All interclub sides got off to a winning start to the interclub season!
Women’s Division 1
With some women unavailable for Round 1, and the injured Yvonne playing with a ‘bowls arm’, it was a great result for the women to win two games in Round 1 vs Upper Hutt. Superstar women’s player Helen got a win in the singles, and the big result of the day came in the pairs with Nina De Munnik and Julia Spiers having a bonus point win in the pairs. The under-strength fours lost by a bonus point, and some players from both sides will need to practice getting their bias right this week.
This puts the women in third place after Round 1
Men’s Division 1
The top men’s team are unbeaten after Round 1, getting two wins and a draw against the newly promoted Petone Central side. Ray’s singles game with fellow rep player Steve Ditfort was close most of the way before Ray pulled away at the end of the game. The fours team of Robbie, Ian, Tim, and ben got off to a big start thanks to some big bowls played by Ben at skip, and always looked the better team in their win. A great win for Robbie Bennett at lead to put an end to the unusual losing streak he was on. Maybe a winning streak has commenced for him now!
It was a nailbiter in the pairs for James Fairhall and Laurie Guy vs James Macmillan and Euan Wong. In a match with a bit of see-sawing, the Petone Central pair were two ahead on the last end. Laurie drew a beautiful shot last bowl of the match to give Victoria 2 shots and a measure for the win. With Rangi walking up to do the measure, Richard Corry instead got the call up. It turned out we should have got Rangi to do the measure, as Richard correctly measured and determined Petone Central had third shot, so the match concluded in a draw. Some laughs were had in regard to earlier in the match with the cry of ‘Pump me! Pump me!’ heard across the green.
The men are second in the table, with only Naenae getting 3 wins to be 3 points ahead of Victoria at the top.
Men’s Division 2
The men’s second team got a win, draw and a lost away Hutt’s top team. They edged the tie 15-14 on points. Chance got a big bonus point win in the singles. The fours team of Goz, Roy, Mark, and Rhys got a draw. The pairs team of Sid and Goudge were close but then couldn’t score in the last five ends.
Open gendered Prems
The open gendered side got a healthy two wins against what seemed to be a strong Plimmerton team that could get a lot of wins in this division.
It was a big help for the strength of the side to have Richard Corry as a late call up and put into the singles. He wasn’t getting it all his own way though as he was behind slightly early on, and was only ahead 11-9, until he pulled away for a bonus point victory. The fours team of Cuzzie, Robert, Colvin, and Rangi got home in a match that was tight all the way thanks to some wonderful saves by the Victoria third player. The match came down to the last end with Victoria one ahead going into it. The Victoria lead put the kitty in the ditch, so Plimmerton went for a ‘two to two’ long end. With Victoria down a couple, Colvin was short (again) with his first bowl, but then played a good bowl with his second to nudge his own bowl in for shot. Rangi then added with his last to get the win by 3 and stop Plimmerton from getting a bonus point there.
Interclub continues in two weeks. You can find the future fixtures on the 2024-25 Season Programme page.
Division 1 tables after Round 1:
