Northland rises above Auckland in Paterson Trophy

A good final session saw Northland's indoor bowlers overtake last year's Paterson Trophy winners Auckland to finish in second place overall in this year's event, held at the ASB Table Tennis Centre in Whangarei over the weekend.
Sunday afternoon's competition in the pairs and singles in particular, saw Northland earn 19 points to Auckland's 12, elevating them into second place with 98.5 points, just three points ahead of Auckland, but nine points adrift of the victors, Roskill and Districts.
Lyn Brittain and Lillian Christini led the way with a stunning 8-5 win over Roskill's Peter Bowden and Stephen Fisher. Don Simpson and Kia Ward also had a good win in the pairs, as did Judy Johnston and Noel Bailey.
The Northlanders improved their ranking one place from last season in a long weekend of competition, starting early on Saturday morning and not completed until after 5pm on Sunday.
Roskill and Districts took the lead at the end of the second session of five and maintained the pressure to run out the winners.
Roskill's win was spearheaded by Ross Brayshaw, who was unbeaten on the day with  14 wins and one draw.
Northland's best performance was provided by Judy Johnston, with 15.25 points, and Noel Bailey 14.25 points.
The final standings were Roskill and Districts 107.5, followed by Northland 98.5, Auckland 95.5, Counties 90.5, Thames Valley 89 and North Harbour 59.
In the other zones, Waikato and Southland, like Auckland, lost their Paterson trophies.
If Roskill and Districts were dominant in Whangarei, the zone two competition ended up a real cliffhanger between Tauranga and Hawke's Bay. Hawke's Bay led throughout the first three sessions to be ahead of Tauranga by 2  points, but Tauranga turned it around in the final two sessions to win, ahead of Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay.
Zone three was a one-horse race, with the strong Manawatu side dominating the other districts in their zone, with North Taranaki pipping Taranaki for second. In zone four, Hutt Valley successfully defended their Paterson Trophy.
Canterbury, the current Welch Trophy champion, was too strong for the other teams in zone five, while Otago won zone six, upsetting defending Paterson Trophy holders Southland.
The six Paterson Trophy winners go forward to the Lion Foundation Welch Trophy inter-district final at Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua, starting on September 4.