Results Report – BNH Winter Cup July 2024

  • July 19, 2024

Warkworth’s men’s team of Mike Burke, Stewart Macdonald, Guy Robson and Ross Ruddell spoiled, if only to a small extent, the party for the Mairangi Bay club when the Winter Cup competitions were concluded at Browns Bay on Friday.

 Warkworth foiled what would have been a Mairangi Bay double, following the outstanding deeds of the latter club’s women’s players. But Warkworth decisively beat the Mairangi Bay’s men’s team of Kevin Cameron, Leon Wech, Steve McGregor and Gerry Strydom in the final, 23-9.

 In showery, bleak conditions it was an impressive and well deserved win by the Warkworth four which started with a comfortable quarter-final win over Garry Banks’ Takapuna line-up and then beat its neighbour, Omaha’s Mike Jackson, Ewan McLeod, Marty Shaw and Graham Ward 26-17 in the semi-finals.

 The win added to the excellent record the experienced Macdonald has had in centre titles, with wins in the 2006-07 champion of champion singles and the champion of champion pairs in 2018-19 to his credit.

 However, despite finishing runner-up in the men’s event there was still plenty for Mairangi Bay to celebrate, with its formidable four of Jan Gledhill, Sheryl Wellington, Theresa Rogers and Colleen Rice in imposing form to take out the women’s title for the second consecutive season.

 This capped off what was a vintage summer season for these players with an abundance of titles and roles in Mairangi Bay winning the centre’s inter-club sevens.

 In this event they played as the Pearls and were accompanied into the play-offs by two other Mairangi Bay teams, the Dolphins which also comprised top players, Lorna Donald, Kerin Roberts, Hanaan Shahwan and the redoubtable Elaine McClintock and the Orcas, Jo Baxter, Flora Macdonald, Jane Mackay and Anne McGrath.

 The Pearls put themselves in a strong position to be champions again by winning the opening match of the round-robin by a whopping 35-8 over the Dolphins and remained unbeaten in the next two rounds.

 The Dolphins recovered to finish runner-up by winning the final round match against Manly’s Helen Briant, Jan Harrison, Maureen Howden and Kathy Stephens who took third spot from the Orcas.