Indoor bowlers pipped in Lemon Shield contest

The Marlborough indoor bowls team finished a close second, one point behind Golden Bay/Motueka, in their defence of the Lemon Shield which they won last year in Nelson.

The event was contested over six rounds on Saturday at Simcox Stadium.

Marlborough and Golden Bay/Motueka were level at 12 games apiece after three rounds before the eventual victors pulled ahead in the fourth round, then went on to win narrowly, 23 games to 22.

The other teams taking part included Buller/Westland, who ended on 15 points, and Nelson, who finished on 12.

The Marlborough team of Steven Grant, Tony Jones, Daniel Henson and Lauren Murray ended as the best team in the tournament, retaining the Warnes Trophy for Marlborough, scoring five wins and 71 points to head off Nigel Warnes’ Golden Bay team on five wins and 70 points.

On Sunday the year 1-5 Singles and Pairs zone final events were held with five qualifiers in the singles including Lauren Murray from Rapaura. The final was won by Daniel Watson (Wakapuaka) who beat Nelson’s Freddie Persico 9 -5.

Five teams then played a round robin in the pairs event with Daniel Watson and Rodger Eggeling beating Nelson compatriots Andrew Fleming and Marie Granger 10-8.

Meanwhile, the Marlborough selectors have named their rep teams to play in the A.S. Paterson trophy event in Blenheim next weekend. They are Lois Randall, Steven Grant, Julian Adams and Natasha Neal; Tony Hitchcock, Glen Hurcomb, Tony Jones and Daniel Henson. This event will also be played at Simcox Stadium, starting on Friday night, through to Sunday lunchtime.

This event is always hotly contested and includes all the Lemon Shield regions as well as teams from Canterbury and Ashburton with the winner going on to play for the NZIB Welch Trophy in September. Spectators and markers are welcome.