Report – BNH Bowls3Five Weekend – 23 & 24 March 2024

Birkenhead, thanks to a brilliant bowl in the tie-break extra end from Chad Nathan, scored an exciting win in Sunday’s final of the centre’s three-five tournament over a competitive and courageous Mairangi Bay Dolphins line-up of Leon Wech, Hanaan Shahwan and Glenda Rountree.  Just when it seemed Mairangi Bay would secure yet another title, on top of its double success in the Cadness Cup a couple of days earlier, Nathan produced the shot of the match.

 

Glenda Rountree, who is in her final year as a junior, confirmed her promise as a lead by appearing to have clinched the win by drawing her two bowls almost dead on the jack.  They stayed there despite the best efforts of her opposing lead, the ever-consistent and experienced Mark Rumble.  But playing at two, with his last bowl, Nathan played with the right weight and with pin-point accuracy to sit out both the Mairangi Bay shots while not disturbing either the jack or the remaining Birkenhead bowl.   So with the win in the tie-break the Millie Nathan skipped Barfoot and Thompson line-up of brother Chad and Rumble took the honours, with each of sets being squared, Birkenhead winning the first 5-4 and the Dolphins the second 4-2.

The final was an excellent climax to a successful promotion of bowls with 48 teams from a wide range of the centre’s club contesting Saturday’s qualifying rounds.

 

And the quality of post-section play, particularly the final, would have been a strong counter argument against any of the game’s purists who might still have reservations about the quick-fire format and in a game where luck already plays such a part an even greater emphasis on the rub of the green.

Both semi-finals were also absorbing contests, with the Dolphins always maintaining an edge over Birkenhead’s second team in the final four, Gary Wallace, Mike Haggart and Connie Mathieson, winning 6-2, 5-3.

But the second, between the Millie Nathan-skipped Birkenhead triple and that of Takapuna’s Jerry and Jacqui Belcher and Brett O’Riley, was more closely fought.  After trailing early 4-0 Birkenhead made good use of the power-play to tie the first set 4-all and just as Chad was to be the hero in the final Millie in the semi-final played the telling shots in the second set.  Twice she took the game away from Takapuna by driving the jack into the ditch, the first occasion somewhat luckily but the second intentionally and clinically executed for a 6-4 win in the set and the match.

Browns Bay officials also deserved plaudits for continuing to host the two days despite each having challenges from the weather.

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