Husband, wife duo claim wins

Bowls Gisborne-East Coast board representative Tim Sherriff presents centre women’s pairs winners Janice Allan (centre) and skip Kay Goldsbury with the BNZ Presidents Trophy. Pictures supplied

Husband and wife Steve and Kay Goldsbury were both winners in the centre pairs tournament held on Gisborne Bowling Club greens at the weekend.

Steve Goldsbury and skip Malcolm Trowell won the men's competition, while skip Kay Goldsbury and Janice Allan won the women's event. Both winning pairs were from the Gisborne club.

Trowell and Goldsbury also won the centre men's pairs last year.

This time they defeated July Hoepo and Gerry Kora, of the Kahutia club, 21-10. Goldsbury played outstanding draw bowls and Trowell impressed with his accuracy across a range of shots.

Fourteen teams contested the men's competition and 12, the women's. Section play was held on Saturday and the top eight in each event qualified for post-section play on Sunday, when a four-team consolation event was also held.

After two comfortable wins in post-section play, Trowell and Goldsbury got off to a good start in the men's final. They won the ninth end by six, after Trowell trailed the kitty into the ditch and then drew his next two bowls for a convincing 16-3 lead.

Hoepo and Kora fought back, winning five points over the next two ends. But they couldn't close the gap any further, even though Hoepo played some outstanding shots when he was down on the head.

Kora, a third-year player, acquitted himself well in this higher-level senior competition.

In the semifinals, Trowell and Goldsbury defeated Boon McIlroy and Andrew Ball 24-8, while Hoepo and Kora beat Paddy Stewart and John Dawson 17-14. The latter game was close, Stewart leading at the start of the last end but Hoepo winning the end by four to reach the final.

Other qualifiers for post-section play were Peter Mitchell and Keith Tamanui, Marcus Merrick and Willie Murray, Steve Berezowski and Les Whittington, and Paul Everett and Chris Bunyan.

In the women's final, Goldsbury and Allan defeated Gisborne clubmates Dianne Phillips and Carol Hawes 14-10.

Goldsbury and Allan led all the way, but Phillips and Hawes were never far behind. Allan and Hawes played consistent lead bowls, while Goldsbury and Phillips played some accurate pressure bowls at crucial times.

The competition was turned on its head in the first round of post-section play. Goldsbury and Allan, who qualified in eighth place, defeated top-ranked pair Jessie Davis-Law and Karen Pinn. And Phillips and Hawes, who qualified in sixth place, defeated third-placed qualifiers Jasmine Merrick and Janet Baty.

Phillips and Hawes then defeated second-placed qualifiers Dayvinia Mills and Glenys Whiteman 19-7 in the semifinal, while Goldsbury and Allan defeated Ginny Sherriff and Lesley McIntosh 20-14 in the other semi.

Other qualifiers for post-section play were Dianne Murray and Erica Thompson, and Anita Vaotuua and Sheryl Jenkins.

Geoff Pinn and Brendan Reavey won the consolation competition, which was a round robin of games comprising two five-end sets with a tie-break end if needed.