Fitzroy beats wind and Paritutu

A Fitzroy team skipped by Colin Christie won the Taranaki men’s centre fours bowls title in blustery conditions at Hawera Park on Saturday, November 7.

Christie’s team of Evan Jones, Allan White and Ron Gadsby ran out winners in the final of the South Taranaki Club-sponsored event 21-17 over Paritutu’s Darren Goodin.

For Jones, who led accurately, it was his first Taranaki title, while it was a third for White, a fourth for Gadsby and a second for Christie.

The Fitzroy foursome opened the final with a single and a five. But four ends later Goodin and his team of Don Christensen, John Cottam and Rodger Hassall had clawed in front, 7-6.

Christie’s side then got on a roll, and aided by a seven-shot count on one head – all drawn shots with Paritutu astray – Fitzroy opened up a 19-7 lead.

Goodin’s team in turn rallied, closing the margin to 19-16 with three ends to play. It was game on.

But Christie, crucially, drew the shot on each of the next two ends. That gave Fitzroy a five-shot advantage playing the last end.

However, Goodin was still in the contest. Playing his last bowl he held four shots and drew a toucher, but the small movement on the jack reduced the count to just one, leaving the honours with Fitzroy.

Both Christie and Goodin pulled away after the mid-points of their semifinals.

Christie’s side ended up an 18-11 victor over Inglewood’s Eric Foreman and the three O’Sullivan brothers, Bernard, Danny and Gerry.

Goodin’s team ended the brilliant run over the past three years in the event of West End’s Craig De Faria. De Faria’s side of Bruce Colgan, Dave Wilson and Steve Walker exited 25-9.

Meanwhile, the women’s division one interclub competition managed to get through only half a day’s play at Stratford-Avon.

Fitzroy tightened up the competition when it defeated the leader West End two games to one.

Rhonda Adams got the nod in an excellent singles match, beating Susan Cottam 21-20. Joan Richards’ team won the battle of the unbeaten fours combinations, prevailing 18-15 over Trish Howard. West End’s only respite was a 25-15 win in the pairs.

West End cribbed to 24 points as a result of that, with Fitzroy closing to 22. Hawera Park, after three wins, moved into clear third on 18 points.

The sixth round will be completed this coming Sunday, along with round seven to conclude the competition.

Waitara won the women’s second division title, with Paritutu in second place.

In the men’s Paul and Sharon Spiers interclub on Sunday, Paritutu and Oakura emerged as the section leaders in the division one competition. Playing at Hawera Park, Oakura was impressive in winning eight games from nine. That leaves it on 16 points, with Fitzroy on 12 and both Inglewood and Hawera Park in touch on 11 each.

Rain prevented the third round taking place in the black section at Stratford-Avon, but not before defending champion Paritutu had pushed aside West End in the feature game. Paritutu won both the singles and the fours, while the Darren Goodin-Craig De Faria pairs game ended in a draw. Paritutu finished on 12 points, followed by Tower on 10, while West End is battling on seven.