Bowling Notes

Free Lance, Volume IV, Issue 186, 23 January 1904, Page 11

Bowling Notes

By Wrong Bias.

The Bowling Tournament at Auckland.

THE final tussle between Ponsonby and Wellington for the Championship honours took place last Fn- • day afternoon on the Graf ton green, and was worthy of the occasion. The spectators sat on the bank and benches ■enclosing three sides of the green, and warmly applauded each rood shot. Ballantyne skipped against Neil McLean, both being driving skips and Barker against Lockie, his brother-in-iaw. Every few heads the aggregate totals were chalked up on a large blackboard at the side of the green, and the excitement grew intense, as when the game was two-thirds gone Ponsonby caught and passed Wellington. It was anybody's game till the very last bowl was played. Neil McLean, led Ballantyne after the eighth head, but on the fifteenth head he was caught by Ballantyne, who drew away and finished 19 to 11. Neil McLean, however, with his last bowl took the jack into the ditch, and scored 4, leaving the game 15 to 19. At this time Lockie was leading Kirker 17 to 12, with four heads to go. Kirker added one! point on the eighteenth head, making a tie in the aggregate. In the last head, Ponsonby wanted one to tie, or two to win, Lockie having with his last shot, in the twentieth lead fluked two by trailing the jack. On the last head, Kirker was laying game, with two shots close to the ditch, when Lockie, with a beautiful draw, lay the shot and won the game by one point. An exceptionally good draw was needed to win the p^ame for Wellington and Lockie was equal to the emergency. Bell and Andy Hamilton at once rushed for their skip and mounted him shoulder high, and carried him down the green in triumph, amid loud cheers and general congratulations. * * * Kirker, with the best of intentions for Ponsonby, gave Wellington ten points during the game. On the sixth head Ponsonby was lyingi 5, and no Wellington bowl to go. Kirker. however, had one to play, and, in tryincr with a fine shot to wrest out Wellington's nearest, which counted as No. 6. he bumped it into second place, thus losing 4 points for his side. In the ninth head again Ponsonby was 1 lying two, when Kirker, nla-mg a narrow firm shot with his last bowl, carried the jack to Wellington, aaid left them with four. Still, in some of the other heads he saved when it was needed. * * * The first stage of the Citizens' Match, for prizes subscribed by Auckland citizens started on Friday afternoon, about forty-seven rinks entering. Through carelessness, two Mount Eden rinks, which were drawn against Lockie's and Ballinger's Wellington rinks, were allowed to play on their own green. Lockie's rink, consisting of Drummond, Hamilton, Bell, and himself played against H. W. Brookes Mount Eden rink, and only scored 8 against 1C for thirteen heads when they adjourned for the night. In the last eight heads, which were played on Saturday, they pulled up 6 Boints, and lost the game by two. Geddis, Webb, Berry, and BalUnger made a stiff fight against Rankin's Mount Eden rink. Driving by Ballinger left Rankin with 6 on the ninth head and, as he had two fours prior to that, he led by 17 to 7. Wellington knocked off driving and settled down to business, with the result that on the eighteenth head the game was 18 all. On the nineteenth head Wellington led by one, but the last two heads were played in the dark. Ballinger lay game on the last head, when Rankin. with his last bowl, just trickled in and robbed him of it. Ballinger scored in thirteen heads. Nedl McLeans rink, on the Grafton green, beat Lambert's easily by 23 to 14. Sievwright's Thorndon rink bumped out Oliphant's, of Auckland, by 32 to 20.

J. Price, of Newtown, beat Fred. Mowlem, of Palme<rston,, by 27 to 18 * # • In the second round, Sievwright's rink beat G. Court's Remuera rink by 24 to 16, and Beatson's rink beat Brackenndge's by 20 to 15. Veale's Ponsonby rink knocked Price's out of time by 26 to 17, while McLeans got ahead of Ransom's by 24 to 18. » • • In the third round, Sievwnght's Thorndon team downed Massey's Gisborne crowd by 27 to 15, and McLean, accounted for F. Court's party by 28 tf» 19. # ■¥ * In the fourth round, a very interesting game was played between Neil Mclean of Wellington, and Sievwria;ht, of Thorndon. The Thorndon men played rather carelessly at first, and allowed Wellington to score 15 against 4_. For six heads Sievwright's men pulled themselves together, and stopped any further leeway. With four heads to gro they wanted 11 to tie and 12 to win and, to their ciedit be it said, they only lost that win, bj what is known as a "howling fluke." Sievwright, in the eighteenth head, scored 5 out of the 12 by driving the jack into the ditch. The nineteenth and twentieth heads fell to Thorndon for ai single apiece. They started the twenty-first head w lth five to get to win, and with all their bowls played they lay the required [• McLean drove with his first bowl and missed. With his last bowl he sent up a, draw, but sent it ut> very narrow "Hang it," he said to Sievv right, '"I've thrown away the game." Everybody regarded it as. a miss but here the element of luck came in. That despised bowl — "Narrow as the free kirk," as an onlooker obseived — kicked against another bowl, which straishten,ed it m its course, and rolled it into first place. "Well, Neil has Chinaman's luck, today," remarked a Thorndon man, as he turned sadly away. * * * The next round was the semi-final. McLeans Wellington rink against H. W. Brookes Mount Eden rink, and Allnutt's Dunedin rink against Savwell's Fealdmg rink. As in many other games, McLeans men went off with a great bat, scoring 15 to 3 for ten heads. Then, Mount Eden began to wear them, down, and, with thirteen heads gone, were 10 to 15. and on the twentieth head were 16 to 19. They made a game try to get that 3 on the last head, but Neil was too good a general, and gave them only one, the game ending 19 to 17. Saywell's Feilding men, gave Allnutt's Dunedinit.es a great run, and only lost by 16 to 22. * * • On Tuesday forenoon, the last act in the drama came off on the Grafton green. Feilding started at 7 a.m. by playing off Brookes Mount Eden team for the third prize. It was a keen struggle, Mount Eden winning on the last head by 18 to 17. * * # At 9.30, Dunedin and Wellington, skipped by Allnutt and Neil McLean respectively, opened the final scene, W. McDonald, D. Buchanan, C. Payne, and W. Allnutt playing in, that order against J. Reioh, E. J. Hill, J. Mentiplay, and N. McLean,. The Dunedin men, were resolved to allow Wellington no fly-away lead, and reckoned if they could hold their own to the half-way house they would win comfortably. Dunedin moved off from the jump, putting up 7 in the first three heads. Wellington drew blood for 3 in the fourth head, and followed it with a single. At the tenth head ; Dunedin led by 14 to 6, but with thirteen heads gone, the lead had vanished, and the game was 1* all. Then, Dunedin came with a strong spurt, scoring through the next four heads— 2, 2, 3, I—making1 — making the game 22 to 14, with seven head's to go. Wellington was unable to lift this Dunedm mortgage, for Allnutt and his men were sifply guarding against surprises. The last head started with Dunedin 23 t~> 16. so that Wellington wanted 7 to tie. Allnutt took care they did not get more than 2, and Dunedin nobbled first prize by 23 to> 18. Mr. Kirker presented the prizes immediately afterwards. Each Dunedin player receivd a silver tea and coffee service, worth £7 each. Neil McLeans rink received handsome marble clocks worth £6 each. Brookes Mount Eden team received smaller marble clocks, worth £2 10s each. Mr. Kirker said he himself had found the Dunedin men very hard nuts to crack whereupon a jocular bowler happily capped the remark, and scored a dead hit by calling out "All nut!" Mr. Allnutt, in responding, said the 1 Dunedin. players, in attending this

tournament, had had the bowling treat of their lives, and promised there would, by much bigger representation of Southern bowlers at the Wellington Exhibition Tournament, next year.