THE SPORT OF BOWLING

Taranaki Daily News, 28 February 1935, Page 9

THE SPORT OF BOWLING

ON AND OFF THE GREEN

NORTH SHIELD PLAY-OFF DECIDED.

WEST END DEFEATS AWAKING.

(By

"Running Shot.”)

Last Saturday’s bowling matches brought shield play in Taranaki a step nearer towards finality and all that is now left to complete another successful season's competition play are the semifinals and finals which should be completed before the middle of next month. West End again proved itself the strongest club in North Taranaki by defeating Awakino at Waitara. Several other clubs spent the afternoon playing friendly matches, while at the West End club’s greens the Returned Soldier bowlers held a one-day tournament. Next Month’s Fixtures.

Although inter-club bowling is practically ended in Taranaki next month should prove an extremely full one as several important events are set down for decision. They are:— Saturday, March. 2: Shield semi-finals at Stratford and Manaia.

Thursday, March 7: West End one-day tournament.

Saturday, March 9: Divisional singles finals.

Saturday, March 9: Opening of New Plymouth Club's Jubilee. Monday, March 11: Jubilee tournament commences.

Wednesday, March 20: Champion singles finals at Hawera Park greens.

Saturday, March 23: Commencement of South Auckland tour in Taranaki. Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26 and 27: South Auckland plays North Taranaki clubs. West End Wins in North.

Fielding the same two rinks that halted Awakino’s unbeaten career at Awakino, West End, at Waitara on Saturday in a play-off for the championship of North Taranaki, again defeated Awakino after an exceedingly close and hardfought contest by the narrow margin of four points. As in the previous match both clubs won one game apiece, but whereas J. Lobb proved too good for Northern and Bartlett won well .from Douglass, the positions were reversed in the play-off and each previous loser returned the compliment on his opponent, A feature of the play was that in both games a six was scored on the 24th head, and in the case of Awakino gave it a fighting chance of victory on the last head of the match.

For a small club Awakino has done remarkably well this season and its members have played consistently good bowls. Their defeat by the strong West End club is by no means a disgrace and next season should again see Awakino well, to the fore. The West End team certainly found Awakino the hardest proposition in the competition. Lobb v. Northern.

With visions of his defeat by Lobb still fresh in his memory, Northern set out to try and turn the tables on his opponent and turning on one of his best games of the season scored a great win by 26-20. The two rinks were evenly matched and up to the 23rd head it was impossible to determine the winner, the score being 20-18 in favour of Lobb. The 24th proved a sensational one for Northern to score six, all the shots being drawn. Again on the 25th Northern had a great chance of collecting another six, for when the skips changed ends Lobb only had one bowl at the head. A saver by Lobb, altered the complexion of the head and Northern only., collected two. Of the eight players Northern was easily the best, his drawing being uncanny. On five heads alone he drew shot to save 5,4, 4,3, 2—lB points—a splendid performance. Thomas and Nicholson supported the West End skip well. ’

Douglass v. Bartlett, f-- r Teri points separated Douglass and Bartlett in their .second meeting but on this occasion it was Douglass’ turn to carry off the honours, and in no small measure was this victory attributed to the fine leading of Duffin, who was always on the jack and over-shadowed his opponent Whitehead.. Both rinks opened their account with a four. Even play fallowed and at the break for afternoon tea the scores were 12-all. On resumption Douglass’ side forged ahead while Bartlett remained on 12 for seven heads. He then received a new lease of life and on the 23rd was fighting all out five points behind. Fate then swung its pendulum in the opposite direction and Douglass repeated Northern’s performance by also scoring an all-drawn six, which put the game well in the West End skip’s keeping. Of the skips Douglass was easily the better of the two and fully deserved his win. Both Lee and Marsh failed to produce their usual form until the latter stages of the game. Black and D. Moir were fair. Shield Semi-finals. As a result of last Saturday’s play West End will now go forward to meet the winners of the southern division, Hawera Park, at Stratford next Saturday, in the semi-final. Both clubs will field six rinks and they will comprise the best 24 players each club can produce. Last season these two teams fought out the final of the competition on the Avon green and the bowling was of a high order. Both Hawera Park and West End have a good membership and have no dearth of top-notch players. Which will win is a difficult question to answer, but their consistency in reaching the finals is ample evidence of their capabilities.

Successful Inauguration. The first annual Returned Soldiers’ one-day tournament was without doubt an unqualified success, and those who conceived the idea and helped to promote it to a successful conclusion should feel amply rewarded for their efforts. The response made by the returned men was splendid, as no less than 80 players entered for the tournament from all parts of Taranaki, and the way in which they entered into the games plus the fine spirit of camaraderie exhibited was pleasing. The winning rink, from the West End Club . comprised J. Casey, W. de Malmanche, C. Ward and K. Lippiatt and was deserving of victory, the bowling being consistent right through. If last Saturday’s tournament is any guide the R.S;A. ■tournament should certainly increase in popularity. The idea of holding it was first mooted by Mr. R-. Clarke and a meeting was then called by Messrs. W. Okey and J. Pavitt. At this meeting the following committee was formed: Chairman, Mr. J. Pavitt (Fitzroy); secretary, Mr. A. Jordan (Paritutu); executive, Messrs. S. Higgs (Fire Brigade), K. Lippiatt (West End), F. Moore (New. Plymouth), and -C. Gemhoefer (Vogeltown).

Singles Champions. Club singles championships in North Taranaki are rapidly nearing completion and in two or three instances the champion singles player has already been found. W. H. Freeman (New Plymouth) has again annexed the honours from a first-class field and C. W. Ruebe accounted for T. Innes in the final at Vogeltowii. Fire Brigade has at last found a new champion in L. Hartley. He defeated R. Goodwin (five times singles champion) in the final and should prove a worthy representative. Both the West End and Paritutu clubs’ singles are still

undecided, the players left in being P. Douglass and P. Mason (West End! and W. W. Thomson and S. Lovell (Paritutu). The position at Fitzroy is still obscure, the club’s competition being well behind. It will be seen that there will be several fresh champions to contest the divisional play-off and their presence will undoubtedly create considerable interest.

Vogeltown “Diggers” Success. Fire Brigade's hold on the Diggers’ Cup proved only a temporary one and in its first match since winning the trophy from the strong Stratford rink was easily beaten by a Vogeltown rink comprising L. Watt, B. Wheeler, C. Robinson and C. Gernhoefer. The score was 30-18, and the winners were never- seriously troubled. The next match for the trophy will be played during the week-end and the challenger is Manaia.

Entries Below Expectations. Entries for the New Plymouth Club's jubilee tournament closed last week-end and about 50 nominations have been received. This number is by ho means up to expectations, but when it is considered that bowlers throughout the North Island have, during the last two months, been travelling about. attending tournaments in practically every centre and with the Easter tournaments only a few weeks away, the response must at least be considered good. Among the outside entries is one from Christchurch. The draw will be announced later.

Flood Damage at Paritutu. The damage caused to the Paritutu Club’s small green by the flooding of the Mangaotuku stream is not as serious as at first thought possible. Fears of damage by scouring the surface of the green fortunately have not been realised and, apart from heavy silting, the green has not been materially damaged. A fair amount of work will, however, be necessary to bring the green back to its former condition. The green has on previous occasions been flooded by the stream but never to such an extent as by the recent visitation.

Changing of Ends. Those players who, When the ends are being changed' over, walk up the green in a leisurely, all-over-the-place manner more often than not fail to realise how they are holding up play in the neighbouring rinks. The correct thing to do is to keep to the middle of the rink when changing over and perform the movement as quickly as possible. For a player in the next rink it is very disconcerting. to have his field of vision blocked. More often than not a player who delivers a bowl while bowlers are walking up the boundary of the next rink on the hard which he is flaying will find that he plays a narrow wood, the reason 1 being that he has been put off his correct green. The next-door neighbour has as much right to the green as the offender.

Champion of Champions Contest. As the Centre has fixed next Thursday at the Avon • green for the elimination contest between the champions of the various central division clubs, it is desirable that the senior singles competition of all clubs concerned should be expedited. The president of the Centre, Mr. A. H. R. Amess, who is acting as the Centre’s’representative for the division, must have the names of all club champions forwarded to him by Monday. Information gleaned from clubs within the division indicates that, provided suitable weather prevails over the week-end, no great difficulty should be experienced in finding club champions. Shield Semi-final

The Avon green will be occupied with the shield semi-final match, West End (winner of the northern division) and Park (winner of the southern division) on Saturday. The winner of.the central division is set down to play the other semi-final with Pihama (winner of the western division) on the same day at 'Manaia;' but *at the time of publication the central division winner is not definitely known. Stratford completed all its engagements in the shield competition before Christmas and suffered only two losses iri the competition. Inglewood is in such a position that it can tie with Stratford. The Inglewood club has allowed'two months to pass without getting off its match with Waitara, but the match has been set for decision to-day, and advice has just been received that, in the event of Inglewood winning, the divisional play-off with Stratford will be held the following Thursday. This will necessitate a week’s postponement of the eemi-final at Manaia. If Inglewood loses to Waitara, Stratford will proceed to Manaia with two rinks to engage Pihama in the semi-final as arranged.

Avon Club Matches. Members of the Avon Club have cleared up a good many matches in the club competitions despite the setback of wet weather. Dickinson leads the A singles with seven wins and one loss. There are 12 entrants and the games are played on the basis of 21 points up. Dickinson is the likely winner, though there are three games to be played yet. Of the others Collingwood four and two, Bulman four and two, Ansley three and one and Lonsdale five and three are furthest advanced. T. Skuse leads the B singles with five wins. There are nine entrants. Skuse will be hard to displace. The Rodgers’ Cup competition is not very far advanced, but Ruscoe leads with' two wins and Kerswill has a win. and a loss. For the pairs competition, players were classified and paired into two sections of eight pairs. Games are of 16 heads and the leaders are:—A section: Dickinson and Hill, five wins; Lonsdale and Ruscoe, two wins and a loss; Mac Lean and Skuse, two and two. B section: Von Sturmer jnr. and Kerswill, three wins.

Avon Bowls Handicap. Over 32 entrants divided into four sections are competing in the bowls handicap of the Avon Club for bowls given by Mr. A. Guthrie. Two of the entrants are two points behind, three are on scratch and the rest have from two to 15 points on in games of 21 points. Members are keenly interested in the event and leaders in the sections are: A, Dickinson, four wins; B, Kerswill, three wins; Ruscoe, three and three; C, Ansley, four, and one; Mac Lean, three and one; D, Hill, two wins. Club Games at Stratford.

With a view to advancing the club competitions, the Stratford club will devote to-day to completing the senior championship and playing - as many games as possible in the other club contests. There is some movement in the junior championship which lagged for a while. M. Feek, P. Jones and P. Pobrica have each won a game. R. Ferris has three wins in the Wilsch Cup, P. Coe, five wins and two losses; R. Curtis, two wins and R. Marsh, two and one. The leaders in the handicap pairs are still P. Coe and P. Jones with six wins. H. Summerfield and W. Williams each have three wins in the B championship.

Green Recovers Well. The Stratford green recovered remarkably well after being submerged on Friday morning after the heavy rains. The playing green is 1600 square yards in area and is edged by a ditch eight inches deep. There was eight inches of water over the green and the ordinary • drainage system could not carry the storm water away. A ditch eight inches wide and 18 inches deep was cut through the bank and the water was drained off into the Patea River which runs along the back of the green. Even then it took three and a half hours for the water to drain off and the last pools on the green did not soak away till 4 p.m. but the green was cut, rolled and used for play on Saturday afternoon.