Fifth Day.

Otago Witness, Issue 2499, 5 February 1902, Page 28

Fifth Day.

Fine weather prevailed for the concluding games of the New Zealand Bowling Association Tournament, and the Caledonian green, where the finals and semi-finals were played, was largely patronised by spectators, who evinced keen interest in the games. Bewiey and Evans, in the earlier part of their game with Howell and Carswell, looked very much as if, they were going to beat the Taieri players. At the seventh end the score stood : Caledonian 11, Taieri '■ 1. A 4, however, at the next end unproved the position of the Taieri men, but after scoring a single the Caledonian players again beeaa to Inra* ahead, %n& #A J&a

fourteenth end had raised their score to 16, Taieri then being 9. From this out, however, they failed to score at all, and Carswell and his mate managing to £et in a 3, a 4, and a 2, besides singles, raised their score to 22 on the twenty-first and concluding end, Evans and Bewley then being 16. In speaking generally of the play, Howell and Carsweil for the first third of the game were distinctly out of form, Howell's. drawing and Carsweil 's driving being both very uncertain. Bewley and Evans, on the other hand, were playing remarkably well and- with great confidence. The Taieri players improved considerably in their play after the seventh end, particularly Howell, who began to draw to the " kitty " in something like his old form. At a later stage of the game Carswell's play manifestly improved, while the Caledonian skip (Evans) went decidedly off. In playing off for thud place in the Doubles, the Sanders brothers and the Christie brothers had a most -exciting tussle, it being a peculiar fact that they tied at the seventh end — 7 all — and at the fourteenth end — 11 all. At tho twentieth and twenty -first ends both sides scored heavily, the Kaituna players finishing up with an advantage of 2. The final in the Singles between W. Barnett, of Christchurch, and H. W. Reid, Kaituna, was a gift to the former. He is one of those players seldom seen out of form, and in his game with R.eid was at his best. It was a drawing game from start to finish, and Barnett was never far away from the " jack." Reid's weakness was a strong ten- , dency to play narrow, and he only sucj ceeded in getting 5 shots against his oppo- | nent's 29, and these 5 shots were all made ! by singles, while Barnett was getting them Iby 2's and 3's fairly frequently. In the somi-fiiial of the Rink Tournament Gow and his contingent won- from Peake's . rink, after the latter had fought an up-hill game all through. Gow started off with , a big le&d, havirg a majority of 11 points at tne fourteenth end. Peake then pulled up in a wonderful manner, and was only 1 point behind at the conclusion of tho nineteenth end, and it was hard luck, after working up to that point, that he and his men should have gone down in the end. They were, however, only beaten by 3 points. The other two rinks to meet in the semifinal were skipped by Carswell and Allnutt, and for a long time it looked as if Allnutt was going to win. He was about caught by the Taieri team at the seventeenth end, and only added a single to his score after this, whereas Taieri put together a single and a couple of 2's, which gave them a majority of 3 points. Great interest was evinced over the meeting of Gow and Carswell in the final. The Timaru team started off well enough, and had a fairly good lead, but a 5 got by Taieri made matters even. At the seventh head Taieri had an advantage of 1 shot over Timaru' s total, and after that they began to pile them in— -a 3, two 2's a 4, and a 3 being got in rapid succession. This brought the game to the fourteenth end, at which Taieri was 23 to Timaru's 8. It was quite evident from this out that the Timaru men, by their style of play, had abandoned all hope of winning, but they nevertheless played the game out, and were beaten by 15 points. For the losers, the skip \s to be complimented on his judgment in directing the game, and on his play generally speaking. If he did fail he was, as a rule, not \ r ery far away from what he played for. His men cannot be said to have supported him any too well, and there was a general tendency on their part to play heavy. By this it ifl not meant .they did not occasionally repond to their skip's call. Carswell and his third (Howell) played a magnificent game, the former's driving towards the end oeing deadly. Melrose, his second, was also drawing well during the latter half of the game, and Smith, tne lead, sent up some good -bowls. In playing off for third place in the Rink Tournament, Peake and his men, fiiiex bavins fousdii their wfty to a most..

creditable position, met with defeat at the hands of Allnutt. The game was very close up to about the seventh end, when Peake, by a series of singles, raised his score somewhat, but was caught at the fourteenth end, when the score stood at 10 all. The nejft end was won by Allnutt (1 shot), and the. two following ones by Peake (a 3 and a 1). That brought the game up to the eighteenth end, and at this and the two succeeding ends Roslyn scored heavily, making 10 points. The position then was that Peake wanted 7 to win, but the twenty-first head only produced 2 in his favour, leaving him down by 5 points. The game between Howell and Louisson for third place in the Singles will be played early this morning on the Caledonian green. Mr Wheeler's attitude in insisting upon p'.ay commencing on the Monday, wet as it was, it is now quite evident was the proper one to adopt, as the present position is that oven having started on Monday the tournament is still one game from completion. Too much praise can scarcely be given to Mr C. F. Greenslade, the president of the association, for the generous manner in which he has acted thro'ugnout the tournament. The arrangements as regards play could scarcely have been in better hands than those of Mr R. T. Wheeler, jun., the obliging secretary of tho association, who was assisted materially by Mr J. A. Hoporaft. Mention may be made of the fact that Mr James Hislon was kind enough to provide refreshments at the Dunedin green. The thanks of players all round are due to the three gentlemen who acted in the capaoity of umpires — Messrs T. R. Dodds, W. Howes, and A. M'Diarmid. The catering was done by Mr Blaney, and the attendants during the week of the tournament — Messrs W. R. Cole, G. Tregea, and W. Hogg — were most attentive. The following are the results of Friday's play: — RINK TOURNAMENT. Semi-Final. Taieri. Roslyn. D. Smith J. Corbett W. Melrose O. Balk G. P. Howe] I W. Weir W. Carswell (s) .. 20 W. C. Allnutt (s) 17 Timffru. Dunedin. D. Davis J. C. Short G. J. Sealey J. White Dr Reid H. L. Darton J. G. Gow (s) .. 22 F. Peako {a) .. 19 Final. Taieri. Timaru. D. Smith D. Da\is W. Me'rose G. J. Sealey G. P. Howell Dr Reid W. Carswell (s) .. 27 J. G. Gow (s) .. 12 Third Pbize. Roslyn. Dunedin. J. Corbett J. C. Short O. Balk J. White W. Weir H. L. Darton W. C. Allnutt (s) 21 F. Peake (s) „ 16 DOUBLE-HANDED .TOURNAMENT. Final. . G. P. Howell ancl W. CarEwell (Taieri) 22 beat T. Bewley (Milton) and J. S. Evans (Caledonian) 16. Third Prize. J. and T. SandeTS (Kaituna) 17 beat W. L. and D. L. Christie (Taieri) 15. SINGLE-HANDED TOURNAMENT. Final. W. Barnett (Christchurch) 29 beat H. W. Reid (Kaituna) 5. FRIENDLY MATCHES. . At the request of some visitors, Mr James Hislop, president of the Dunedin Club, undertook to provide a game for some of the visiting bowlers who dropped out of the tournament at an early stage. Accordingly two rinks from the Canterbury Club and one from the Green Island Club made their way to the Dunedin green in the afternoon. The results are given below. The visitors, who appeared to enjoy themselves, were entertained with light refreshments by Mr Hislop, who at tho close of the game proposed the health of the visitors, coupled with the names of Mr Jacques (vice-presi-dent of the Bowling Association) and Mr A. Young (of the Green Island Club). He said the club members were always glad to see visitors on the green, and mentioned that if any bowlers found themselves in Dunedin and had a few hours to snare of an afternoon they could always make sure of a game on the Dunedin green. Messre Jacques and Young responded, and at their call three hearty cheers were given for Mr and Mrs Hislop. The players and scores were : — CANTERBURY v. DUNEDIN. Canterbury. Dunediu. Neave W. Scott Munro J. A. Hopcraft J. Mercer J. Barnes Jacques (b) „ 30 J. Thomson (3) .. 13 F. Money W. Wyatt D. Duggan W. M. Hogg H. Craighead (Ashburton) A. M'Donald F. Storey (a) .. 21 D. Russsll (s) .. 18 Totals .... 51 31 GREEN ISLAND v. DUNEDIN. Green Island. Dunedin. Aitcheson F. Scnnt (Ashburton) W. Gleeson W. Goodlct J. M'Donaid W. Alloo A. Young (s) .. 21 C. Fraser (a) „23