Fagan beats Forde for shearing title

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 37

Fagan beats Forde for shearing title

PA Te Kuiti David Fagan reasserted his superiority over Edsel Forde by winning the New Zealand Open shearing title at Te Kuiti. Fagan, of Te Kuiti, broke a string of wins by Forde, of Orepuki, Southland. Forde had denied Fagan a second Golden Shears Open ’ title in Masterton. and had relieved him of the North Island Shearer-of-the-Year title. Fagan, the world champion, got the jump on the field at the start of the 25sheep final by completing his first sheep in just 39 seconds. He had his first five out in 3min 43sec, and 10 out in 7min 31sec. Forde at this stage seemed to be floundering. Then Forde staged a recovery to take the lead briefly on the seventeenth sheep. Fagan, husbanding his gear carefully, made a final change of handpiece and poured on the pace again. From the twentieth sheep, Fagan began to move away. He dashed off his last sheep in just

34sec, leaving Forde nearly 20sec behind. Fagan shore his 25 sheep in 18min 10.7 sec. More than a minute adrift of Forde was Fagan’s partner in the world lamb shearing twoman record of 1603 last December, Alan MacDonald, of Pio Pio. In the inter-island teams' event, the South Island beat the North on its own territory. The South Island’s superior woolhandling gave it the win in the face of better shearing by the North. The South’s woolhandlers — Raelene Howes (Gore), Jeff McKenzie (Heriot) and Gloria Shelford (Alexandra) — established a 3.5 point margin over the North — Susan Biddle (Norsewood), Manu Te Whata and Sandra Reiri (both Masterton). Results: New Zealand senior shearing championship final: Miles McNaught (Taumarunui) 49.2744, 1; Ross MacDonald (Pio Pio) 50.1417, 2; Nick Collins (Kaukapakapa) 50.6533, 3: lan Bells (Feeding) 53.8772, 4; Jimmy Edmonds (Raetihi) 55.8633, 5:

Dean Ball (Te Kuiti) 57.4817, 6. Grand Prix circuit final: David Fagan (Te Kuiti) 205. 1: Allan MacDonald (Pio Pio) 203. 2: John Fagan (Pio Pio) 201, 3; Keith Wilson (Thames) 168, 4; Digger Balme (Tuakau) 150, 5: craig Crawshaw (Waverley) 148, 6. Goat shearing final: John Fagan 45.1367, 1: Mike Hamilton (Putaruru) 45.3217, 2; Joe Clarke (Riversdale) 52.27, 3. New Zealand-United Kingdom Test: New Zealand 158.69 (Edsel Forde 48.6504, Alan MacDonald 48,8461, Miles McNaught 61.1894) beat the United Kingdom 172.45 (Tom Wilson 55.7078, Steven Lloyd 58.1833, John T. L. Davies 58.5606). Inter-island test: South Island 174.8006, Edsel Forde 54.2156, Richard Peirce 59.8728, Geoff Holmes 60.9539) and 28.29 (Jeff McKenzie 9.06, Raelene Howe 8.66. Gloria Shelford 10.7) beat the North Island 172.395 (David Fagan 54.3261, Alan MacDonald 57.8728, John Fagan 60.1961) and 32.78 (Susan Biddle 9.92, Manu Te Whata 10.99, Sandra Reiri 11.78). New Zealand Open shearing championship final: David Fagan 67.215, 1; Edsel Forde 69.1583, 2; Alan MacDonald 71.24, 3; Keith Wilson 73.595, 4; Paul Grainger (Te Kuiti) 76.3917, 5; lan Buchanan (Peta) 81.4950, 6.