Bad start, great finish

PEOPLE talk about players “rising from the dead” in sport . . . add Gisborne veteran bowler Robin Jefferson to the list.
He won his 39th centre title and ninth centre singles championship here yesterday, after a shock loss to Te Karaka youngster Ethine Reeves in the first round of section play. But Jefferson did not lose another game in the tournament. He clinched the Beetham Lifestyle Village centre singles — and with it, the Martin Cup — by beating friend and rival Steve Goldsbury 21-18 in a breathtaking final.
The Gisborne Bowling Club greens and clubrooms had been abuzz with the surprise first-round result. Could the Jefferson reign be over?
Asked after that match what had gone wrong, Jefferson smiled and said: “It was close all the way and I made a couple of bad decisions — poor choice of shots — and paid the penalty.
“It happens in this game and it means I’ve got to make all the right decisons from now on to stay in contention.
“Ethine played really well and I’m sure he’ll keep us on our toes.”
Fast forward the rest of the tournament to yesterday’s final and nobody was doubting Jefferson’s ability to survive the unexpected.
As the shadows darkened over the greens, he was giving us his own quietly efficient clinic on bowling survival.
He had picked up the three wins necessary to qualify for post-section play. Then he beat clubmate Bruce Easton 21-19 in a classic, with both players producing wonderful shots under pressure.
Jefferson showed his resilience by holding off the challenge of clubmate Bruce Ball, who played consistent bowls and was always in contention.
Jefferson also had to be at his best to beat an in-form Trevor Helson 21-15 in a thrill-a-minute semifinal.
Helson led early but Jefferson fought back and picked up a three on the 12th end to give him a 14-8 lead. Helson responded with a 1-1-3 run to trail 16-13 on the 17th, but Jefferson clinched the game with a three on the 21st.
Next up was the final against clubmate and pairs partner Goldsbury.
Big Steve had a wonderful tournament and had beaten the in-form Vern Marshall 21-12 in the other semi.
But Jefferson has this uncanny ability to adopt a type of bowling trench warfare that enables him to squeeze bowls through strong defences to snuggle up almost mockingly against the jack.
He was ahead 11-10 after 16 ends and 15-10 after 19.
The opening barrages seemed to have Goldsbury mortally wounded.
But Goldsbury is no mug and as the darkening clouds tossed out a spatter of rain, he launched a mid-match blitz in his usual, deceptive, smiling-assassin way.
He won five ends in succession to lead 18-15 after 24 ends.
It looked all over. But Jefferson kept plugging holes and getting close to the jack, and took a one on 25, narrowing the gap to 18-16.
The 26th end was the clincher. Jefferson set up a triangle around the jack with a “blocker” in front of his bowls. Goldsbury’s attempt to upset the applecart with a well-placed bowl on the right line, just didn’t have the legs necessary to blow the head apart and Jefferson took a three to lead 19-18.
A well set-up head on the 27th gave Jefferson the two he needed to win the match and the centre singles crown, yet again.
There were 15 qualifiers after a long, hard Saturday bowling in the sunshine. This brought a post-section line-up of stars fit to grace any tournament in the country.
In Sunday’s first round of post-section play, Gisborne’s Trevor Helson defeated Tolaga Bay’s ever-improving Nikora Curtis in a close finish after it was 15-14 to Helson after 18 ends.
Curtis had shown that the game is alive and well on the Coast with a first-round victory over the evergreen Easton, a second-round win against the always-dangerous John Davies of Poverty Bay and a hard-fought win in his third of the day against another battler, Andy Tamanui.
Gisborne’s Ball and Kahutia’s Barry Allen maintained their recent good form. On Saturday, Ball finished strongly. He needed a win in his fourth game of the day to qualify, and he achieved his objective, beating Mark Walker of Tolaga.
Allen had three wins on Saturday, including victories over Kahutia’s Kevin Barrett and George Vaotuua.
Allen and Ball met on Sunday morning and the game could have swung either way. Ball played some special deliveries under pressure and prevailed 22-16.
Te Karaka’s Ben Brown stamped his name on the tournament, following up good form on Saturday to beat Riversider Alex Whiteman 21-11 on Sunday.
Kahutua’s Vern Marshall defeated Te Karaka’s Jury Ruru, Goldsbury beat Kahutia’s Murray Murton and Kahutia’s Ray Smith beat Te Karaka’s Robin Ward. Murton, Smith and Ward all played well on Saturday, showing that they are right up there with the top echelon of local bowlers.
In round two, Helson’s strong run continued as he withstood a strong challenge from youngster July Williams to win 22-16.
Williams showed a good touch and certainly made things awkward for his more experienced opponent, but Helson played a cool, calm game and showed a willingness to drive when necessary to get himself out of trouble.
One such drive was a game-changer as Williams had bowled beautifully to have three shots on the head until Helson sent down a drive that exploded into the mix and kept him in the game.
Jefferson showed his resilience by holding off the challenge of Ball, who showed he is still able to give a good account of himself at this level. Jefferson had to be at his best to put a stranglehold on the game over the closing ends.
Marshall and Goldsbury soon loomed large as title candidates with astute management of the greens to hold off strong challenges from Brown and Smith respectively.
This brought Marshall into mortal combat in bowling terms with Goldsbury in one semi, while Jefferson and Helson battled out the other.
This tournament emphasised two factors. First: There are some top-quality bowlers in this district. Second: There should be no such thing in bowls as a “surprise” result, because of the many factors than can come into play in any particular game.
But Jefferson himself has expressed delight at the number of young players who are coming through to challenge for top honours.
Reeves looks a bright prospect. He didn’t qualify for post-section play but he had a tournament to remember with those wins against players of the calibre of Jefferson and Vaotuua, before losses to Williams and Whiteman.
He couldn’t have completed his day’s bowling against two more dangerous players. Williams showed his potential with three wins in succession on Saturday.
In his fourth game, Reeves struck an in-form Whiteman, who completed the day with four wins.
Altogether, a tournament to remember.