Bowls South Canterbury Women’s Centre Singles:

Ten entries were received for the women’s Centre Singles held at West End Bowling Club last over the weekend of the 10th and 11th February, playing first to 21 shots.

The weather was a mixture of fog, sunshine and rain, the latter causing games to be postponed till Sunday.

In Rd 1: Shirley-Ann McAuliffe (Sam) (Kia Toa) played Julie McAuley (Kia Toa) and won 21 -4. Mel Reid (Temuka) played a great draw game to beat Chrissy Herbert (Kia Toa) 21-3, Bridget Kitching (West End) played Anne Wooffindin (Kia Toa) and won 21-19, Barbara Tiffen (Geraldine) played Carolynn Darby (Temuka) and won 21-15, Sharon Leonard (Kia Toa) played Carol Fowler (Geraldine) and won 21- 17.

Rd 2: McAuliffe beat Fowler, 21-19, a game which see-sawed all the way to the end. Reid played Leonard and lost 13-21, Kitching lost to Tiffen 8-21, McAuley beat Darby 21-17 in a close game being 11 all after 14 ends, but then McAuley pulled ahead to win. Wooffindin played Herbert to win 21-9.

Rd3: McAuliffe played Reid, and this turned out to be a real marathon game. After 10 ends it was 8 all, 14 ends it was 11 all, Reid picked up 2 shots while McAuliffe scored 3, to go 14-13 up. McAuliffe scored 6 shots on the next 3 ends to Reid’s 7 shots to be 20 all, the jack went into the ditch with McAuliffe putting her next bowl close while Reid played a great shot just short of McAuliffe’s bowl to only let McAuliffe have the shot she needed to win 21-20. Kitching played McAuley and won 21-15, Tiffen played Herbert and won 21-9, Wooffindin played Leonard, and this was a good close game, Leonard getting off to a 7-1 lead, but Wooffindin then hit her straps to go to 14-9, Leonard scored 7 shots with a couple of close run shots, while Wooffindin scored 7 shots to win 21-16. Fowler and Darby did not play as neither could qualify. Tiffen played Herbert and Herbert scored 7 points after 7 ends to Tiffen’s 3, Tiffen then found her green and length and scored 18 points to reach 21 and Herbert scored 1 more to reach 9. Kitching played McAuley and this was a close game for 14 ends, when the score was 12-11 to Kitching. Kitching only picked up another 3 shots, while McAuley scored 10 shots to win 21-15.

Rd 4: was rained out after two ends on Saturday so it was continued on Sunday at 9am with Herbert playing McAuley and after 9 ends, it was McAuley leading Herbert 6-4, Herbert scored 3 shots to McAuley’s 5 shots, it was then 11-8 to McAuley, Herbert scored 3 shots, McAuley scored 5 shots 16-10 to McAuley, Herbert scored 5 and McAuley scored 5 to win 21-15.  Tiffen played Leonard to give Leonard a chance to qualify but this wasn’t to be. Tiffen was 7-2 up after 8 ends, Tiffen scored another 4 shots to Leonard’s 5. Tiffen scored 11 shots to reach 21, while Leonard scored 4 shots to reach 11.

In Post Section McAuliffe played Wooffindin and McAuliffe won 21-8, Tiffen played McAuley and won 21-6.

The final was a great game, between Sam McAuliffe (Kia Toa) and Barbara Tiffen, (Geraldine) and 31 ends were played to get a winner. After 15 ends, both players had 9 points all, then it was ones most of the way being 11 all, 13-12, Sam scored 2 to be 16-12 ahead, Barbara scored 2 single shots to get 14 points. Sam picked up a 3 to go 19-14. Barbara scored 3 shots to be 19 all. Spectators were on the edge of their seats as Sam sent her bowls up, holding 2 shots while Barbara just missed collecting any of Sam’s bowls to clip them out, and conceded as Sam held onto the 2 bowls to give her a win and a title. An excellent game for a final and enjoyed by all. West End were thanked for hosting along with thanks to the greenkeeper, markers, and catering.

- Raewyn Crowe