Conditions were horrible at our club on Sunday for the Kapiti Coast v Wairarapa women’s rep fixture. A decision had to be made by 6.30 whether to cancel or not. Danny Madden (for the men) and I decided at Central to go ahead at 6 am. The Wairarapa women seemed pleased that at least it was not bucketing down as it was on the other side of the Tararuas but the wind was howling in from the north west. Just before play was to begin we had a heavy shower which put an end to the idea of playing on the cotula green. However, with a quick shift of the boards, mats and jacks we got away more or less on time just after 10 on the Dales carpet.
The morning games were 2 x 4 x 2 pairs games with a senior player teamed with an under 8 year player. Our Julie teamed with Audrey Stevenson to play the top Wairarapa pairing. It was a very tight game which Wairarapa came back from an early deficit. At 11 all the managers agreed to finishing the games early as the women were pretty frozen and on the next end the visitors took a single shot to win 12-11. Diana teamed with Carol Rolton to take out their game 22-6.
After a short break it was singles, pairs and fours in the afternoon. All the games were shortened. Diana skipped Julie in the pairs game which they won 12 – 8. In the end the whole fixture came down to the last bowl in the A singles between Audrey and Wairarapa’s Makaia Campbell. With the game abridged to 18 shots they went into the last end locked at 17 all. Makaia drew two close shots. Audrey took out one with her third bowl but when her last bowl slipped by the shot bowl Wairarapa had won the contest by 18 points to 14. If Audrey had taken out that bowl Kapiti Coast would have won 17 – 15.
Many thanks to Margaret who ran the kitchen, to Murray for marking the singles in the cold, and to Henry Yee our umpire who was quite happy not to be called on often.
Ken Hayward