Sports news from around Otago.
North Otago
By TERRY O'NEILL
Union and Albion emerged as favourites for the Holiday 20/20 cricket competition when both came through unbeaten on Saturday in the two rounds played.
Union beat Valley in the first round by seven wickets after Valley, sent in to bat by Union, made 103 for seven in its 20 overs.
Tom Squire held the side together with an unbeaten 35.
Union cruised past the Valley target in the 16th over with Duncan Drew unbeaten on 32, which included four fours and a six, while Sean Conlan added 26.
Albion put Oamaru in to bat at Awamoa Park and the side batted through its 20 overs to be 109 for eight, Ben Lewis top-scoring with 22, while Dylan Winter and Ricky Whyte took two wickets each for Albion.
Albion lost only two wickets as it made 110 in reply, with Steve Halliwell unbeaten on 48, an innings that included seven fours and a six, while Chris Cunningham made 30 with the pair adding 79 for the second wicket.
In the second round, Union put Oamaru in to bat with Oamaru batting through its 20 overs to be 120 for eight, with Anthony Sewell (26) and Ben Coleman (28) the best of the batsmen.
Chris Ware, Issac Shields and Duncan Drew took two wickets each for Union.
Union passed the Oamaru total with seven wickets in hand in the 17th over, with Antony Cromwell (31) and Sean Conlan (22) providing the bulk of the runs.
Valley won the toss against Albion at Awamoa Park and bucked the trend by deciding to bat first.
The side batted through its 20 overs to be 109 for seven, with Hayden Tisdall leading the way unbeaten on 42 and Dean Malcolm adding 30.
Whyte and Winter took two wickets each for Albion.
Albion passed the Valley total in the 18th over, with Brad Kernahan producing an unbeaten 48, while Blair Malcolm took two for seven off three overs for Valley.
The second round of Mills shield bowls was played on Saturday morning with Phoenix Gold, Meadowbank Green, Kurow, Meadowbank Gold all scoring 2-0 wins, while Hampden edged out Phoenix Maroon, after Noel Riddell and Russell Aimers had drawn their game 16-16 but Brian Grumball beat Phoenix's Tony Hill 26-11.
The closest game of the morning was between Meadowbank Gold and Maheno.
Meadowbank won 2-0 but only two shots separated the teams on aggregate.
John Griffin beat Neil Robson 26-25, and Graeme Robins beat Neville Ludemann 21-20.
The second round of Sevens was played on Saturday afternoon with Awamoa Gold, Phoenix Maroon, Awamoa Blue and Meadowbank Gold coming through with unblemished records.
In the second round of women's sevens, Meadowbank beat Phoenix 3-0, with Anne McDonald registering a good 25-19 win over Kerry Kelly, while in the pairs Dorothy Breen held out Brenda Direen 18-13, and in the fours Daphne Campbell downed Sue Jones 26-14.
Awamoa Blue beat its Gold team 3-0, with Dawn Murphy beating Aileen Millar 25-23 in the singles.
Maria McMahon had a big win over Dulcie Robson in the pairs, 29-13, while in the fours Wilma Caldwell edged out June Gillespie 19-12.
Southern sub association tennis commenced on Saturday with teams consisting of four men and two women playing singles and doubles.
Weston beat Herbert by eight matches to one, while Oamaru Central and Hampden beat Waikouaiti and Waimanui respectively by similar margins.
Central Otago
By RHYS CHAMBERLAIN
The ECNZ Trophy bowls competition got under way at the weekend after the winter break.
Omakau, Roxburgh and a new side, Hickeys, all got maximum points in the first round after recording three wins.
It was a less than perfect start, however, for last season's high flyers Alexandra KM and Millers Flat and RSA 1, all of which failed to record a win.
In the west zone competition, Wanaka leads the field after one round with 8 points followed by Queenstown and Bannockburn each with 6.5 points.
South Otago
By NORMAN WOODS
The summer sporting season opened in South Otago at the weekend with the men's interclub bowls competition, with 14 teams competing.
The biggest win of the day went to Balclutha which beat Milton White 10-2.
Blair Thomson and Tony Cook both collected two wins each.
The only points for Milton White came from Murray Grant.
Town and Country got off to a splendid start with a 10-2 win over Clinton.
For T and C, Bruce Campbell and David Renton scored two wins each ,while Barrie Keach recorded one win.
The best for Clinton came from Alan Mathieson, who led his four's team to a 17-7 win over Barrie Keach.
Owaka showed good opening form with a 8-4 win over Finegand.
For the winners, Bill Bird, Tom Dallas, Alex Black and Bryan Price scored one win each.
Best for Finegand came from Jack Harrold and Dave Roxburgh.
Kaka Point and Stirling drew their game at 6-6.
Neville Murdoch scored two excellent wins for the Seasiders, with John Hurst picking up the other win.
For Stirling, John Sutherland had two wins, and Bob Sanders one win.
Finegand and Kaka Point Orcas had big wins in the opening round of the men's midweek bowls competition.
Finegand was too strong for Milton Sinners, winning by 27-11, and skipped by Jack Harrold.
Kaka Point Orcas were just as impressive with a 29-13 win over Waihola.
Stirling began its season on the right note with a 20-12 wins over Kaka Point Seals.
Clinton beat Balclutha Red by 18-12, with Balclutha White scoring a 17-11 win over Owaka.