Canterbury Men win National Intercentre

Lorraine McLeodNews

Written by Grant Hassall for Stuff NZ

Canterbury have won the New Zealand men's inter-centre bowls title for a 12th time in a fascinating and fitting finale in Auckland on Sunday afternoon.

In the final, Canterbury defeated Nelson 2-1, with the fixture decided in a titanic singles clash which went the way of Canterbury's Blackjacks international Andrew Kelly 25-24 over current world singles titleholder, Shannon McIlroy.

With the final locked at one match apiece, it all came down to the singles game.

McIlroy led the singles 13-9 before Kelly turned the screws, drawing better and taking the advantage 22-14.
But McIlroy showed his steel, reversing the trend and swamping Kelly. He took the lead 24-23 and then drew three shots before Kelly, with his third bowl, ran the jack into the ditch and sat on top of it. McIlroy, drawing, went into the ditch and Kelly with his last bowl got enough movement out of another one of his bowls to claim the second shot and the encounter after an umpire's measure.

Nelson had grabbed the early initiative in the final when pair Peter Hodson and Richard Collett walked away from Canterbury's Nathan Glasson and Gary Lawson 23-7, after opening up an 11-0 lead.

The fours match was the next to conclude, with Lance Pascoe (Canterbury) drawing second shot on the last end to enable his side to hold off Robbie Reed (Nelson) 20-19. Pascoe and his side of Richard Hocking, Paul Mathieson and Kelvin Scott had held a two-shot lead playing the final head.

Reed's side comprised David Walker, Paul Baken and Jimmy Pugh.

It was the opposite in the semifinals, where Nelson advanced with one-point wins in the singles and fours, after its pair was soundly beaten. In the other semi, Canterbury beat Manawatu 3-0.

Inspired by an unbeaten run in the fours, Auckland claimed the women's title, defeating Nelson 2-0 in the final. The singles game was called off at 22-22 after Auckland had already won the other two disciplines.

The Auckland four of Linda Ralph, Lisa Prideaux, Estelle Hickey and Jill Fraser won all eight games they played during the tournament. Those wins included an 18-8 effort in the final over Nelson's Barbara Thomason, Dianne Potts, Amy McIlroy and Leigh Griffin.

Auckland's pair Ling Qu and Catherine Bein also enjoyed a productive event. They won seven games, their only slipup coming in the quarterfinals. In the final, Qu and Bein defeated Katie Scott and Colleen Earl 18-10.

Auckland singles player Karen Hema was more than adequate in the four-bowl game. Aside from two losses in section play, Hema performed credibly, which included the drawn final against Nelson's Kirsten Edwards.

Both semifinals were 3-0 results, with Nelson beating North Harbour and Auckland ousting Wellington.

Full results can be found on Bowls NZ Website: https://bowlsnewzealand.co.nz/news/national-intercentre-results/ 

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