Neville bowls along

Neville Nodder is a well-known name in surf lifesaving. And now he is a coming force in bowls.

Nodder, who is a life member of both New Zealand Surf Lifesaving and his beloved East End club, proved to be an expert on the Stratford-Avon greens at the weekend when he won the Taranaki first-year players title. In the final, Nodder beat West End’s Hohepa Murray 17-13. Manaia’s Robert Clark and Paritutu’s Denis Holdt also made the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the finalists have been found in the Jean Sandelsponsored champion-of-champions pairs and fours.

The men’s pairs saw two surprises in the semifinals. Sean Cullinan and Trevor Symes (Ha¯ wera Park) edged out Trevor Johns and Darren Goodin (Paritutu) 18-16, while Steve Sabine and Graham Reive (Inglewood) continued their strong season with a 21-15 over Brendan Anderson and Kevin Hills (Alton).

The women’s final will be between Inglewood’s Sally Frater and Cindy Nicoll and Tower’s Maureen Tamou and Patty Symes. Frater and Nicoll beat Jackie Moehau and Laureen Bright (West End) 24-16 in one semifinal, while Tamou and Symes accounted for Linda Clark and Brenda Rowe (Lepperton) 23-15 in the other.

Norma Rothwell’s Fitzroy side of Carolyn Wilks, Vivienne Jones and Joan Richards needed an extra end to beat the Tower team of Jo Bloor, Hazel Schwartfeger, Alison Sayer and Faye Hopkins

18-16 in the women’s fours semifinals. They will meet Ha¯ wera Park’s Ella Smailes, Tirsh Coleman, Irene Waller and skip Girl Reweti in the final. Reweti’s combination defeated Inglewood’s Raewyn Wellington, Bev van Wyn Berg, Frater and Nicoll 22-8.

The men’s decider will feature Paritutu’s Philip Drought, Allan Batley, Rodger Hassall and Darren Goodin, who eased past New Plymouth’s Tobyn Hori, Gordon Brown, Kelly Hill and Grayson McEldowney 20-7, and West End’s Bruce Lilley, Bruce Hall, John Garrud and Gary Lilley, who downed Sabine, Len Speck, Reive and Eric Foreman 22-12.

All finals will be held on April

28.