Steelers were crowned the champions for the 2023-24 season. Back row, from left, are Chris Cockburn, Judy Hamer, Carine Peters, Steve McGrath, Tina Johnston, Kylie Little, Dan Waller, Adie Murray and Eric Dick and, front, from left, Emma Robers, Kenny Waller, Chris McConnochie and Kelly Hamer. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED
Softball
Club sides Steelers and Zingari Dirty Pirates have been friendly rivals for a few seasons and they met again in the senior final last Friday.
The game see-sawed between the two sides, providing spectators with some exciting moments.
Steelers put the first runs on the board and were three up in the first innings from a three-bag hit to Adie Murray.
At the top of the third inning three-base hits to Stephan Gamblin and Rikki Minchington evened the score up.
Steelers made a pitching change, replacing Chris McConnochie with Adie Murray, and Minchington was left stranded on base when the next two batters were struck out.
A rain shower hampered the pitchers and the Steelers scored another run at the bottom of the third. Dirty Pirates replied with one run at the top of the fourth.
At the bottom of the fourth inning, with the score at 4-all, Steelers batters began to hit, and were able to score two runs from a hit to Chris Cockburn.
He scored from a three-base hit to Kelly Hamer.
Steelers scored a further two runs before the side was retired and the score was 9-4 to Steelers.
Zingari rallied together at the top of the fifth inning and with seven safe hits, including a home run to Minchington, were able to score seven runs and take the lead 11-9.
Steelers were determined to take the trophy back off the defending champs, and, putting pressure on the Dirty Pirates fielders, they notched up seven runs with only one out taken.
A home run to Kenny Waller, scoring himself and his brother Dan, put Steelers seven runs ahead at the bottom of the fifth and ended the game 18-11.
Temuka Red Hawks defeated Zingari Dirty Reds 11-1 to finish in third place.
Unfortunately the weather and ground conditions prevented the junior grades from being able to play out their finals.
— Keri Murphy
Celebrating their South Canterbury Indoor Bowls Umpires triples 2024 win are (from left) David Mealings, Cory Harnett and Mary Mealings.
Indoor Bowls
David Mealings, Cory Harnett and Mary Mealings won the South Canterbury Umpires triples tournament at the weekend.
They had four wins, 23 ends and 46 score points and won on a countback from Jenelle Lockyer, Hayden Harnett and Kelvin Lockyer with four wins, 22 ends and 43 score points.
Allan Gibson, Carol Dawson and Dave Shand were third with three wins and a draw.
Finishing fourth with three wins were Neville Gould, Ruth Gould and Debs Ruffell.
This was an excellent start to the season with some close matches and some good bowls played during the night.
In the opening pairs played last Saturday, no team managed four wins from four games and a countback was required to separate those teams with six game points.
Alan Reid and Neisha Hogg won with 19 ends and 33 score points.
Second were Allan Gibson and Alan Sullivan with 18 ends and 32 score points.
Third were Jenelle and Kelvin Lockyer with 17 ends and 24 score points.
Fourth were the only unbeaten team of the day — with two wins and two draws — Roger Beeke and Margaret Powell, with 14 ends and 31 score points.
The South Canterbury representative fixtures for 2024 have been confirmed as follows:
- April 21, women’s triangular (Daley trophy — v Ashburton & Canterbury) in Christchurch
- May 5 v Ashburton (Hight trophy) in Ashburton
- May 8 v Ashburton (Calder Shield) in Timaru
- May 18 — 19 women’s 8s in Balclutha
- July 13 Triangular (v Ashburton and North Otago) in Timaru
- July 13 v Ashburton (Prattley Trophy)
- July 20, 21st Quadrangular (v Ashburton, Canterbury and Otago) in Timaru
- July 27 Quadrangular (Strang Shield v Ashburton, North Otago and Otago) in Ashburton
- August 4 v Canterbury (Daley family trophy, Jackson Cup and Justin Thompson trophy) in Timaru
- September 14 — 15 Interprovincial division four South Island) in Christchurch.
— David Mealings SC Indoor Bowls publicity officer.
Women's Bowls
Zone six ran an over-60s Tournament at Phoenix Bowling Club in Oamaru at the weekend.
Two teams of four travelled to Oamaru and played five rounds of fours over two days.
Centres taking place were South Otago (SO), Southland (SthL), Dunedin (DUN), North Otago (NO), Central Otago (CO) and South Canterbury (SC).
Team one, Linda Gallagher (Geraldine), Jill Bennett (Kia Toa), Lorraine Tyro (Temuka), Caroline Marshall (Kia Toa): rd 1 beat NO 11-8, rd 2 lost to CO 10-15, rd 3 lost to DUN 15-16, Rd 4 beat SthL 19-11, rd 5 beat SO 20-9. Six points gained.
Team two, Lyn Wilkie (Timaru), Jackie Holley (Kia Toa), Ann Woffenden (Kia Toa), Maria Davey (Temuka): rd 1 lost to DUN 13-18, rd 2 lost to SthL 12-13, rd 3 lost to SO 9-18, rd four lost to NO 9-15, rd 5e lost to CO 7-2.
Results— Dunedin 22pts, Southland 17, Central Otago 15, North Otago 14, South Otago 10, South Canterbury 9.
Quadrangular
The Lex Kimber Quadrangular was held recently in Ashburton at the Ashburton Greens.
This competition was for players who had been playing for 1-10 years.
It consisted of five players in singles, pairs, triples and fours.
21 shots for singles (four bowls), 16 ends (three bowls) pairs, 16 ends (two bowls) triples, and 14 ends (two bowls) fours.
Singles: Carol Fowler (Geraldine) played North Otago and lost 9-21, drew with Canterbury Country 20-all, and lost against Central Otago 6-11. One point gained.
Pairs: Carolyn Darby (Temuka) and Chrissy Herbert (Kia Toa) played C Country and lost 12-17, lost to C Otago 8-11, and lost to N Otago 7-18. Zero points gained.
Triples: Vicky Nicholson (Geraldine), Andrina Stoddart (Temuka) and Carol Fowler (Geraldine) played C Otago and lost 11-21, drew with N Otago 13-all, lost to C Country 11-22. One point gained.
Fours: Carolyn Darby, Vicky Nicholson, Andrina Stoddart and Chrissy Herbert beat C Country 11-8, lost to C Otago 7-11, and beat N Otago 6-3. Six points gained.
Overall not a good day but it was a good experience for the young players.
Central Otago were winners with 30 points, Canterbury Country second with 19 points, North Otago third with 13 points and South Canterbury fourth with 8 points.
— Raewyn Crowe
The South Canterbury bowlers who won the men’s over-60s event are (back, from left) Barry Black, Paul Goddard, Ian Holley, Trevor Cloughley and (front, from left) Dick Bennett, Lindsay Bell, Colin Hobbs and Garry Ford.
Men's Bowls
The South Canterbury men's over-60s representative team played in zone six outdoor bowls over two days at the Phoenix Bowling Club.
This was the first time this event had been played, and the regions that participated were Southland, South Otago, Dunedin, North Otago, Central Otago and South Canterbury.
Each region had two teams of fours, and they played each other in a round-robin.
South Canterbury fours teams had an outstanding result, with both teams having four wins out of five to win the event, with complete control and outstanding performances.
South Canterbury team one was Gary Ford (skip), Colin Hobbs, Lindsay Bell and Dick Bennett, who had great wins against North Otago, Central Otago, Dunedin and South Otago, only going down to the Southland team.
Team two was Trevor Cloughley (skip), Ian Holley, Paul Goddard and Barry Black.
They had good wins against Dunedin, Southland, North Otago and Central Otago, only losing to South Otago.
Both skippers, Ford and Cloughley, played brilliant bowls, and guided their teams to outstanding wins.
Both skips were also full of praise for the way their teams played.
Results— 1 South Canterbury 24 pts plus 27, 2 Southland 18 plus 24, 3 Dunedin 16 plus 30, 4 South Otago 15 minus 15, 5 Central Otago 12 plus 21, 6 North Otago 4 minus 79.
— Richie Kerr
