WEST COAST TITLE

Press, Volume C, Issue 29436, 11 February 1961, Page 11

WEST COAST TITLE

Westport R.S.A.

Wins

(From Our Own Reporter)

GREYMOUTH. Feb. 10. The West Coast bowling title was won at Greymouth by the Westport Returned Services* Association team.

The West Coast Bowling Centre’s annual fours championship tournament was won by H. Duncan, C. Douthett, E. S. Butts and E. Kearns. of the W’estport R.S.A. Club. They beat A.. Wright, L. Hunter R. Tallentyre and F. White, of the Runanga club, in the final by 21 point* to 10

T. McKenzie, in whose name the Westport team was entered, was unable to play because of a

family bereavement. Kearns took up the position of skip, and his Ciace as number three was filled y Butts. Heavy showers in the early morning made the green a little holding, but it still provided accurate drawing. The final was watched by a large crowd, including members of visiting teams. The Westport players adapted themselves to the changed conditions much more readily than the Runanga four. Following a two on the opening end. Westport added a six-all with nicely drawn shots. White was unable to alter the position. Two singles gave Kearna a handy lead of 10 points at the end of four heads. White took singles on the fifth, seventh and ninth heads, but he was down 3-13 with half the board covered. By trailing the jack on the eleventh the Runanga skip obtained his only two of the game. Westport got out of a difficult position on the twelfth when the kitty was taken to ths ditch. With the opposition lying four. Kearns drew two shots. White being short with both bowls. From this point on the excellent combined work of the Westport team enabled them to confine any Runanga scoring to singles while they steadily added to their own total. With Westport leading 21-10 the last bead was not played. The Westport players proved themselves worthy champions. Each member of the team played his part well, and Kearns had a much easier passage than White. Runanga did not play nearly to well as a combination. One of the features of the game, however, was the consistently accurate drawing of the Runanga lead. A. Wright, if not actually on the jack, was never very far away from ft. and hia efforts were recognised by the applause of the large gallery. Presenting the championship cup to the winning skip, the president of the west Coast Bowling Centre mentioned that C. Douthett was a member of the Westport team which won the title in 1946. The R.S.A. club had not then been formed.