First bowls challenge

Press, 26 May 1979, Page 12

First bowls challenge

The Canterbury indoor bowls team will face its first challenge since winning back the A. S. Patterson Trophy from South Otago at Balclutha on April 28, when it meets Nelson at the Kearney’s Road Hall today. There are no changes to the Canterbury team that won the trophy — symbol of provincial supremacy in the South Island — from South Otago. All eight members of the team qualified for post-section play in the Canterbury singles championships last week-end, including the eventual winner, Lloyd Bellis. Today the man who gave Bellis a hard fight in the quarter-finals last w e e k-end — Leon McLennan — will be Bellis’s skip in one of the two fours teams. Alf Williamson, George

Forrester, Norm Morris, David Philpott, Trevor Austin and Maurice Berkeley are the other members of the team who will play two rounds of singles, pairs and fours. Only three members of the Nelson team that last played Canterbury in 1977 — Wayne George, Barry Beams and Les Birkett — will appear in today’s challenge. Vern Arundel, for many years a Golden BayMotueka stalwart is now in the Nelson team and will add to its experience. He will play third for the team skipped by Johnny Persico, the skip of the winning four at the New Zealand championships in Christchurch last year. Second in the four is Raff} 7 Buonocore who played in Persico’s winning team last year.

Noel Warnes and R. Miccio complete the Nelson team.