Kahutia reign supreme

KAHUTIA came through with colours flying yesterday to win the Beetham Lifestyle Village Yelverton Shield men’s interclub tournament for players with bowls experience of 10 years and under.
Defending champions Kahutia finished with 18 points (plus 31 differential) to head off Poverty Bay (16, plus 26). Riverside (16, plus 20), Te Karaka (14, minus 16), Gisborne (13, minus three) and Tolaga Bay (13, minus 30).
Charlie Ure was undefeated in the singles, and former gun surf lifesaver-cum-rep cricketer Brian Cairns teamed with Mo Kapua to give the opposition plenty of cheek in the pairs.
The icing on the cake was the Kahutia fours team of Alastair Macpherson (skip), Ron Davie (three), Murray Owen (two), and lead Alec Brown. Macpherson’s crew won all five of their games.
They beat the strong Riverside team of Peter Clough (s), John Kora (three), Thompson Smiler (two) and Peter Miller (lead) 11-6.
From there they accounted for a more-than-useful Te Karaka four of Bam Bam Smith (s), Johnson Rutene, Kelvin Bayley and guest player Richard Mann from Kahutia, 11-9.
Tolaga were thumped 22-3 but Poverty Bay’s David Holmes (s), Kaitu Hiroki, Eric Craill and Brian Sutherland showed their tenacity to keep the score to 7-5.
With Brown and former Marist and Poverty Bay rep cricketer Murray Owen showing their prowess setting up play for the accurate finishing of Davie and Macpherson, Kahutia beat Riverside in an 8-7 match that was as exciting as the “Thrilla in Manila” when Ali beat Frazier.
Riverside pairs duo Ricky Miller and Harry Green and singles player July Williams were all in good form. But Macpherson had the killer punch. He drew shot with the last bowl of the game for the 8-7 win.
If the Riversiders had won, they would have won the tournament.
Similarly if Kahutia singles rep Ure had lost his final game — to in-form Williams — it would have let Riverside through for a tournament win. But Ure, remembering his Scottish professional football background, which demands a cool head under pressure, came up trumps.
The former Falkirk, Hibs, Nelson United and Gisborne City fullback showed his control over the wee bowl is now nearly as good as his command of the big ball. He beat Williams 18- 12 to go through the tournament undefeated . . . no mean feat in this company.
Williams gave his team a great chance of success with some fine performances in his four wins.
The Poverty Bay team of Bruce Ball (singles), Ian Carroll and Don Stewart (pairs) and David Holmes (s), Kaitu Hiroki, Eric Craill and Brian Sutherland all played well.
Te Karaka’s father-and-son pairs combination of Robin Ward and son Ashley were unbeaten on the day with three wins and two draws.
They beat Tolaga 17-6, Kahutia 9-8 and Riverside 12-10. They also drew with Poverty Bay and Gisborne.
Tolaga Bay’s Nik Curtis and Mark Walker had a productive tournament with four wins in the pairs. They beat Riverside 14-6, Poverty Bay 16-9, Gisborne 21-4 and Kahutia 20-5.