Results – The Grove BNH Womens Centre Singles & the Dick Bree Memorial Triples

 In The Grove Orewa BNH women’s championship final at Mairangi Bay Skye beat another bright prospect, Birkenhead’s Millie Nathan, 21-17. But on an adjacent rink there was still satisfaction for the Birkenhead club for almost at the same time as the singles finished David Eades skipped Nigel Drew and Mark Rumble to a tense 19-18 win in the Dick Bree championship triples.

  The Birkenhead triple beat a gallant Roy Parker-skipped Beach Haven line-up in a match evenly contested all the way and one which could have gone to an extra end but for a tight umpire’s measure giving Beach Haven just one shot on the 18^th end. 

   Skye’s deserved win capped what has been an impressive record while still in the one-to-five ranks. Besides her many junior successes she already has two open titles, the champion of champion fours in 2020-21 and the championship triples last season.

  And just a few weeks ago she and Shaun Goldsbury made the semi-finals of the national mixed pairs.

  Though Millie won the first three ends to be ahead 3-0 it was Skye who was the more dominant player in the early stages. By often gaining the edge with her opening bowl or when Millie did have several shots either cutting the count or shattering the head with some accurate drives she jumped away to a 17-7 lead after 17 ends.

 But Millie showed her true ability with a commendable fightback to extend the match to a marathon 26 ends.

 In the quarter-finals Skye beat the Cook Islands international presently with Takapuna, Tiare Jim and in the semi-finals Mahurangi East’s Penny Wakelin.

 

 Millie beat Mairangi Bay’s Theresa Rogers 21-10 in the quarter-final and then in an absorbing match Connie Mathieson, the dual Birkenhead-Takapuna member, 16-14.

 In section play Connie had a comfortable win over former Black Jack Wendy Jensen, then gained in the quarter-finals another notable scalp in Elaine McClintock.

 Eades, following his win in the Dick Bree, now has nine Harbour titles, but surprisingly, because they have been for many years prominent in the strong Birkenhead club, it was the first for Drew and only the second for Rumble.

 They were fully stretched against what was a sterling Beach Haven effort. Parker, of course, was for many years a Birkenhead stalwart himself with two centre titles from that club. But Doolan, who led superbly, and Jason Blackmore, who has played sporadically over his nine seasons in the game, are relatively unknown at centre level. Both, however, were worthy contributors to the contest.

 In the semi-finals the Eades triple beat another Birkenhead line-up of Peter and Chad Nathan and Evan Thomas and Beach Haven had a narrow win over a solidly performed Mairangi side of Phil Chisholm, David Payne and Bruce McClintock.