NOTES ON GAMES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22008, 15 January 1935, Page 12

NOTES ON GAMES

SOME FINE DRAWING LOCAL SKIP'S MISFORTUNE SEVERAL CLOSE DECISIONS SPORTING SPIRIT DISPLAYED Contestants who were fortunate enough to l>e drawn for play on the greens of the Devon port Club yesterday acclaimed the surface as one of the best provided in the tourney. Players took the fullest advantage of the opportunity, and staged brilliant drawing. In spite of a catastrophe to the Auckland skip, Steele, when he slipped upon the front of the mat while driving. which resulted in his taking two protecting shots out for six down, his contest against Bremner, West End, was one of the best drawing games of the day. One head, a full-length one. had eight bowls within an inch or so of each other clustered round the jack —all drawn shots.

The concluding head of the game between Francis. Balmoral, and Paterson, Mount Albert, decided the issue in favour of the last-named, who registered hi;} first win in the fifth round. Francis led on the board on the 14th head by 17 to 10. Scores were evened up on the 18th and Balmoral wanted one to win on the concluding head. Here Francis lay three on the change over, and Paterson eventually drove and burned the white.

Xot obtaining a shot up from his team, and having awkward porta to come through, he burned the replayed head. Again on the second teplny Peterson was down, but. could not rake the game out of the fire. Francis leads in his section with five victories. Team Undefeated Thomas, of Wairere, Napier, continued his winning way and remained undefeated. He had a hard contest with the Auckland rink in the opening game and, after an undecided commencement. the team played excellent bowls, particularly the third, Bryan, and eventually iron by two points. In the second game, the Napier rink scored an easy win over Evans, Whitiora. Petty, of West End, New Plymouth, svas another to score two wins. Both games were won by good margins. The team has a chance of qualifying, now having four wins. Campbell, Mount Eden, was still another rink with two wins on the day. both by narrow margins of points. Draper. Imperial, Christchurch. registered his first win when he defeated Sutherland, of Avondale, in the opening game.

The strong Dunedin team, under Hutchison had a good day, winning both games. The game against de Launay, of Carlton, was decisive. With a ccmxl run 0 f form to-day, there is still the chance of qualifying for the post-section rounds at Carlton tomorrow.

De Launay stayed on 15 points for seven heads. The lead in a team in the first game threw the jack, drew to his objective and carried the white beyond the boundary of the rink on which he played. Wrong Bias Even a wearer of a New Zealand champion badge can place a bowl down the green on the wrong bias, as was evident in a game on the Devonport green. The champion in question was C. Hardley, of the West End Club. Auckland. In the game between Nash, Palmerston, and Gee, le Awaniutu, the last-named fought hard to win on a last head decision. He wanted five points, and by the too exact plav of his third. North, and liimselt his chance of victory was nullified. He lay three shots when North trailed the jack six inches. Three was still the count. In endeavouring to draw a further counter Gee trailed the jack six inches still further from the original counters in front and then lay two shots. The teams under I" ookes, Carlton, and Evans, Whitiora, staged a game so protracted that play extended to four hours and 2o minutes. Another final head of interest was staged between Addess, St. Kilda. and Engebretsen, Napier. The St. Kilda team -wanted three to tie and four to win, lying shots down on the final head. Addess drove the white to within six inches of the ditcli and lay five shots. Beer, who actuallv skipped the Napier team, overran the length with two bowls, which were ditched. The shot played by Addess was most difficult, as several awkward bowls had to be negotiated. The St. Kilda skip deserves great credit for his cleverness in thus pulling a game out of the fire from an awkward position. Little, skip of the Hamilton team, displayed a fine sporting spirit in a game against a Kaikohe team. Little had driven the jack against the bank and it had come to rest upon the ereen Thinking the jack was dead, a member of the northern team picked it up. After being told that it was still alive, shot was drawn by Little, who would not take the count. Interesting Finish An interesting finish was witnessed on tiie Grey Lynn green in the game between Johnson, Maitai, and Chappell, Balmoral, both teams tieing on the '2sth head. In the play-off. H. R. Goldsmith, who skipped the Balmoral rink in place of Chappell, drew the shot eight inches from the jack, but Johnson beat it with a toucher. Goldsmith then drove and missed, giving Johnson a well-earned victorv. On the same green Coburn. Ponsonby. retrieved his side from an almost hopeless position against Douglass. West Knd, New Plymouth. On the 22nd head the score was 20 —15 in favour of Douglass, but Ponsonby scored four on the 2:Jrd head and drew level with a single on the 24th. On the last head Duffin. of the West End team, drew a close shot, but Murray, Ponsonby, beat him with a toucher. Douglass failed with a draw and then missed with a drive, giving the former Whangarei champion his first win. Douglass was again narrowly defeated in the sixth game. Wanting live to win on the last head of the game with Braekenriilge, Lyall Bay, who is playing up to his best form, Douglass just failed to trail the kitty a foot for the requisite number.