BOWLING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2463, 30 March 1909, Page 2

BOWLING.

{By “Toucher.”)

Thursday, 2oth March, saw the return match played between the Gisborne and Turanganui Clubs. ' The. weather was all that could be desired, and the rinks were in good order. The match was played on the Turanganui Club’s grounds, which were looking well. A great amount of work had been put up by the caretaker, who is to be complimented in getting the rinks into such good order after the rain of the previous night. The result of the match 1 was a victory for the younger club, and it came about in the manner 1 which I forecasted last week. Turanganui ob- ■ tained a good lead at the commencement, but two Gisborne rinks pulled up a lot of leeway on the last few heads, recovering nine in the last head. .The play of the. home team /was very good,and the chib thoroughly deserve' their win. The attendance of spectators on the green was the largest T have seen for many a'day, 1 there - being a goodly number of Gisborne members present in' addition to the rep. teams, while the ladies were present in strong, force. Afternoon tea as provided by' Mrs; Sawyer 1 j was much appreciated. Four teams did ; . battle for each club, and a few; notes I on each rink may not be out- of place. '■ On strongest Gisborne, rink—lt. Crawford, . W. Pettie, W. J. Hennessy and T. A. Crawford (skip), met a Turanganui team comprising D. Hepburn, F. Farrell, J. P. Williams, and A. Sawyer (skip). On the llth head Crawford was 11 to 7, and on.the 18th head was 18 to 13. Thereafter Sawyer failed, jt-o score, his opponents scoring a 3,1, and 5, winning bv 27 to 13. Thus did Crawford secure victory. R. Crawford made a good lead, and repeatedly beat Hepburn, and though the latter got in some good shots I have seen him in better form. Pettie and Farrell were well matched, there being nothing much between them. Hennessy was the thorn in Sawyer’s side, his ..drawing being splendid, but his witticism took off the sting of, defeat. Williams was overshadowed by his opponent’s play. Crawford skipped a winning game all the way through, and had no hard work‘in keeping up his end. Sawyer had an uphill game to play, and he battled manfully,, but one man does not comprise a team. Anyhow, he went down fighting, but lie should have saved on the ..last head. Victory for Gisborne—l4 points. .7 Rink No. 3 saw a contest waged between T. Clarkson, E. Lewis, R. W. Kyme and T. Corson (skip), and what was considered the best Turanganui team —B. Hird, C. J. Bennett, W. Ratcliffe, and J. -J. Martin (skip). Simson was to have, been Gisborne’s skip, but owing to - his late arrival, .Corson was put in his place, from No. 3 position, and T. Clarkson added to the team. Martin’s team opened, auspiciously, scoring a five; aiid on the :10th head Rad a lead of 12 to 6. However, on the 16th head, Corson had obtained a lead, he being 16 to 15. On the I.Bth head Martin was again in front, 21 to 16, but Corson’s team came with , a strong rush at the finish, and scoring . a single and a four on the last two heads . just missed victory, Martin winning by j one point —22 —21. Hird played a very in and out game for Martin; he got in ; good shots at times, but at other times was wide of the mark. His opponent, 1 !T. Carkson, did splendidly, and was ; always near his object. Bennett and Lewis were well matched as 'No.’s 2, their play being very similar. Rat- ( . cliffe played a splendid game for Mar- i tin. obeying his instructions to a “T,” and hardly ever missing -a shot. Kyme drew’ well as Corson’s 3, and his easy style of delivery was favorably -com- , mented on; but Ratcliffe was too good. ; Martin got in some good work as skip, ! but he should undoubtedly have saved on the last head, wherein his opponents secured four. Corson played an excellent game, with the hardest of luck. Several times I saw him miss shots by the narrowest of margins, and on one occasion he touched the jack

while lying and gave his opponents two. Thus did Corson go dowir: Victory for Turanganui—l point. The contest on-No. 4 rink was that between what was reckoned Gisborne’s second-best rink and - the supposed weakest Turanganui rink. ;The teams were: Gisborne —J. It. Redstone, F. Pettie; F. Eure, and J. Coleman (skip); Turanganui—W. H. Douglas, T. McConnell, P. Hallam and M. G. Nas- J xnith, jnnr. (skip). This match was ' looked iipon as a “good thing” for. Colemanj : but it proved otherwise. On the 7th head Nasmith was 8 to'nil, and on the 14tH. head was 13 to 6. Obtaining -a 6 on the following head Nasmith’s ! team placed the issue beyond doubt, and won by seven points, despite- all their opponent’s efforts. Douglas as, lead did not play up to form, but his. jack-throwing was splendid, his medium throws suiting his team. Redstone was not at home on a short jack, hut when he got a long head he was deadly: T. McConnell played poorly in the opening stages, but fully . justified his inclusion when he settled down to steady work. F. Pettie did well, and generally beat his 5 opponent. P. Hallam was not at home throughout. At times, he got in some good shots, but it seemed to be his day off. .Eure, on the other hand, was excellent, his ' drawing shots being very troublesome to his opponents. Nasmith played a superb game, his best this season. On the first seven heads it was his play that “told the tale. Time and again did'ho save the- position, amidst his team’s _ applause. It was- a creditable achievement "where in he obtained a six—the highest score in the match. In this head Coleman had drawn second shot, hut Nasmith with a firm draw took him through and lay six. His performance silenced doubters as to the wisdom of his appointment as skip. Coleman. bad a hard fight to.put-up against his oppon- j ent, who outplayed him. He had a considerable amount of hard-hick, good shots often missing their object by a-j very narrow margin.—Win for. Turan- ’ ganui—7 points. , \ * \ '■ j The battle on No. 5 rink was fought out between two solid teams. Gis- ! borne: G. Miller, W. R. Brady, A. T. i Hookey, and J. W. Witty- (skip) : Tu- I ranganui : A. Zaohariah, M l . A. Neill, J. Colley, and W. O. Skeet (skip). In this game Witty’s team-was never in thethuht.' the scores ; being 10 to 5 against them on the Bth head, and 25 to 11 on the final head.." Zacliariali ! played a superb lead 1 for ‘ Skeet; , and showed the way to the: jack on almost 1 every occasion. -Miller -hadi his work ; .cut out to draw/a'gainst his' opponent-,-and-often came off second best. . Neill . and Brady wore in rexeellcnt .positions, ,* and did their best: ■Colley 7 was a tower of strength to, Skeet, he putting, up one of his best performances. this season. ( rrime aira iu i.dvLi'hoihoat Aiik^irikll^

had to put his best foot foremost to meet Colley’s attack, but his best was not equal, to Colley’s. Sheet, had the easiest work'of any Turanganui skip. He had his game built up, And he practically only had to “conic to light” when Witty disarranged matters. -Witty had a hard row to hoe, but his heart was large, and he kept pegging away in hopeless endeavor to right the scores. But the;. task . was too great. Victory for Turanganui—l4 points. * Thus did Turanganui win by 80 points to 72. I congratulate them. No doubt the Gisborne team were handicapped by the strange green in the same manner as the Turanganui men were when the latter .played on the,. Gisborne green/ Both clubs are. now looking forward t<? the game for the rubber, and I hear that it will very i likely ; be played at Eastertide. My only hope, is that I will be present to see the contest. And may the best teams win! : -