The tactical nous and experience of former New Zealand representative Bett Prattley guided the Geraldine women's pair to the national club championship finals in Dunedin yesterday.
Marion Patrick (67) and Prattley (66) won four of their five games on the Andersons Bay green to beat the Clinton pair of Glenys Bell and Wynette McLachlan on differential.
Each team won four games but the South Canterbury combination had a better differential of plus 43, compared with Clinton's plus 32.
Geraldine appeared to be cruising towards an easy win in the round-robin competition between the six regional teams after beating Southland 21-11, Dunedin 19-14 and Central Otago 22-4 in the first three rounds.
But the South Otago combination of Bell and McLachlan put a spanner in the works when they beat Geraldine 12-9 in the fourth round.
The winner of the fifth-round game between Clinton and the Taieri pair of Beth Brown and Janet Swallow both had the chance of winning the event on differential if they won their last game and gained four wins.
South Canterbury trounced North Otago 23-10 and Patrick and Prattley had to wait anxiously while South Otago beat Dunedin 23-14.
Prattley, who has been playing bowls since 1975, has an outstanding record in the sport.
She won a bronze medal in the fours at World Bowls in 1996 and a gold and silver medal at the Asia and Pacific Bowls in Dunedin in 1995.
She has won three South Canterbury titles this season to take her tally to a South Canterbury record of 31 titles.
Patrick has won 25 South Canterbury titles.
The South Canterbury men's pair of Steve Jones and Danny Rooney made it a double for the Geraldine club, when they remained unbeaten after four games to advance to the national final.
They beat Dunedin 17-14, North Otago 26-11, South Otago 26-11 and Central Otago 18-14 to advance to the national final.
They did not need to play the final round.
Their most difficult game came in the first round, when they beat the Fairfield combination of Andy McLean and former New Zealand World Bowls representative Ken Walker.
It has been a good season for both bowlers who gained their South Canterbury gold stars. Jones became 50th South Canterbury bowler to gain a gold star.
The winning Geraldine pairs will represent Zone Six region in the national finals at Rotorua next month.
