Redpath Shield To ChCh.

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31234, 5 December 1966, Page 20

Redpath Shield To ChCh.

After winning several of the afternoon matches quite decisively Christchurch beat Dunedin by 334 points to 314 in the annual competition for the Redpath Shield played at the Canterbury Club’s green on Saturday.

Eight fours were played in the morning and eight in the afternoon and Otago held a narrow lead of 160 to 148 in the morning. In the afternoon Christchurch won five of the eight matches and comfortable wins by H. Deavoll, W. J. Cogswell and W. Howatson ensured that Christchurch would take the aggregate points. Some overnight rain made the greens a trifle slow in the morning but sunshine and a fresh breeze quickly dried them out and bowlers were able to take a generous width in their drawshots later in the afternoon.

Dunedin brought a strong side to Christchurch. Included in the team were the 1966 pairs champions, E. W. Grimman and E. W. S. Wilson, W. Cousins, one of the most consistent bowlers in the country, E. L. Smeaton and H. W. M. Hogg. Cousins provided some of the most spectacular moments of the match with his accurate driving in his afternoon game against R. Lulham.

Sound drawing by the Christchurch team, with K. Smith and Lulham in particular shewing a delicate touch, forced Cousins time and again to drive and rarely did he miss. As well his team played some good draw shots and won a very interesting match 20.16. In the morning round Cousins had a close battle with J. Simpson and fittingly the match ended in a 21-21 draw. K. G. Murray, the Christchurch singles champion, was in bother early in his match against W. Mundy. But some nice play by L. Derbridge and W. Cresswell reduced a 13-7 deficit to 16-16 on the seventeenth end. Then Murray showed rite fighting qualities by scoring a fouri and a five on the last end to 25-17. Mundy, whose voice could even be heard above the general hubbub, kept H. Deavoll’s four in check for the first five ends as singles only were posted but once Deavoll’s four got the feel of the green they played extremely well and added points regularly to win 31-9. Mundy’s team not give in luck was not with them. On the last end most of Deavoll’s bowls were short but Mundy had to drive to remove the shot bowl. He did everything right except that the kitty bounced back upfield to nestle in a cluster of Deavoll’s bowls to give Deavoll six shots.

W. J. Howatson, one of Canterbury’s most consistent bowlers, had a fine 32-9 win over Grimman in the afternoon matches and J. Dale, whose driving was accurate enough to keep burning heads, beat R. Fowler 26-22 in the match, which understandably finished very late in the day. The burly Christchurch Workingmen’s Club player, R. Thomson, had a good match with H. W. M. Hogg in the morning round. There was some delicate drawing play from both sides and R. Hayes, the Christchurch centre’s pairs champion, again showed his ability in this important part of bowls.

Results were (Christchurch names first): Morning: J. Simpson 21, W. Cousins 21: J. Turpin 16, E. W. Grimman 20; R. L. Ward 16, E. W. S. Wilson, 25; M. Yugovich 14, J. Fowler 19; A. F. Roberts 20, E. L. Smeaton 23; R. T. Thomson 22, H. W. M. Hogg 21; R. W. Hewitt 14, T. C. Samson 14; K. G. Murray 25, W. W. Mundy 17. Totals, Christchurch 148, Dunedin 160. Afternoon: L. Newton 16, E. W. S. Wilson 26; W. J. Howatson 30. H. W. Hogg 20; W. J. Cogswell 32, E. W. Grimman 9; T. Wallace 22; T. C. Samson 17; H. Deavoll 31, W. Mundy 9; R. A. Lulham 16, W. Cousins 20; J. A. Dale 26, R. Fowler 22; H. P. Rennie 13, Smeaton 31.