Stoke take title in thrilling finale

The Stoke club, representing Nelson, prevailed in a thrilling end to last weekend's zone interclub division one men's bowls final, played at the Blenheim Bowling Club.

Stoke, Blenheim, Blaketown, representing the West Coast, Westport RS, representing Buller, and the Canterbury club were the teams vying for the right to go forward to the national finals.

Stoke ended day one with a handy two-game lead over Blenheim and Canterbury after three rounds of singles, pairs and fours.

Round four on Sunday saw Stoke retain their advantage over Blenheim, with the other teams dropping out of contention.

Blenheim were left with the difficult task of needing to win all three disciplines and reverse a 19-shot differential, and for Stoke to lose two of their matches.

Kelvin Scott got Blenheim off to a great start, beating Stoke's New Zealand representative Shannon McIlroy 21-16. The Blenheim pair of skip Steven Gallop and lead Gerald Morrissey capped off an excellent tournament by beating Canterbury 15-11 and keeping their unbeaten record intact.

The Blenheim four of skip Lloyd Gallop, Paul Langley, Lindsay Thomason and Colin Wratt had to beat Westport to record their first win of the tournament. They did so in impressive fashion 25-14.

This meant Blenheim had drawn level with Stoke and reduced the points differential to eight.

Playing the last end against Blaketown, Stoke were trailing 4-12, giving Blenheim an advantage. However, a four to Stoke on the final end tied the games and differentials, which meant Stoke won, having conceded fewer shots during the tournament, 179-184.

Division two featured Motueka, Blenheim, Greymouth, and Canterbury's Parklands.

Motueka ended Saturday's play unbeaten but after Sunday's first round, Blenheim had reduced the deficit to trail by three games.

Blenheim needed to win all their matches and rely on Motueka to lose all theirs.

Motueka won the singles to end Blenheim's hopes. For Blenheim, the pair of skip Mike McNulty and Les Belcher shone, winning three of their four matches. George Eaton bounced back from a first-up loss to win his next two, while the four of Warren Minogue, Gary Boyd, Dave Moore and Barry Bridges also had two wins.

In women's division one, played at Springlands, Springlands struggled against a classy Stoke team and Canterbury's Elmwood club. Elmwood took the title on Saturday, edging Stoke by a match.

Canterbury club Beckenham shone in women's division two at the Blenheim Workingmen's Club greens, finishing two points clear of Stoke.

Marlborough was represented by Kaikoura, their standout player being Karla Mansfield in the singles. She won two of her four matches, beating Beckenham and Blaketown.

- © Fairfax NZ News