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There was double delight for Paritutu when it took out two big prizes in Taranaki bowls on Saturday. Its division one women’s side backed up the victory the club had secured the previous weekend in the second tier, by winning the interclub title on its home greens. And at the Tower club, Hamish Kape’s quartet of Kaylin Huwyler, Nathan Goodin and Aidan Zittersteijn won the men’s centre fours title.
Paritutu’s victory was a come-from-behind effort in the interclub. Defending champions, West End, headed into the ninth and last round with 36 match points, three clear of Paritutu. With the round-robin event pitching the two city clubs against each other in that last round, it meant a virtual final. However, Paritutu had the tougher proposition, needing to win two matches and draw the third game, as a minimum, to take the honours. In the singles, Briar Atkinson got Paritutu off to the perfect defeating Susan Cottam 21-10. It was Atkinson’s seventh triumph from eight games in the competition, while Cottam won six. Cathy Andrews and Heather Johns made it two when they inflicted the only defeat on Sue Winter and Janice Ropitini 20-13 in the pairs, a six late in the game sealing the result for Paritutu. Andrews and Johns finished with seven wins and one draw. That left the whole contest riding on the outcome of the fours, with the Gale Fache-skipped side of Barbara Batley, Barbara Harvey and Jackie Moeahu getting the nod 14-12 over Trish Howard’s team of Margie Davis, Molly Nagle and Lauren Bright. In a tight match, the scores were level playing the last end, with birthday girl Harvey drawing the jack and sticking with it. Both fours combinations recorded five wins during the event.
Kape’s victory in the South Taranaki Club-sponsored centre fours could herald a new era in the province, with the combined age of the four players just 91 years – easily a Taranaki record. The Paritutu side were too steady and consistent in the final beating Vogeltown’s Adyne Jack, Hohepa Murray, Kevan Sellers and skip Wayne Hawkes 19-10. Kape’s side scored three threes and a single from the opening six ends to take a 10-2 lead. While Hawkes’ side closed to within five shots on two occasions, the last at 13-8 after 12 ends, Paritutu ultimately put more bowls on the head to dominate the encounter. In the semifinals, Kape’s side were commanding 24-10 victors over Tower’s Kerry Mullan, Alistair Hurley, Max Sayer and Kevin Hills. Vogeltown escaped 18-17 over West End’s Norm Broughton, Bruce Hall, Paul Darbyshire and John Garrud. Trailing by six shots playing the penultimate head, Hawkes crucially converted a four-down to a score of five and then sneaked the necessary two points on the last to win.
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