Paritutu are back on top of New Zealand bowls.
The club, which was renowned as the top in the country in the 1970s and 1980s, won the New Zealand interclub title in Wellington on Sunday.
The seven-man side won a thrilling final two games to one over Central Cambridge.
In the final, Dean Elgar took the singles 21-11 over Garry Cotter, but the four of John Zittersteijn, Kurt Smith, Daryl Read and Camron Horo lost 20-7 to Jesse Russell’s quartet.
That meant the title came down to the pairs, where Adam Collins and Darren Goodin were in all sorts of bother mid-game, trailing Brent Hawken (son of Geoff) and the 2019 Dominion singles winner Taylor Horn 16-5.
But they rallied, closing to one point behind. With two ends to play, Horn still led by two, before Goodin drew the shot with his last bowl on the penultimate end to take a single.
On the last end, Goodin again did the trick with his last bowl, sitting through the Central Cambridge shot to hold two. And with Horn too big with his last, the game was won 19-18 and the title was Paritutu’s to salver. Paritutu last won the men’s title in 1991, the inaugural year of the competition, and has got close on numerous occasions since, including finishing third-equal last year.
Paritutu had an excellent blend of youth, experience and talent in its side which was selected by Rodger Hassall and managed by Mike Walsh.
Elgar, with two Dominion titles and now three other national titles, handled the singles berth expertly, his only blemish in the national playoff coming in the semifinals where he bowed 21-15.
Horo’s four went through the Taranaki competition and national finals unbeaten – until the final against Central Cambridge. Finishing the season with a 10 win-one loss record is, given the quality of the opposition, worthy of a NZ title.
They were marginally bettered by the Collins and Goodin, who became the ultimate contributors. While Collins and Goodin were restricted to a draw in their opening game in the Taranaki event – ironically, against fellow Paritutu members Kevan Sellers and Steve Cottam, playing under the Vogeltown banner – they won their other 10 games to finish the season unbeaten.
Paritutu beat Riverside (Marlborough) 2-1 in the semifinals, having beaten Victoria (Wellington) 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
Heavy rain on Friday meant that the section play rounds were abridged with clubs placed into sections of three. Paritutu recorded cleansweep victories over Awamoa (North Otago) and Paraparaumu Beach.
In the women’s Paritutu lost 2-1 to Papakura and beat Geraldine 2-1. Papakura also beat Gearldine to win the section.
In the women’s final, Stoke beat Raumati 2-1.