Five and under title to Taranaki

One does not think of the label "Young Guns" when addressing participates at a bowls tournament, but the term proved somewhat fitting at Wanganui Bowling Club yesterday.

It was the second day of the Academy Men's 5-Year and Under Intercentre Bowls Hexagonal involving teams representing six centres at the Wanganui green.

Two and half games were played each day across singles, pairs, triples and fours.

In the end, Taranaki were crowned champions for the second year in a row, having only started sending teams to contest the Guscott Trophy for the first time last year.

The tournament is for players with five or fewer years experience, and noticeably among several of the visiting squads were players in their 30s, 20s and even teenagers.

"Manawatu, they've got a schoolboy in there a lot of schools have it as part of their NCEA," said tournament supervisor Cynthia Adams.

She made the comparison of young players taking part in today's modern game in comparison to the era of the Hexagonal's co-founder Graham Adams.

"My husband, he was a junior representative at 55."

Inclement weather played its part over the weekend, as Wanganui captain Kevin Willis pointed out during yesterday's third round. "This morning we had to bowl bloody hard, but the sun's come out now. We're not really getting round the kitty enough with the leads.

"In the wet, the bowls don't draw."

At his first Hexagonal, he felt the tournament was an excellent opportunity to spotlight future Wanganui senior representatives.

"I think it's a good thing playing in this, as you get experience and understand what it's all about."

The winning Taranaki team was Martin Dravitski, Gareth Kahui, Bryce Koch, Tom Lagan, Jordan Linn, Tony Penn, Scott Roberts, Hamish Simpson, Steve Walker, and Dave Wilson.

Wanganui was represented by Taylor Broughton, Wayne Broughton, Phillip Carey, Peter Cassidy, Gary Johnston, Leslie Murcott, Michael Penn, Desmond Pirere, Colin Wright and Kevin Willis.

Results:

Taranaki 1, Hawkes Bay 2, Manawatu 3, Wellington 4, Wanganui 5, Kapiti Coast 6.