Results – Interclub 7’s

Two of the Bowls North Harbour centre’s most successful clubs of recent years, Browns Bay in the men’s competition and Takapuna in the women’s, will carry North Harbour’s hopes when the 2022-23 national inter-club sevens titles are decided later this season.

 Browns Bay at the weekend foiled what would have been a Takapuna double by winning the men’s final on its home green.

 And Takapuna earned the right to defend the 2021-22 title won just a month ago by topping the women’s round-robin at Birkenhead, edging out Birkenhead in what proved to be a dramatic finale.

 As they were drawn against each other in the seventh match of the eight-team competition Takapuna and Birkenhead met in what effectively was the final.

 The teams approached this with just one point between them and intrigue was added to the contest when Birkenhead, in a bid to boost its four, switched Millie Nathan from the singles to skip this discipline.

 Takapuna, however, countered this by changing its line-up, moving Black Jack Selina Goddard to the pairs in place of Adele Ineson, who took over the singles role and with her customary steadiness gave her side an early edge by winning this.

 And Selina in the pairs with Robyne Walker then sealed the result for Takapuna by winning that discipline over the previously unbeaten Trish Croot and Connie Mathieson, making the fours an academic exercise.

 It was an impressive display of depth by Takapuna because missing from the national championship winning side of a month ago were two top players in Lisa Dickson and Anne Dorreen. Wendy Jensen returned to skip the four of Lauren Mills, Keiko Kurohara and the other newcomer, Trish Hardy.

 Browns Bay in its win was also anchored by a core of vastly experienced players in multiple centre champions, and past national titleholders in Colin Rogan, John Walker, Neil Fisher and Brian Wilson.

 In the quarter-finals it ousted the always dangerous Helensville, and in the semi-final Riverhead 9-0.

 Takapuna whitewashed Milford in its quarter-final, then beat Mairangi Bay in the semi-final, the latter having beaten another of the favoured clubs, Birkenhead, in the quarter-final.

 Browns Bay continued its dominance in the final over Takapuna, with Rogan winning the singles clash with Brent Malcolm and then Wilson and Mulholland clinched the match by winning the pairs from Jeremy Brosnan and Jerry Belcher.

 Joining Fisher as skip and Walker at three in Browns Bay four were Dave McMurchy, another hardened veteran, and Mike Garton.