Taranaki junior reps clean up at tourney

Taranaki triumphed in its first attempt at a men’s junior bowls representative hexangular tournament in Whanganui yesterday.

The event was held on artificial greens at the Whanganui club, a somewhat foreign surface for the majority of Taranaki players. But Taranaki got the nod when it managed to win three of its four matches in the fifth and final round to finish on 29 match points, out of a possible 40, with Hawke’s Bay second on 28.

The crucial win in the final round came from Jordan Linn, when he beat Hawke’s Bay’s Richard Hocking 25-19. Hawke’s Bay had led by one point going into the last round.

It completed a successful weekend for Linn with him scoring four victories, a feat matched by Steve Walker and Dave Wilson.

‘‘This has got to be good for the future of Taranaki bowls,’’ selector Dennis Osborne said. ‘‘It was our first time here, but we can be involved as long as we want to be.’’

The victory had been a great thrill, Osborne said, for both himself and manager Alex Mckay, who was too overcome with emotion to speak after the spinetingling win.

Taranaki’s victory was achieved without five top-notch players which further highlighted the depth of the players in the province.

The other members of the winning side were Tom and Ben Lagan, Hamish Kape, Conrad Jagusch, Glen Brookes, Martin Dravitzki and Bryce Koch.