Bowls: Brassey revved up by latest success

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Rowan Brassey confirmed his standing as New Zealand's best lawn bowler by driving away in a new Holden car after his win in the open mixed singles at Pakuranga yesterday.

Brassey, aged 45, beat Australia-based Justin Goodwin 21-18 in a tense final to collect one of the biggest prizes - and his second car - in his 27 years on the greens.

He credited time spent in England recently, where he played on indoor surfaces, as a reason for his success.

"All that draw play you have on the carpets can only help when you are playing games like these," said Brassey, who also spent the off-season playing and being part of the winning team in the tough Australian inter-club championship.

After three wins in section play, Brassey continued his unbeaten run yesterday with victories over Michael Farac (21-9), Ivan Katavich (21-4) and Kevin Robinson (21-15) to reach the final.

Against Goodwin, who beat former international Gary Lawson 21-12 in his semifinal, Brassey came back from 8-11 to lead 17-11 before dropping four shots on one end.

At 19-16, Brassey was holding the shots he needed for victory but Goodwin cut that to a single and picked singles on the next two ends to trail 18-20 before Brassey got home.