In a dominant showing, Elmwood Park successfully defended their National Interclub Sevens status, while for last year’s runner-ups Takapuna, it was a day of redemption as they claimed the spoils in their home centre.
Hosted at the Browns Bay Bowling Club, the top six regional champions for both men and women, converged in the North Harbour to contest the COVID-delayed 2022 edition.
Qualifiers in the men featured Alexandra, Birkenhead, Bowls Hastings, Paritutu, Manurewa Cosmopolitan and of course, Elmwood Park, while the women’s field saw Takapuna, Thames Coast, Martinborough, Naenae, Elmwood Park and Queenstown battle it out for top spot.
Spearheaded by reigning national singles champion Kelvin Scott, the return of former Blackjack Gary Lawson (with Steve Ditfort leading) and a powerhouse four of Lance Pascoe, Nathan Glasson, Liam Eathorne and Ricky Cook - the Elmwood seven ultimately proved too strong over five rounds.
With match wins opposite all centres, Elmwood Park amassed maximum points and secured the coveted silverware for a second consecutive year. Though, not to be outdone, Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club were keeping the pace, also tallying up overall wins in each of their four fixtures - setting up a winner takes all encounter opposite their Canterbury counterparts on Sunday afternoon.
A promising start from Manurewa’s David Clark in the singles kept things interesting in the early stages, though calling on all his experience, Scott remained composed and was equal to the task, running home in the later stages, 21-19.
Across rinks, the pairing of Lawson and Ditfort carried on their winning ways, stretching out a comfortable lead opposite Shane Drabble and Steve Bicknell, while the Pascoe-skipped four rounded out an unbeaten campaign, chalking up their fourth win of the day (one draw) to claim the National Interclub 7s trophy and keep the celebrations rolling on from 2021.
In other results, Takapuna’s “Blue Wave” were in full swing, chasing a strong final round to remain in contention for the women’s honours. Defeated last year by Nelson in what proved a virtual last-round final, Takapuna held pace with Queenstown and Naenae to keep their hopes alive heading into the final round.
And survive they did - sweeping the Elmwood Park ladies aside, with a superb showing from Blackjack Selina Goddard, defeating Mandy Boyd, 21-9 - and remaining unbeaten after five games.
The pairs match-up between Robyne Walker and Adele Ineson against Bev Morel and Angela Boyd couldn’t be separated, leaving it up to the Takapuna four to decide the outcome - with a draw seemingly enough to win the competition. However, an excellent team display from Lisa Dickson, Lauren Mills, Keiko Koruhara and Anne Dorreen saw them cross the line with a win, wrapping up proceedings 17-13 and successfully reversing last year’s silver medal podium finish in front of a raucous rinkside crowd.
Meanwhile, it was a close finish between Naenae and Queenstown, with both clubs finishing on the same number of match points as Takapuna - albeit Naenae edging the runners-up spot by half a game point and Takapuna’s final round heroics putting them ahead as clear tournament champions.
Congratulations to Elmwood Park and Takapuna on their wins, and on behalf of all centres, players and Bowls New Zealand, thank you to Browns Bay Bowling Club, tournament officials and volunteers for another excellent event.
All eyes will now be on the second half of the season in a bid to find the 2023 National Interclub Sevens Champions - scheduled to take place April 13-16 in Wellington.
-Sam Morton
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
2022 National Interclub Sevens, North Harbour
Men
Elmwood Park (Canterbury) - 9pts
Manurewa Cosmopolitan (Counties Manukau) - 8pts
Paritutu (Taranaki) - 7pts
Women
Takapuna (North Harbour) 8pts (11.5)
Naenae (Wellington) - 8pts (10.5)
Queenstown (Central Otago) - 8pts (10)
Points system:
2pts for an overall win (head-to-head), 1pt for each game won
