The BNH Pennants Finals were played on Friday at Browns Bay.

It was not a pleasant day for bowls, it was fine but strong, gusty winds prevailed and and they got stronger as the day went on.

We had two teams in the finals which was a great achievement for our Club.

The Stingrays topped the West Zone winning the West Zone Pennant, in doing so they beat last year’s Pennants winners Riverhead.

The Sharks topped the East zone winning all their games.

On Friday they faced up to the North and South Zone winners, Birkenhead and Orewa Seagulls.

 

In the semi-final, the Sharks defeated the Seagulls 7-3, winning one game, one draw and winning the Master board with one loss.

Phil’s team had a big win 21-8, Leon lost 9-10 and Elaine drew after being well behind early on.

It was not looking good half-way through but the big win by Phil meant they won the master board and the match.

In the second semi-final, the Stingrays played a very strong Birkenhead team going down 10-0, losing all three games.

They struggled in the conditions and Birkenhead were just too good in the end.

 

The Stingrays then played Orewa Seagulls in the play-off for third and fourth.

Again they struggled with the gusty winds which had got worse and the Orewa side handled the conditions better with the Seagulls winning 10-0.

This was an impressive result by the Stingrays, they fell short in the Semi and Final but they performed very well and represented the club to a high standard.

 

The final ended up being very close and came down to the Masterboard total in the end.

Phil, Mike and Theresa were down early but fought back for a 12-11 win.

Leon, Gordon and Brian were also down early but came back with great win 19-8.

Unfortunately Elaine, Sheryl, a late replacement, and Bruce had a big loss 10-25, which meant Birkenhead won the master board 44-41,only three shots in it between winning and losing.

 

Elaine’s team did play a very strong Birkenhead side who played amazing bowls in the prevailing conditions.

Special mention to Phil, Mike and Theresa who were unbeaten on all three days.

 

Sharks.

Team 1 – Leon Wech, Gordon Jenkins, Brian Rogers.

Team 2 –  Elaine McClintock, Sheryl Wellington, Bruce McClintock.

Team 3 – Phil Chisholm, Michael Jelley, Theresa Rogers.

 

Stingrays.

Team 1 – Glenda Rountree, Judi Farkash, Lorna Donald.

Team 2 – Ian Coombe, Hanaan Shahwan, Rosemary Nicol.

Team 3 – Allan Langley, Barry Baillie, Joy Watkinson.

 

Report by Alan Daniels