JACK'S CORNER - Close, but Far North take mixed pairs

With Jack Houlahan
A LATE result from the New Zealand Community Trust regional finals last week. The last of the events was the mixed pairs and this was won by a Far North combination with four points, ahead of Northland with three points and plus three shots, and North Harbour also with three points but minus three shots, while Auckland had two points. Obviously a very close contest and good to see Far North coming through.
* Kensington fours
THE Kensington Easter Classic Fours resulted in a decisive victory for Onerahi's John Dunn, Warwick Edgar, Chester Ruawhare and Gordon Bond. They were undefeated throughout the tournament and finished up with a total of 11 wins and no losses, to be well ahead of second placed Joe Thorburn, Graham Parker, George Lyddiard and Eric Pattillo from the host club Kensington. They had eight wins and three losses from their matches, while in third place were a visiting team of C Chapman, M Hadrup, M Brown and N Sokal with seven wins and four losses.
*Carpet tests teams
DARGAVILLE Bowling Club held their annual Easter Fours over the long weekend and, because their back green is under renovation, the field was limited to 16 teams. After qualifying play on Saturday, the top eight teams split into two sections to get finalists while the remainder played in a consolation event. The final was a victory to a Kamo team skipped by Graham Gallant with Cedric Campbell, Peter Nicholas and George Oldridge, who defeated a Whangarei team consisting of Garry Houlahan, Fred Kirk, Laurie Reader and Goldie Wardell.
Most players found the Dargaville carpet hard to handle and most games saw some big scores for and against, which led to some bizarre results. The Kamo team led early in the final and looked in for a comfortable win but then dropped five shots on one end to have the game closed up again. Whangarei had a mathematical chance to win on the last end by trailing the jack for another five shots but, although they managed to draw a toucher, the jack did not move far enough to bring enough shots into the count.
The play-off for third and fourth was won by a composite team of Tom Chapman, John Jamieson, Marty Webb and Sandy Foy, who defeated another composite team of Steve Kurac, Maurice Glamuzina, Warwick Stewart and Ray Bell. The consolation was won by Tom Ker, Ivan Posa, Nick Posa and Norm Vranjes who beat Kevin Smith, John Hill, Merv Price and Greg Fuller.
A couple of consolation prizes went to Whangarei's Mike Jujnovich, John Cole, Dave Holwell and Sam Prasad for the best score in the last game, while a Jellick family combination of Tom, Charlie, Bob and Allan won Easter eggs.
* Women in the action
WHILE the men were battling away, the women were also having a couple of days on the green at Bowls Whangarei. On Saturday, a triples tournament was won by Maureen Parker, Nancy Jujnovich and Helen Pike from Kensington, and second went to Eileen Ricemen, Jacqui Howarth and Carol Cole from Kamo. On Sunday, a pairs tournament went to Manu Timoti and Betty Pouwhare from Hikurangi, ahead of Nancy Bradshaw and Laura Hill from the host club Whangarei.
*Correction
A CORRECTION from last week's report on the First Year Singles. Angus Stirling is from Ngunguru Bowling Club not Mangawhai as stated. Sorry.
*Junior singles
CENTRE Junior Singles is due to be played this weekend and the draw is:
Men at Kamo Bottom Green - G Trappitt, M Bentley, D James, D Collett, D Reid, N Franks, B Shields, C Bristow, T Wyatt, R Roadley, P Yovich, B Nalder.
Men at Kamo Top Green - J Hovell, B Hellier, O Khanal, A N Other, J Franklin, T McMahon, E Jones, J Ridling, R Bell, G Howarth, K Flower, P Urlich, M Scott, A Booth, N McKenzie, P Freeman.
Men at Kamo Women's Green - V Lane, S Reesby, B Lowrie, C Megschelse, K Robinson, P Ensor, N Bint, D Grey.
Women at Whangarei RSA Green - L Swanson, D Haslam, J Ganley, C Nalder, A Herbert, A Halls, C Cole, R Tantau, L Brocklebank, J Mills, A Bell, S Wilson, N Marshall, M Parker, A Burgess, J Erceg.
Women at Kamo Women's Green - N Vaney, M Gurney, T Wawatai, N McFadden, S Wilson, W Sargent, M Paki-Slater, E Paitai-Hovell.
Don't forget to bring along a marker if at all possible.