The Bowls Nort Harbour Men’s and Women’s Winter Cup finals were held at Browns Bay on Friday.

The weather forecast was not good, but tournament director Garth Partridge made the bold call at 7.00am that they would start and see how far they could go.  Well it was not particularly pleasant conditions with rain, wind and chilly conditions.  But thanks to all the players the day was completed and a result achieved.

In the men’scompetition, we had one team qualify: the Mairangi Bay Marlin’s – Gerry Strydom, Kevin Cameron, Leon Wech and Steve McGregor. Leon replaced Barry McCrystal after the first round.

They had five wins out of five in qualifying and were very much a team in sync.

First up in the quarter finals were Mahurangi East. They came out the winners 21-16 after struggling early on. Six wins in a row.

In the semi-final they were up against a strong Birkenhead team  skipped by John Hindmarch. The Marlins started well and got away to a good lead.

A couple of successful run shorts by Hindmarch and the gap closed and the pressure went on. The Marlins held their nerve winning 24-22. Seven in a row.

The Final was against Warkworth who had wins against Takapuna and Omaha.

Warkworth bowled extremely well getting the bonus points and putting the Marlins under pressure.

Unfortunately that was the tale of the game with the Marlins struggling to find their previous form.

Well done Warkworth, they were clearly the better team, but well done to our lads to get to the final (apologies there is no photo of the Marlins).

The Women’s final was a round robin series, four teams, three of which were from Mairangi and the other from Manly.

Our teams were.

Pearls: Sheryl Wellington, Jan Gledhill, Colleen Rice and Theresa Rogers.

Dolphins: Elaine McClintock, Hanaan Shahwan, Lorna Donald and Kerin Roberts.

Orcas: Jo Baxter, Flora Macdonald, Jane Mackay and Annie McGrath.

Round 1.

The Orcas played Manly, and although they bowled well it did not show on the scoreboard, going down 29-10.

The Pearls, the defending champions started very well with Theresa (fronting up after a fall the previous Friday) along with Colleen picking up the bonus points.

The Dolphins struggled with their weight and green and the Pearls took the win 35-8.

Round 2.

The Pearls played Manly, again great leading by Theresa and Colleen combined with critical bowls by Jan and Sheryl when they were down resulted in a 26-13 win.

Elaine made some positional changes against the Orcas with Hanaan moving to lead, Kerin staying at two and Lorna into three.

The Dolphins started well and put the pressure on the Orcas but to their credit the inexperienced Orcas responded and on the penultimate end, they grabbed the lead 19-18.

A very tense last end, the Orcas had the shot for the bonus point but in came Kerin with a top bowl to snatch the bonus point.

Flora drew the shot and the Orcas were holding the win but Elaine with her last bowl drew the shot and moved the jack enough to pick up two and take the win 21-19.

A great game and how good were the Orcas.

Round 3.

The Dolphins played Manly, probably their best performance of the day, in the worst conditions of the day. Hanaan was leading very well, Kerin ever so consistent, Lorna also coming with some top bowls and Elaine being Elaine. They came out the winners and got second prize. Well done to them after a difficult start.

The Orcas played the unbeaten Pearls, they started extremely well, Annie and Jane were leading well and grabbing bonus points, Flora coming in with critical shots and their experienced skip Jo, drawing the shot at important times. The Orcas had a deserved lead but then the Pearls found their mojo and the game changed.  The Pearls running out winners 29-19.

Congrats to them they all have had a great season.

Back to back Winter Cup champs,

The Pearls: Sheryl Wellington, Jan Gledhill, Colleen Rice and Theresa Rogers.

Runners Up: The Dolphins: Elaine McClintock, Lorna Donald, Kerin Roberts and Hanaan Shahwan.

Fourth Place: The Orcas: Jo Baxter, Flora Macdonald, Jane Mackay and Annie McGrath.

Wow, what about Jo’s girls, They played well above their experience level and were competitive in all their games.    Jo was a great inspiration to the team by giving encouragement and support.  Flora is in her last year as a year five bowler, Jane is currently a year three bowler and Annie is a year two bowler.

What a performance by this team, they stuck at all day in difficult conditions, never giving up and performed creditably at this level.  They should be very proud of their results.

And more success for our Mairangi Bay women, it has been a great season for them.

 

A BIG THANKYOU to all the supporters on Friday, it was an excellent turn out for the conditions.