Shannon McIlroy pushed in final

Stoke's Shannon McIlroy has successfully defended his Stoke Invitation Singles title, but not without being severely tested in the final by Marlborough's Andre Smith.

The pair had a hard-fought battle in section play, the match eventually falling McIlroy's way 21-19. The decider was just as close with McIlroy prevailing by the same margin.

The nature of the encounter has become something of a trend between the pair.

"Me and Andre, the last five games have been 21-20 or 21-19," McIlroy said.

"We've had some great battles."

The match lasted more than two hours, with momentum swinging between the players.

Smith shot out to a 5-1 lead, before McIlroy first clawed his way back, and then went out to a 9-5 advantage.

Both Smith and McIlroy displayed some impressive attacking and defensive play, with many ends going down to the last bowl.

McIlroy looked to be heading for victory when leading 18-15 after the 23rd end, but rain made play difficult and Smith was able to lock the match up at 19-all after the 27th.

McIlroy had a slight advantage with one bowl each to play in the following end.

Smith missed his drive, and a perfectly weighted delivery by the 22-year-old New Zealand representative gave him a two, and the victory.

He became only the second player, after Manawatu's Peter Shaw, to defend his Stoke title.

McIlroy said he was pleased just to make it out of section play earlier in the tournament.

"It was tricky on the first day ... it was quite gusty and windy, therefore it was quite an equaliser.

"You just had to persevere and keep going through it."

Post-section play was also tough, with McIlroy getting past Stoke's Larry Sutherland 21-12 and Marlborough's Kelvin Scott 21-16.

He dropped his match to Marlborough's Shayne Sincock 21-20, but went through courtesy of a superior scoring differential.

He said it was nice to head up to next week's New Zealand Open in Auckland with some confidence after his victory at home.

"I don't think it's too much of an advantage [playing at home], but I suppose at the end of the day these are the greens I practise on.

"I hope all goes well and I carry on where I left of here and play well."

Smith, paid tribute to his opponent.

"It's not too disappointing to lose to a true champion."

He faced a mighty battle to move out of post-section play and into the final after being tied on two wins with Marlborough's Lloyd Gallop and South Canterbury's Sean O'Neill.

He also went through with a superior scoring differential.

Stoke's Peter Hodson came out on top of South Canterbury's Barry Andrews in the plate final.

- © Fairfax NZ News