris Waterson and Doug Baty were not as successful, only picking up one win in Round 4 against the Darfield team.

In the fours, Castlecliff's Tama Baty, John Reyland, Graeme Belk and Tony Waikato spilt their results with two wins, a draw and two losses, getting victories over Mangawhai and Forbury Park in their first and last games.

Alder said after the last game they had an anxious consultation with the Mt Maunganui manager to find out who won, as his team had been leading coming into the final round but lost their fours game to Heretaunga and singles to Forbury Park.

Between them, they worked out that the Mount had a differential of 51, while Castlecliff's was 30.

"Castlecliff had their chances of taking out this event, their performance overall was exceptional," said Alder.

"The experience gained by participating in this event can only enhance their capability of taking out this event in the future."