Bowls Gisborne-East Coast women take the podium in Whanganui octagonal tourney

The Bowls Gisborne-East Coast women’s team who took part in the octagonal tournament in Whanganui last weekend, back (from left): Carol Hawes, Dianne Phillips, Jessie Davis-Law, Joy Davis, Anita Vaotuua and Mere Nepia. Front: Lesley Seymour, Jasmine Merrick, Diane Murray, Bobbie Beattie (selector), Glenda Kapene and Karen Pinn. Pictures supplied

Overall results did not stop the press, but Bowls Gisborne-East Coast representatives put in some performances that turned heads at the octagonal tournament in Whanganui last weekend.

This tournament encompassed all centres in the lower half of the North Island. Each team played the other seven centres in singles, pairs, triples and fours over three days, from Friday to Sunday.

Glenda Kapene and Jessie Davis-Law, in the women’s pairs, were the most impressive Gisborne-East Coast combination. They communicated well and played consistent, high-quality bowls. They finished second in the women’s pairs, with five wins, a draw and a loss, and were the only team to beat the eventual winners.

The women’s triples team of Dianne Phillips, Anita Vaotuua and Diane Murray had three wins, while the singles and fours entries had two wins each. All three of these teams finished sixth in their section and the outstanding result from the pairs lifted the women’s team to an overall final position of fifth.

The men’s team finished in eighth place. Shaun Goldsbury had the best results, winning three of his singles matches, while the pairs and triples had two wins each and the fours had one win.

In some of the matches, Gisborne-East Coast teams lost narrowly and acquitted themselves well against more experienced opponents.

In the singles, Mere Nepia and Shaun Goldsbury both lost by a small margin to bowlers who had recently represented New Zealand.

Both triples teams and the women’s fours had narrow losses to the eventual winners of their sections and the men’s fours came close to upsetting the Whanganui team skipped by former New Zealand representative Peter Belliss.

The men’s pair had a close and exciting match against Whanganui, and needed four on the last end to win the match.

This end was killed five times before Malcolm Trowell played what was described by onlookers as the shot of the tournament, when he trailed the kitty to the ditch to get four shots and secure the win.

It is always a challenge for Bowls Gisborne-East Coast to compete against the larger centres, but these tournaments give the players valuable experience, and the opportunity to test themselves against some of New Zealand’s top bowlers.