THORNDON RINK WINS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1932, Page 5

THORNDON RINK WINS

FINAL OF TOURNAMENT

MARGIN OF 20 POINTS

The Flyger Shield, the trophy for the winning rink in the Wellington Bowling Centre's annual tournament, will rest in tho hands of the Thorndou Bowling Club for the nest twelve months. The tournament had a surprising finish, when Smith's rink (Thorndon) defeated the Lyall Bay rink skipped by Brackenridge by 20 points on the Thorndon green on Thursday afternoon. The green was in perfect condition, although toward the end of the game the breeze became a little irksou. and played capriciously with some very promising and possibly vital shots. After the close games that had been played iv the earlier stages, Smith's margin of. 20 at the 19th head was a surprise to all who had watched the progress of the tournament. Smith opened his account with two on the first head, and Brackenridge recovered one of them on the nest, when Raven drew in and cut Horwood's shot bowl out. The third head opened an unfortunate period for Brackenridge. Smith's men took charge of the draw shots, and lay five up when the skips went down. Brackenridge was wooded in his drive to kill the head, and Smith sent another on, taking 6ix for the head and making him 8-1. The Thorndoi. skip took the fourth head with one by turning one of his own bowls in when his opponent was lying the shot in an accessible position. The fifth was well spread out, giving Smith a chance to Ilip in when lying one and got the second shot as well, Braekenridge missing him by a hairsbreadth. Smith 11-1. ACCURACY TELLS. In an open sixth head, Raven placed a pretty jack-high bowl, and Sherwood nestled alongside him for second shot, but Smith cut out the shot bowl and took the shot himself by a whisker. Brackenridge could not get in, and Smith added one to his score. Several pacy bowls left the seventh head well open, and Horwood's first held the shot until Sherwood rested off the shot bowl and took its place. Smith, with devastating accuracy, turned his own bowl in—a beautiful shot —and took one for the head. He then led, 13-1. Thorndon secured a further two on the next head, and it was not until the ninth that the Lyall Bay skip managed to break the spell and improve his score. Lawrie placed two nice bowls alongside the jack, and Smith, with his first overweight and his second a bit skinny, failed to shift them. Brackenridge put his two in scoring positions, and took four for the head. Smith now led 15-5. Smith got two on the 10th head, when he placed a dead draw on top of Casey's shot bowl, and conceded one in the 11th, in which Lawrie's second bowl stayed in shot position throughout. Smith 17-6.. Raven was leading better for the Bay rink, and opened the 12th with a promising draw. Smith upset things and took the shot when Lyal' Bay lay four. up, but Brackenridge's last bowl slid around the bunch and cuddled the jack, 'Smith missing a similar shot by a fraction. Smith 17-7. LJAY'S FINAL EFFORT. Three were added to Smith's score on the 13th, when he followed the jack into the ditch and had another two lying handy. Braekenridge did an almost similar thing in the following head, when he slid the jack into the ditch and followed on, taking two and making the score 20-9 against him. Brackenridge parked his bowls all round the jack in the 16th, and Smith preferred to leave him with one than to risk an overweight bowl for a possible three or four against. Brackenvidge's score at 10 'looked very sick on the board agaiust Thorndon's 21, and in the ensuing heads the Bay rink's objective was to score in big numbers-and kill anything with only one showing up. Casey and Briggs did the Jamage in the 17th and Smith put in another, which Brackenridge tried in vain to dislodge. With 2't-.10 against him, Brackenvidge faced an impossible task at the 18th head, and interest in the game faded as his chance of victory became smaller. He essayed twice unsuccessfully to kill the head when lying one up, but Smith drew the shot finally and led 26-10. The Lyall Bay skip required 16 to tie, with three heads to go. Three of Smith's bowls clustered around the jack. Lawrie took one away, and Sherwood shifted several more, and when the skips went down three bowls only—all Smith's—lay on the green. Smith improved this position by one and took four for the head. The match thus ended after the 19th head with the folk wing result:— Thorndon—Horwood, Briggs, Casey, Smith (s) 30. Lyall Bay—Raven, Lawrie, Sherwood Brackenridge (s) 10. At the conclusion of the game the president of the centre (Mr. M. J. Hodgins) presented the trophies.