Bay of Plenty Centre Mens Fours 2024
Again the weather had played havoc in the Bay of Plenty region pouring with rain all week with many wondering if play would even get under way. The ground staff at Arawa not only got their greens cleared but had them running well. Ka tahi te haumauiui, what an achievement,Arawa!
On qualifying day, there were 3 teams that put their hands up to say come and get us. First was the local team of S.Ivimey from Arawa. They played outstandingly to win all 3 of their games after a hard fought first game against B. Whiteman of Te Puke. The next was the composite team of J. Gray, who won all 3 games too. At one stage, the crowd thought that John Gray could have walked across the puddles he was playing so well. The last was the classy and well balanced composite team of P. Anderson who like the others won all 3 games in qualifying.
The quarterfinals had some humdinger matchups and had much of the crowd on the edge of their seats. Local hope, team of S. Ivimey came up against a man on fire. J. Gray was able to wiggle his way into the head and play amazing resting touchers time and time again to save his team and frustrating the locals. J. Gray eventually winning 12-8. In the other quarter it was the J. Hohepa team of Ngongotaha playing the composite team of N. Tomsett. It was the well skipped team of N. Tomsett that broke out to a commanding lead and were leading by 6 at one stage but then two ends of brilliance, a 4and a 3, gave the Ngongotaha team a sniff. All even going into an extra end.With his last bowl, N. Tomsett was able to pluck out the opposition’s nearest bowl and narrowly avoid hitting the jack to give his team victory.
In the semi finals the classiness of the talented P. Anderson skipped team shone through. With the front end of E.Pattilo and C. Webber setting up head after head, followed by N. Arlidge, arguably one of Bay of Plenty’s finest bowlers of his generation left little chance for the S. Settle skipped team. Everything the S. Settle team tried was to be in vain as the P. Anderson team had an answer right from the very first bowl to the last winning 15-1.
In the other semi final the N. Tomsett team came out hot after their uplifting victory in the quarters. After establishing a strong lead the wheels started to come off the N. Tomsett team due to the relentless pressure of the J. Gray team. This time it was a team effort that got the J. Gray team back into the game. Lead by the uncompromising M. Gibbons(still one of the best leads in the Bay) with great supportive roles of S. Beel and D. Jones, the fight was back on. Unfortunately, the N. Tomsett skipped team were not to be saved by the heroics of their fearless leader this time going down 15-16.
The final did not necessarily go the way of the favourite P. Anderson team with the J. Gray team having the early lead once again to the brilliance of J. Gray himself playing some outstanding draw shots to secure ends. This time it was the determination of P. Anderson that got his team inspired to get back into the game after some crucial shots of his own.
Eventually the overwhelming class of the P.Anderson team shone through, winning 18-10.