Wairarapa four able to mix it with the country's best

Wairarapa finished a creditable fourth at the national mixed fours indoor bowls finals in Napier last weekend.
The combination of Donald Leighton, Sarndra Bain, Janice Leighton and Peter Bain started with a decisive 11-3 win over eventual runners-up Southland before losing to Upper Hutt Valley (8-12) and Ashburton (4-11).
Victories over Bay of Plenty (9-6) and Nelson (15-8) got the Wairarapa quartet back on track, but a 4-7 loss to Auckland was followed by a 5-14 defeat to Taranaki, who went on to win the national title ahead of Southland and third-placed Ashburton. The final round of the Masterton-Carterton inter-club series was held at the Carterton RSA last week and results were: Lansdowne 9 Central 5, East 8 St Marks 6, Cossie 8 Dalefield 6, Belvedere 8 Carterton RSA 6.
Despite their loss, Central still took the overall honours with 67 points, followed by Lansdowne 64, Cossie 63, East 51, Dalefield 43, Belvedere 40, Carterton RSA 38 and St Marks 26.
The South Wairarapa association received 15 entries for their colts singles. Brian Field of Oddfellows beat Ian Buchanan of Featherston RSA in the final. A total of 14 teams participated in South's triples championship. The final saw South Featherston's Kevin Hobbs, Royce Wiffen and Helen Hobbs beat Maurice Tregurtha, Pat Millar and June Gain.