BOWLING

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 122, 19 November 1932, Page 20

BOWLING

By "Number two" LAST WEEK'S PENNANTS

GAMES IN GUSTY GALE

NOTES ON THE PLAY

The first rounds of the Senior and Junior Pennants have been duly got off, but not under the most pleasant conditions. The gusty wind was very, troublesome on many greens, although! at Hataitai, where a hard nor'-wester often makes things unpleasant, it was not so bad—at least some players w^re not unduly worried about it. It was blowing pretty hard at Island Bay, and some of the teams found the conditions far too tricky. Victor Dimock, of the Wellington Club, can draw like a mustard plaster as a rule, but he could'not do that at Island Bay. In one heada bowl anywhere within four .feet of kitty would have been shot, but Dimoefc: failed to get within"that distance, so fierce was the breeze. He went down to Conder by 17 to 11." With 91.66 per cent, of wins, sole selector Arthur Clerke, of Island Biy, is very pleased" with the result of the first round. ' - ".-.:■■■-

Some teams crashed rather • badly/ but due allowance must be-made for the fact that the weather has .not been conducive to players getting much practice. Playing on the Hataitai.green, Ardell put down Barker, of Newtowh, by 25 points to 5. The Newtown teamcould not get a look-in,, so deadly was, Ardell and his men. Ardell himself was unbeatable, and, strangely.enough, it was the first game he had played for years in which he did not have a" bit of * run or a drive: he did nothing but draw, and could not go wrong. Ben-: hett, the Hataitai! lead, was ""on the job," too, and .was on the jack all the time, giving a splendid exhibition pf, leading. Although" Ardell subjected Barker to such a. decisive defeat, the latter's clubmate, Sexton, "put it all over" the Hataitai rink skipped:by the redoubtable Brighting, who went dowu to the tune of 30 points to, 8. Sexton, of course,,is'a hard proposition, and he !and Ms team, were after the. goose all [the time. : ■.

Another substantial win -was ■ that achieved by Naylor, Lyall Bay, who defeated Howatt, Central, by- 25 point* to 8, but the most sensational- victory of the day was that achieved by Crawford, Karori, against T. Me Arthur/ Petone. Crawford scored '40 points asainst Me Arthur's 9.1 • ■ " ■

The six Karori rinks Engaged .on Saturday looked hard on paper, but they only returned 50 per cent, of • wiris.' Crawford's score, of course,"speaks for itself. Neilsen's rink played excel-= lent bowls against the Petone four in charge of Silbery,/but the latter' was right on his game. Neilsen did "well to b^ only one down at the finish, seeing that the Petone rink was never headed throughout the game. Naismith won by one point from Nanearrow, of Thorndon, after a very hard and even struggle, but' Fred. Christenson was not well supported, and succumbed to Good? win, of Thorndon, by 27 to 17. Christenson is regarded by his clubmatesias one of the best skips in the club, albeit the unluckiest, and the general wish is that his luck will turn'for the, better. Two old warriors, , ChSrleyj Beynon, Petone, and Ben Burn, Karori, met each other, but' the -Karbri. four were defeated by a margin of lo points. Tom Adams played excellent bowls against the Petone rink led'by Lowry, late of Kelburn-Club, and Jthe erstwhile Kelburn skip went down by eight points. . ; .■-".* '-"-'■■■ G. Littlejohn, who joined-the Karori Club last season, is a. decided, acquisition, - being an expert' player of allround ability. He is expected to.'ba seen piloting a rink in the Pennants before long.

A keen green combined with a strong wind made for tricky conditions "at Seatoun. Though Seatoun managed to secure only two wins out. of six, two games wer© lost by the narrow margin, of only, one point. [. ' y'' "■: ' Gilbert (Seatoun) and McEwen (Petone) had a very even game to the 14th head, the scores being il aIL A run of success, then came to Gilbert, for he won six of the remaining heads, winning^ by seven points.

With a lead of five points, and lying first and third shots, Wright (Seatoun) surely .had a lien on his game against Mason (Thorndon), especially as the bowls were well paired. The last bowl of Mason's proved a wrecker. Missing with his first, he sent up a fast second. This hit another bowl, and when the two had finished a mad career it was found that every Seatoun bowl had been pushed out of position, Thorndon being six up. "Unfortunately no one had a camera, so a unique opportunity; to portray, facial expressions was lost.' Thomson XThorndon) also won by a single point. On the 21st head he lay; two. Jackson (Seatoun) drove and took the kitty into the ditch, but did not alter the position, his bowl not following through.

At Thorndon, Smith put the Seatoun skip, J. Gordon, thorouglily through his paces,. being, 13 up on the 12th head, which margin had only been reduced by, a point at the end of the game. Stone proved too good for Johnson (Thorndon). Even to the 11th head, the Seatoun team gradually improved its position, finally winning by six points. . .

At Petone, Jones (Seatoun) lost to Melhuish by four. Jones was two in the lead at the 19th,'but Petone came strongly and put on six points in. the last two heads;

The Junior Pennant game between Seatoun and Kelburn was well eontestea to the-10th head.' Gorringe (Eelburn) then forged ahead, being six up at therißth head. South (Seatoun). then obtained a grip of the play, winning the next three heads three, two, and two, thus c.apturing tho game. ' The Lyall Bay Club made a successful debut this season in achieving £va wins out of sis in the first round'of tie Pennants last Saturday. The rink that was beaten was that of J/B. Reid, which went down badly to Routley, "of Kelburn, by 27 to 16. Reid's rink was looked .upon as the strongest combina^ tiqn of the club's selection,.and his dcv feat canie as a surprise to/many; '.; .'." Newtown Club. ' : - A busy time is aheadJ for the .members of the Newtown Bowling- Club. Entries for the club's competitions are as follows:—Club rinks, 11; club pairg t 17; club singles, 17; and far the Underwood Cup, 18. Amongst the eytranta. appear the names of winners of Domin.--ion championship honours, as well as •■ centre tournament and, centre championship winners. -C. Davis, A; B. Duff \ - and J. H. Laughton are competing,! This trio were in the team which won the. Dominion rinks tournament-in 1916. A.-: B. Duff was in the rink which won "the-' centre tournament in 1910,; and he also:'skipped the rink which won the centre ' tournament in 1919. J. W. Sexton was? the skip of the pair which won the Dominion pairs championship at' Wellington in 1925. He was also lead for the late Bill Wylie when the latter won the centre pairs championship in 1916, and was also No. 3 for Bill Wylie: when the latter won the centre rinks ; championship in the same year. Then there are A. J. Pollock, who was associated with the rink which won the' centre tournament in 1909, and again in liJIO; C. Barker and S. C. Miadlebrook, who were in the late Geo. Prince's team which won the centre tournament in 1919; ana L. Warwick, who led for A. B' Duff when tho latter's team won the centre tournament in 3.910.