‘The old ducks’ shoot down favoured fours to make semis

Rightly or wrongly, they have been branded the old ducks.

And yesterday four good old bowlers from Vogeltown turned the women’s fours on its head at the New Zealand bowls championships in New Plymouth.

Skip Shirley Marsters, 75, Helen Grey, 81, Val Robertson, 79, and Val Webster, 73, combined age 308, caused the major surprise as they became one of three Taranaki teams to qualify for this morning’s semifinals.

The Vogeltown players not only pushed aside three teams during the day, they also beat the strong wind and still seemed fresh when their last game concluded at 7.30pm last night.

In the quarterfinals, the side beat Sue Burnard (Frankton Railway) and her champion team of two seasons ago, Mandy Boyd, Angela Boyd and Leanne Curry 17-10.

Marsters grabbed a four on the eighth end to lead 10-4, but Burnard replied immediately with a four to close the margin.

After 13 ends the game had closed up to 12-10. It was anyone’s match. But Vogeltown won the last five ends, all with singles, to take the game. The crucial end was the penultimate one. Vogel- town led by five shots when Angela Boyd put the jack in the ditch for three shots.

But Grey, who won the Truth Cup for the lady to go the furthest in the 1991 New Zealand indoor singles, drew a mighty shot almost on the ditch board. And there it stayed, with Burnard astray with her two drives. The tidy Webster drew well on the last end to sew up the game.

While Grey wasn’t too keen on talking – or disclosing ages – after the match, she did acknowledge it was the biggest moment for the team in the outdoor code.

So will the old ducks be able to get out of bed for an 8.30am start in the morning? ‘‘I don’t know . . . I don’t know. Well, we have for the last few days, so there is no reason why we won’t,’’ a happy Grey said.

On the adjacent rink, Paritutu’s Heather Johns and her side of Val Keightley, Debbie Smith and Carolyn Harris came from nowhere to deny Dale Rayner (Johnsonville) and Clare McCaul, Amy Brenton and Hayley May 19-18.

Rayner led 17-2 after 10 ends and it seemed only a matter of time. But Johns and her crew, who won the Taranaki title last January, are a tenacious bunch. They took the next seven ends, including a five on the 13th end, to hit the lead at 18-17.

McCaul drew the shot on the last end to tie the game up. On the extra end, Smith drew the shot, Johns sealed the deal with a front toucher and Rayner could not recover.

The other Taranaki semifinalist is New Plymouth’s Liz Johnstone and her team of Joy Clouston, Lyn Weir and Faye Gecse.

But while Taranaki does provide three semifinalists, the favoured team remains Dunsandel’s Sandra Keith, with Serena Matthews, Pam Clarke and Karolyn Boon. Keith made the last four with a 22-14 win over Anne Bateman (Hikurangi) while Johnstone defeated Diane Lawrence (Arapohue) 14-11.