Bowls North Harbour vs Bay of Plenty – Sunday 16 January 2022

  • January 17, 2022
  North Harbour’s representative squads continued their preparations for the national inter-centre competition with another warm-up fixture at the weekend against Bay of Plenty at Katikati.

 Premier one and premier two teams in both genders made the trip for the one-day tournament, losing against strong opposition by an overall 14-10 after the first round had been squared at 6-all.

 Included in the Bay sides were a number of seasoned players such as Steve Beel and John O’Shea in the men’s and in the women’s former national champions Mina Paul and Mary Campbell.

 With Harbour sides still in the experimental stage the overall result was not totally discouraging. Matches were played in the normal format unlike the Ryder Cup golf format used in the Battle of Bridge before Christmas.

 Women’s selection convener Graham Dorreen pointed out all games were close with no major blow-outs. He was especially pleased with one of the women’s fours which won both games and  with the performances of Trish Croot, Lauren Mills and Adele Ineson.

 Men’s selection convener Gary Stevens said his colleagues were pleased with both fours considering they were new combinations.

 “Simon Poppleton, Daymon Pierson, Brent Malcolm and David Payne played consistently well against more experienced Bay of Plenty combinations while Gordon Smith, Jack Huriwai, Steve Yates and Duane McDonald won the first game and lost a very close second game only on the last end,” Stevens said.

 “The pairs are a work in progress with Walter Howden showing out in his second game and Jerry Belcher convincingly won his second singles game.”

 “Bart Robertson, recently recovered after a back operation, easily won his first singes game against John O’Shea, only to have O’Shea return the favour in the second game.”

 Bowls North Harbour will host the inter-centre event on March 17-20.