One victory for South Canterbury

Softball

The South Canterbury Men’s rep softball team travelled to Christchurch at the weekend to compete in the Jefferies Cup, the main South Island tournament held each season.

The team was made up of nine local players and four "pick-up players" from Canterbury.

South Canterbury played a round robin against Nelson, Canterbury, Otago and Southland.

First up on Saturday morning were Nelson and the teams were evenly matched with the score 1-1 going into the bottom of the sixth innings.

Antony Stuart made base on a walk and scored from a hit to centrefield by Chris Agnew.

Adam Green also hit to centrefield, advancing Agnew, and was replaced by pinch runner Ben Hunter Brady.

Stealing to second base and forcing the Nelson catcher to make an error, Hunter Brady made third base while Agnew crossed home plate to score.

South Canterbury shut out the Nelson batters at the top of the seventh innings and won the game 3-1.

The game against champions Canterbury was always going to be tough and the team did well to hold them to 3-0 for much of the game.

The final score was 7-0 to Canterbury.

In the last game of the day the South Canterbury men were able to make base but were left stranded, scoring only one run against Southland, who won the game 5-1.

On Sunday morning South Canterbury faced Otago in the last round robin game. They struggled to put the bat to ball with only two safe hits and lost the game 7-0.

Playing off for fourth and fifth, South Canterbury faced Nelson again.

It was 3-0 to Nelson at the bottom of the fourth innings.

Lead-off batter Adam Green placed a bunt in front of the catcher to make it to first base and was brought home by a hit to Josh Eastwood.

This boosted the team and at their next turn at bat Ben Hunter Brady made first on a walk and scored from a hit to right field.

Although they shut Nelson out in the next two innings South Canterbury were also unable to score again and the final score was 3-2 to Nelson.

South Canterbury’s top batter for the tournament was local player Adam Green, with four safe hits from 11 turns at bat.

Coach Adrian Whiu said the team had some new players this year and they all performed well.

"The plan is to start training early next season and build on the experience gained at this tournament." — Keri Murphy

 

Bowls

The Canterbury Senior team brought their A game to Timaru with a convincing win in the quadrangular against South Canterbury and North Otago at West End green on Sunday.

The Canterbury team have been outplayed the last three years but brought a stronger squad this year and performed brilliantly.

Hopefully, this is a great sign for the team and players stick to their province, as the team have proved in the past they are one of the strongest inter-centre teams in New Zealand.

The only unbeaten player on the day in seniors was Canterbury’s Hamish Wilson, who destroyed his opposition with outstanding bowls.

For South Canterbury, the pair of Scott Fisher and Dean Harper had two wins, with a great win against Canterbury’s Kelvin Scott and Hamish Kelleher.

Tom Taiaroa in the singles had an outstanding game against Joseph van der Pennen and after the bell went the players could not be separated with a 20-all draw.

Taiaroa continued his good form with a win against North Otago, but Wilson was too good in the third game.

The pair of Sean O’Neill and Marshall Stoddart lost their first two games against Canterbury by the slimmest of margins; the first against Rohan Ware and Liam Eathorne and some magic bowls by Nathan Glasson and Matt Small in the second, but came back fighting in last against North Otago with a solid win.

In the fours, Ricky Ross, Mitchell Dunbar, Richie Kerr and Roger Glendinning destroyed the North Otago four in the first game and had two solid performances against Canterbury, going down in both games after the bell had gone with one end to play.

Senior points: Canterbury Black 27, Canterbury Red 18, South Canterbury 16, North Otago 9. — Richie Kerr

 

The Kia Toa premier team had an outstanding season in winning the Bristol Cup on Saturday in one of the closest finals against West End club.

Kia Toa earned home advantage with a stellar season, dominating every club throughout section play against clubs from Awamoa (Oamaru) and Allenton (Ashburton) and South Canterbury clubs entering the competition.

In the semifinal Kia Toa and West End had comprehensive victories, winning all three games to progress to the grand final.

The Kia Toa pair of Mike Crook and Aaron Taylor had just two losses in section play and were up against West End’s Adrian Robins and Scott Fisher.

Taylor outplayed Fisher and made things easy for Crook, who added when needed and raced away to an 18-9 lead with nine ends to play.

The next end Fisher held two shots and Robins added two to close the gap to lead 18-13.

The next end was a classic with Robins sitting beside the kitty for two shots.

Taylor played a bomb of a shot sitting beside the kitty for two shots and Robins just missed but Taylor unfortunately just moved the kitty to Fisher’s bowl to drop one and close the gap to 19-14.

Four shots to each team over the next four ends took the score to 23-18 with two to play.

The next end, with Taylor holding one shot, Robins played a sensational shot to trail the kitty for three shots and add another and Crook missed with his last which closed the gap to 23-22.

The next end seesawed, with Robins trailing the kitty for shot and Crook just missing to finish with a draw.

In the fours, Kia Toa’s Alan Wilkinson, Locky Barnes, Leo Leonard and Jim Kane remained unbeaten in section play and played the West End four of Gary Ford, Barrie Andrews, Dave McNeill and Bruce Wakefield.

It was neck-and-neck for the first six ends but Wilkinson rallied his team with great bowls to run away with a 25-9 victory.

The singles was the game of the match, with Kia Toa’s Sean O’Neill up against Tom Taiaroa, who had filled in for both West End teams and remained unbeaten.

Some superb bowls were played by both players and the match seesawed, with heads changing bowl after bowl. With scores tied at 6-all O’Neill scored eight singles to lead 14-6.

Then the tide changed and Taiaroa scored 14 shots on the next nine ends to lead 20-14.

O’Neill closed the gap to 24-21, before Taiaroa took the lead 30-24.

On the other rink, the West End fours had to score on the last end but dropped five, which gave Kia Toa the win overall and the singles game wasn’t finished.

This was an outstanding game of singles with both players playing to their best and was a great game to mark.

Semifinal: Kia Toa v West End 2 (Kia Toa names first). Singles: Sean O’Neill 31, Dave Carey 14. Pairs: Mike Crook, Aaron Taylor 32, Alan Gillespie Ross Hinton 19. Fours: Alan Wilkinson, Locky Barnes, Leo Leonard, Jim Kane 23, Bob Smith, Peter Tutton, Dave Kitchen, Gavin Spence 14. West End 1 v Awamoa (West End names first). Singles: Tom Taiaroa 28, Adam Yaxley 21. Pairs: Adrian Robins, Scott Fisher 23, Dylan Edwards, Andrew MacGregor 18. Fours: Gary Ford, Barrie Andrews, Dave McNeill, Bruce Wakefield 28, Bill Jenson, Brent Cairns, Sonny Brown, Dion Murphy 10.

Final (Kia Toa names first). Singles: S O’Neill 24 v T Taiaroa 30. Pairs: M Crook 23 v Adrian Robins, Scott Fisher 23. Fours: Wilkinson 25 v Ford 9.

— Richie Kerr

 

Good hot weather started the day for the quad held at the Temuka greens recently, turning to a southerly then cold, but the games continued with the following results between South Canterbury, North Otago, Canterbury Black and Canterbury Red.

These games consisted of a single player, two pairs and a four.

In the development team, singles player Carolynn Darby won her last game against Canterbury Black 25-21. Her first game against Canterbury Red was a close loss 25-18 , and the second game a loss but closer still at 25-21.

In the first pairs, Carol Fowler and Chrissy Herbert won two of their three games, 18-6 against Canterbury Black, and 25-11 against North Otago. They lost 16-9 to Canterbury Red.

Pairs 2 Lyn Wilkie and Caroline Marshall, won two of their three games, the first against North Otago 17-9, and the second 14-10 against Canterbury Black. They lost their third game 21-6 to Canterbury Red.

The four of Sandra Sutton, Vicky Nicholson, Lyn Hodges and Barbara McIntosh played some good shots but lost all games, 27-1 against North Otago, 19-10 against Canterbury Black, and 16-5 against Canterbury Red.

Canterbury Red won the Helen Lightfoot Trophy with 24pts, second was North Otago on 18pts, third Canterbury Black with 15pts, and fourth South Canterbury with 15 pts but a differential of minus 24 to Canterbury Black’s minus 4.

In senior singles, Barbara Tiffen won two games from three, 25-17 against Canterbury Red, 25-16 against North Otago and lost to Canterbury Black 25-12.

In the first pairs Sam McAulife and Shelly McGrath lost 19-9 against Canterbury Black, lost 20-11 against Canterbury Red and lost 20-16 against North Otago.

The second pairs of Sharon Leonard and Janice Williams lost their first game to North Otago 24-9, won their second game against Canterbury Black 17-16, and lost their third game to Canterbury Red 23-12.

The fours of Bridget Kitching, Rana Crabtree, Julie McAuley and Maria Davey lost all three games, 15-10 to North Otago, 15-12 to Canterbury Black, and 18-10 to Canterbury Red.

Canterbury Red won the Bett Prattley Trophy, with 30pts from Canterbury Black, 21pts, North Otago was third on 12pts, and South Canterbury fourth on 9pts.

A bit disappointing of a result but to get a winner there has to be a loser. — Raewyn Crowe