Experience to the fore in bowls

Normal service resumed at Palmerston North Bowling Club at the weekend, with Northern and Palmerston North dominant in the Manawatu¯ centre fours.

Johnston Park in the men’s and Terrace End in the women’s largely cleaned up last season, but the pre-eminent clubs were back in the driving seat this year.

In the women’s final it was a Northern four, skipped by Viv Lozell, that prevailed over a Sheryn Blake-terrace End combination, but not before an extra end was required to separate a 15-15 deadlock after the scheduled 15 ends.

Both leads, Noeleen Elston (Northern) and Lynlea Rogers (Terrace End), had a torrid battle off the front, but none of the front four had anything real close.

Then up stepped Julianne Mills to draw a bowl 10cm from the jack and Blake was unable to shift it.

The last member of the winning four was Avis Cooper, who won her first Manawatu¯ title, but she has a strong pedigree having won 27 titles in the Wairarapa centre.

For Mills, it was her fifth title to achieve her gold star while Lozell and Elston have 13 and 22 respectively.

It was something of a comeback match for both skips, Lozell having had a long break before successful hip surgery and Blake having had a 12-month suspension.

The men’s final will be played on December 16 between Pat Horgan’s Palmerston North four and Northern’s Craig Gush.

With a relatively inexperienced front of Doug Winter, Matt Pearson and Dean Gilshnan, Horgan pulled off many inspirational shots.

The team got better the further the tournament progressed, comfortably accounting for last year’s winner Stephen Love 16-9 in the semifinal.

Gush had the very experienced representative bowler Tim Hook leading for him, with Craig Steffensen at two and the very steady play of Terry Johnston as director.

They accounted for a plucky Woodville team of Arthur Mead, Brent Robinson, John Tiddy and Abraham Parker in their semifinal 14-6 and it would be hard to call which team will win the final, so I’ll sit on the fence.

■ Entries closed for the centre singles at the weekend and 43 entries had been received for the men’s event and 16 in the women’s.

■ Barry Wynks, who already has the title of QSM, added two more items to his distinguished career last week.

He has won the local hero award for Manawatu¯ and his nomination goes forward to the national final for New Zealander of the year.

He is nominated for distinguished service to table tennis, bowls and working with disabled people.

If that was not enough, he was then selected for his third Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast in April.

He is joined by Takaro clubmate Mark Noble and Bruce Wakefield of Christchurch.