National Interclub 7’s Report

The margin in top class bowls between victory and disappointment can be an extremely fine one, as the two North Harbour representatives in the national inter-club sevens play-off found at the weekend.  In the men’s championship Takapuna just missed qualifying for post-section and while the Mairangi Bay ladies achieved that distinction in the women’s they narrowly missed out in the quarter-finals.

For all that it was a gallant effort by Mairangi Bay’s Elaine McClintock in the singles, Gaye Horne and Kerin Roberts in the pairs and the four of Sheryl Wellington, Jan Gledhill, Colleen Rice and Theresa Rogers. Elaine did win her quarter-final singles against Invercargill, but the pair lost by just two shots and the four suffered its only defeat. Mairangi dropped its opening round match to Waikato’s Hinuera, then won in the second round against Central Otago’s Arrowtown before, in the third and fourth rounds, having wins over Papakura (Counties-Manukau) and Martinborough (Wairarapa).  Invercargill went on to make the final, but lost to Auckland’s Carlton-Cornwall.

It was a double for the Auckland centre, with the Auckland club winning the men’s final from Southland’s Gore.

Takapuna had the consolation of beating the strong Gore side in the qualifying rounds, but a first round loss to Nelson’s Stoke when all three games were lost proved costly. It was a close third after the first round but found switching to the extremely fast Howick greens difficult in the fourth and fifth rounds, dropping both matches to Wairarapa’s Martinborough and to Kapiti Coast’s Paekakariki.
It was a tall order for Takapuna being in the same section as the strong Gore and Stoke combinations, who were spearheaded respectively by Sheldon Bagrie-Howley and Shannon McIlroy, both winners of the national singles title and Black Jacks.  Takapuna’s singles player, Brent Malcolm, did well to push both these two fine players and then won his three remaining games.

There was some consolation for the Harbour centre last week, though. Birkenhead’s Millie and Chad Nathan and Mark Rumble beat their Auckland opponents, Balmoral, and so won the right to play in the national three-five finals in Wellington.