Counties Men – Intercentre Match Report

Counties Men – Intercentre Match Report

We had to wait a while to get to Wellington after last year’s cancellation of the Intercentre event

and it was with great anticipation that we travelled last week to see if we could achieve a top 8 finish to back up our last performance.

Manager / Selector – Bill Jones & David Clark

Round 1 - against Canterbury was a bitter sweet moment for us. Going into the last end at 11 all; a Counties resting toucher being rolled out by hitting up a short bowl meant our fours team lost by 1

& while this was happening Frankie Lim our singles player beaten by an opposition bowl that rolled sideways at right angles for 2 feet to get the shot was probably the bitter and most unlucky start for us.

The sweet was that we knew from that moment we could be competitive in our section.

Round 2 - against Wanganui saw a strong performance by the fours team & a good win. Unfortunately our singles & pairs did not get on top of their respective opponents.

A review of Day 1 performance deemed it necessary for a change in discipline for a few of our players going into day 2.

Frankie stayed in the singles; David / Adam moved from the fours into the pairs; Stu took over skipping of the fours with Patrick / Jim / Steve joining him.

Round 3 - against Far North on a cold Wellington morning saw our pairs & fours have very good wins to beat them 2-1 and gain our first match points.

Round 4 – against South Canterbury & our fours continued their good record having a win along with Frankie getting his first win and another 2-1 win for Counties.

A bye that afternoon in what turned out to be a very hot day was well received and allowed us to watch our opposition over a quite beer.

Day 3 saw Canterbury clearly in the lead of our section and 4 teams (including us) had a chance to get 2nd place and qualify for post section. In our way was Bay of Plenty and the under-performed but well known to us North Harbour

Round 5 – A vital rd for us; and to stay in contention we had to beat Bay of Plenty. Frankie jumped out to a strong lead in the singles & with a hint of a come-back midway through put his opposition away comfortable in the end.

Our pairs kept a small margin ahead early and with Adam Ballie playing extremely good lead bowls had a solid win to put BOP out of contention & win 2-1.

Round 6 – The all-important rd for us not only to have a chance of qualifying but to finish strongly in what had proved to be a very even section.

Stu had the 4’s team firing on all cylinders after a poor performance in the morning and never; looked like losing. The win should have set us up nicely however Frankie battled hard in the singles & our pairs faded over the last 4 ends allowing Harbour to beat us 1-2.

Wanganui came through the pack winning strongly over the last 2 rds and gained the 2nd qualifying spot from our section.

David reflects on the 3 days competition

We always knew we would have to be at the top of our game to be competitive at this level. While we showed glimpses of this over the 3 days it is the consistency game after game that let us down.

How different things could have been if the luck had gone our way in the 1st rd against Canterbury.

· Frankie lead the way and although he didn’t get the wins he deserved he should be proud of his performances against very tough opposition.

· After trying out a new pairs combination of Patrick & Steve the results didn’t come as we hoped. Both players gave it their all & applied themselves well when moved into the fours team

· Adam had a slow start on the first day in the fours struggling with the pace of the green & wind. After the change into the pairs on day two was made, Adam performed extremely well and showed his true potential over day 2 & 3.

· Jim struggled for consistency in the perhaps unfamiliar position of 2 in the fours, more time in the engine room of the team maybe required to see him at his best

· Stu’s determination after a slow start in the first rd saw him get better as the tournament went on. Stu stepped up to take over the fours team on day two which he was apprehensive about but proved to be a successful transition

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the team, the motivation to perform well was never questioned. We can be proud of giving ourselves a chance on the last day to qualify.

The emergence of talent such as Patrick & Adam must be enhanced over the next few year’s, these guys show they can foot it with the best and future selections should ensure we are promoting their development.

The success of Counties will only improve if we expose our up & coming players to this level of competition & gain the experience to become senior members of this team

Wishing you all the best for the rest of the 20/21 season

David & Bill.