Unkovich through on extra end

Press, 11 January 1986, Page 68

Unkovich through on extra end

Nick Unkovich is no Irishman, but he happily accepted that the luck of the Irish had been with him after he bad beaten Terry Scott in yesterday’s big match in the fours at the

Rothmans national bowls championships in Christchurch.

“We’ll take whatever luck we can get,” said Unkovich, who is now within four games of winning the fours title for a remarkable eighth time. “But the boys played pretty well when I needed them, and that’s what counts most.”

Two of Unkovich’s “boys,” Chris Tracey and Lou Musin, are from his Rawhiti club in Auckland, while the third, Jack Somerville, plays at Rewa in Waikato. They are defending the title they won in Auckland last year.

Scott, too, had a composite team. It included his brother, Jim, from Johnsonville, their father, Terry senior, from Cromwell, and Peter Kean, like his skip, from the North East Valley club in Dunedin.

Unkovich got off to a flying start when he scored a six on the first end, but it was a shortlived break and by the fourth end, Scott was ahead, 7-6. Scott was clear at 17-10 after eleven ends, but the scores were level at 17-17 after fourteen. It was close from then on, with Scott holding a threepoint lead, 26-23, with three ends remaining. Unkovich scored singles on these three heads, the last, to tie the scores, on an umpire’s measure. Teny Scott came within a centimetre of drawing the winning shot on this end, which was also notable for a brave dive by Somerville, played to perfection. Somerville was again the key man on the extra end. He drove off Terry Scott senior’s close Shot, and although the Johnsonville team had three bowls in which to get it back, the task was beyond them. Morgan Moffat (South Brighton) was another former winner to get home in a tight finish. Moffat was 6-0 up on Russell Morrison, from Georgetown in Invercargill, after three ends, and he led until the twenty-third end, on which Morrison scored a four to go ahead, 19-18.

Moffat scored a two on the twenty-fourth end, but Morrison had the one shot he needed for an extra end when Moffat came to play his last bowl. Moffat’s drive was true and Morrison fell just short of redrawing the shot with his final delivery. Most of the other games yesterday were clearly won, although Nick Grgicevich (Hillsboro) was under pressure near the finish to hold out Lex Agnew (Gore).

In something of a local derby, Ron Fridd (Woolston

Park) recovered to beat lan Scott (Dallington) by six after 11 points on four ends had allowed Scott to tie the scores.

Danny O’Connor (Okahu Bay) trailed Peter Clark (Whakatane) for a long time, before racing away and in a game notable for its length, nearly five and a half hours, Ken Gash (Gratia) beat Jack Swift (New Brighton).

Of the final 16 teams, nine are from the South Island and seven from the north. Six of the nine are Canterbury entrries, with a seventh, that skipped by Kingsley Schroder (Balclutha), comprising three Canterbury bowlers, Gary Barnes (Christchurch), Bill McDonald (Spreydon) and Bernie Johns (Linwood). The two big games this morning will be those between Ken Watson (Linwood) and his former fours skip, Moffat (and they were together when Moffat won the title in 1978) and the internationals, Peter Beiliss (Aramoho) and O’Connor. The other two games in the top half of the draw will be between Gash and Barry Drabble (Manurewa) and Schroder and Pat Doig (Papanui). Doig, actually a member of Elmwood, has done remarkably well, considering this team had to find a new player at the last minute, when the original skip, John Gill, withdrew because of illness. Doig moved to skip and Eric Houston joined Owen Tomlinson and Warner Barber as the front trio.

In the bottom half of the draw, lan Dickison (Kaikorai) will play Peter Rose (Burnside), Morris Nairn (Leeston) will meet Fridd, John Walsh (Taieri) will be tring to halt Unkovich and Grgicevich will face Phil Skoglund. Northern, who has two sons, Raymond and Philip, playing for him. Yesterday’s results:— Morning round K. Watson (Linwood) 30, R. Morrison (Georgetown) 16; M. Moffat (South Brighton) 21, M. Morrison (Hikutaia) 19; D. O’Connor (Okahu Bay) 23, P. Clark (Whakatane) 14; P. Beiliss (Aramoho) 26, B. Papps (Meadowbank) 16; B. Drabble (Manurewa) 31, P. K. Clark (Johnsonville) 13; K. Schroder (Balclutha) 24, B. McGowan (Papanui) 11; P. Doig (Papanui) 28, N. Poole (Sumner) 22; I. Dickison (Kalkorai) 27, D. Page (Linwood) 20; P. Rose (Burnside) 24, B. Turnbull (West End) 10; M. Nairn (Leeston) 27, G. Pascoe (Blaketown) 8; R. Fridd (Woolston Park) 28, I. Scott (Dallington) 22; N. Unkovich (Rawhiti) 27, T. J. Scott (Johnsonville) 26; J. Walsh (Taieri) 32, M. McLeod (Cashmere) 25; N. Grgicevich (Hillsboro) 27, L. Agnew (Gore) 24; B. Campi (Hillsboro) 34, W. Fiecken (Bwkenham) 11; P. C. Skoglund (Northern) 24, W. Hurley (Alton) 19. Afternoon round Skoglund 26, Campi 19.