Masterton march into finals

Masterton have gone through to the national finals of the Bowls New Zealand men's inter-club competition.

They were comfortable victors of the regional 3 qualifying event held in Palmerston North on Saturday, having five points to spare from runners-up Heretaunga from Hawke's Bay.

Masterton secured 15 points, followed by Heretaunga 10, Palmerston North 6 and Gisborne 5.

Singles player Ian Monaghan had one win, one draw and one loss for Masterton while the pair of Warren Fisher and Scott MacKenzie had three wins as did the four of Gerry Hartstonge, Dennis Richards, Mark Morete and Richard Anderson.

Selector-coach Warren Wyeth said his Masterton squad had played superbly in atrocious weather which led to all games being shortened to 1h 20m. "The conditions were really difficult but our guys never missed a beat, they did themselves proud."

There was a strong showing, too, from Masterton in their regional 2 qualifier. They finished with 10 points, behind only Northern (Manawatu) who had 14. Third with eight points was Riverside (Gisborne) with Bayview (Hawke's Bay) bringing up the rear on four points.

Singles player Judith Wyeth and the four of Joy Gibbs, Edith Kern, Sue Penfold and Marion Tait had two wins and one loss for Masterton while the pair of Sheryl Petersen and Dorothy Christensen had one win and two losses.

The inter-centre tourney at Palmerston North on Sunday saw Wairarapa finish third in both the men's and women's sections. Points were: Men: Manawatu 12, Hawke's Bay 9, Wairarapa 6, Gisborne 5. Women (two rounds completed): Manawatu 12, Gisborne 4, Wairarapa 4, Hawke's Bay 4.