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Our Premier Reserve section 2 team won the Wellington interclub play-offs at Park Avenue on Saturday to book a place in the regional playoffs in Wanganui on March 5th. The day started with a very good win to Wayne Coleman in the singles over Johnsonville’s Mark Noble, and was decided by a measure in the last round when the pairs of Malcolm Bradshaw and Jeremy Kydd held off a determined Upper Hutt. The team was as follows:

Wayne Coleman (singles)
Malcolm Bradshaw, Jeremy Kydd (pairs – Bob Gately unavailable)
Rhys Hakkens, Naki Nehemia, Tim Toomey, Roy Gibb (fours)

Both the Premier Men’s and Women’s teams finished a creditable runner-up. Both could have taken top spot if games had run slightly differently in the last round, but earned good points for Club of the Year all the same. Eastbourne won the Men’s and Johnsonville the Women’s.

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Maurice Andrews and Jamie Coleman did what is very hard to do in bowls – defend a title, when they took out the Wellington Men’s Development 2-4-2 Pairs title at Wainuiomata last Monday. They beat Jim Cabral and Robbie Geerlings from Stokes Valley in an absorbing final that did not finish until 8.40pm after a rain-affected weekend. Maurice was solid throughout the final and Jamie played a couple of huge bowls towards the end to tip the scale in Victoria’s favour. Jamie emulates his father Wayne who won the title back-to-back fifteen years ago for Kilbirnie.

The Victoria pair beat clubmates Mike Maoate and Tim Toomey in the semifinals. In fact the only Victoria mens team to lose to another club was Malcolm Bradshaw and Barry O’Brien. All four mens teams, and our one ladies team qualified for post-section.

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By request, here is another story from the Otago Daily Times during the Nationals on our wily campaigner Lou Newman…

Bowls: Experience tells in the long run

Veteran Lou Newman (Victoria) is a wily opponent with a shrewd tactical sense that can swing games in his favour.

He demonstrated this during the first day of section play in the men’s fours at the national open bowls championships in Dunedin yesterday.

He led his Victorian club team of Laurie Guy, Richard Corry and Raymond Martin to three wins.

They beat Keith Ellwood (Kaikorai) 18-13, Gilbert Watt (Balfour) 17-12 and Rodney Fleming (Forbury Park) 17-11.

All the games were tight but the Wellington team had the ability to apply extra pressure in the vital final few ends.

They did this in the third-round game against Fleming when they led 14-11 after 15 of the 18 ends and then played defensive bowls to shut out the Forbury Park team and add three shots on the last three ends.

The first-round game was the toughest for Newman, whose team took time to read the pace of the green and trailed 3-10 after six ends.

They finally hit the front on the fifteenth end, 14-13, and then scored twos on the next two ends to consolidate their position.

Ellwood, the thoughtful Kaikorai skip, summed up the game.

“We found it hard to get off 13 until the last end and by then it was too late,” he said.

Newman made the critical call to hold on to the jack rather than have the last bowl when Kaikorai held the advantage.

It helped the young lead to settle down, Ellwood said.

“We only scored off the last end when we were given the jack.”

Newman used his vast experience to change tactics and win the game.

“We were stronger over the longer ends than they were and it made a big difference,” he explained.

Newman, a Wellington real estate agent, is a tough competitor who has been around the ropes for a long time.

He was third-equal in the fours in Dunedin in 2002 and his team has the ability to improve on that performance this year.

Newman and Corry are both members of the Professional Bowls Association and regular competition on the indoor mats has tightened up their game.

Editor comment: the young lead was Laurie…

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Round 5 of the Grant’s Whiskey Corner to Corner will run this Saturday at lunchtime 12noon in a break between Club Champ games.

There are also plenty of matches to watch over the next three days with the 2009-10 Mens Junior Pairs final at 5pm Friday night, Mens Singles, Pairs & Junior Singles games, and Womens Fours (2 games Saturday), singles and triples in action.