Hexagonal disappointment for Taranaki
The Taranaki representative bowls selectors will have plenty of contemplating to do over the coming days after finishing well off the pace at the hexagonal central region fixture in Palmerston North at the weekend.
The men finished on 20 points, with nine wins and two draws from 25 games, to finish fifth.
Manawatu surged home on Sunday to take the title with 31 points, ahead of Wellington and Hawke’s Bay (both 30), Wanganui (24), while Kapiti were last on 15.
Playing in an identical format, the Taranaki women mustered just 15 points, coming in at the rear of the field. Kapiti dominated that section with 36 points, then followed Hawke’s Bay (28), Wellington (27), Wanganui (23) and Manawatu (21).
There were few bright spots for Taranaki, which may cause the respective selectors Alex McKay and Dennis Osborne (men) and Faye Hopkins (women) some sleepless nights before they settle on their teams for the intercentre event later in March.
The outstanding performance from the Taranaki players at the weekend was the women’s second pair of Faye Gecse and Maree Gadsby, who won four and drew one game from their five outings. They were especially dominant on Sunday in dousing the top two teams – Hawke’s Bay 22-11 and Kapiti 25-7.
Rhonda Adams in the A singles was well beaten in her opening two games, then had three close contests – but only one fell her way. Susan Cottam, in the B singles, had two wins.
The A pair of Anne Duggan and Anne Brophy lost all five games, remarkably each one by no more than four shots. The four of Chris Commane, Ruth Vendt, Kileigh Barber and Gloria Shaw also lost the lot.
In the men’s division, Craig Johns’ four of John Garrud, Jordan Linn and Mark Anderson were the best performed, finishing with three wins, one draw and one loss.
The A pair of John Roberts and Scott Roberts notched up three wins, while A singles player Dean Elgar managed only one win and one draw.
Elgar was left to rue the reduced time-limit of two hours and 20 minutes per game, with three of his matches being curtailed because of the siren. He drew 23-23 with Manawatu’s Ross Ellery, lost to Wanganui’s Bernard Anderson 13-12 and also was edged out 23-22 by Hawke’s Bay’s unbeaten Paul Sorensen.
It was revenge for the latter after Elgar had eliminated him in the quarterfinals of the national singles last month.
Dave Wilson, in the B singles, and Adam Collins and Ian Lowry, in the B pair, recorded just one win each.