The Milford 5000 was held last weekend in atrocious conditions.
Please find a report from Barry Baillie and Glenda Rountree about the tournament and their teams performace.
Milford 5000 – Tournament Wrap
What a weekend of bowls at the Milford 5000! With 32 strong teams from around the region competing over two days, it was always going to be a tough and enjoyable challenge. Our team of Rosemary Nicol, Flora MacDonald and Barry Baillie put in a solid performance across the weekend.
Day 1 greeted us with some “character-building” weather — plenty of wind and the odd squally shower to keep everyone on their toes. Some teams handled it better than others, but our crew took it in stride and played well enough to qualify for the Championship Round. Two strong wins set us up nicely, and although we suffered an unlucky loss in one game (after holding four shots on the head before rain forced a replay and the game was shortened to six ends), that’s all part of the win-some, lose-some nature of tournament bowls. Importantly, it didn’t affect our final qualifying position.
Day 2 – Championship Round
We opened against Orewa, who burst out of the blocks early. While we mounted a solid comeback, we just couldn’t quite close the gap. Next up were Sunnybrae, and that one ended in a well-earned draw — a good game with a fair result. Then came Howick, who edged us out with a narrow win after a close battle from start to finish. Our final game saw us claim a very credible draw against a strong Mt Wellington side. Not quite enough to land us in the prizes, but plenty to be proud of.
Most pleasing of all was how our team played as a true unit — everyone contributed equally, combined well, and kept the spirits high throughout.
A big thank you to Milford Bowling Club for hosting another great competition — as always, superbly organised and attracting a high-calibre field. Special mention too to our supporters; we really appreciated you coming along to cheer us on.
And finally, congratulations to Manly on successfully defending last year’s title — a well-deserved win!
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Glenda Rountree, Hanaan Shahwan & Annie McGrath
Day One :
Wind/Rain/Heavy Showers – what a challenge!! Played 4 games – 1 win a draw 2 losses. We were holding 4 on the last end against Howick when the bell rang because of heavy rain. There was some confusion as to what should happen – the bowls were picked up and the last end replayed (whereas other teams continued play). So into the Plate.
Day Two :
Two good wins against St Helier’s/Sunnybrae – a draw against Takapuna (we were holding on the last end and the Skip took the jack back) and a loss to the runner up, Howick.
St Helier’s came 3rd/Sunnybrae 5th and we came 7th out of 16.
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Photos of the winning Manly team and the conditions of the green.
