New Plymouth side claim crown at Open

 Grant Hassall

 Photo: Bowls Taranaki

 The West End side skipped by Craig De Faria have won their second Taranaki men’s Open fours title in four years.

De Faria and his team of Jordan Linn, Dave Wilson and Steve Walker emerged as emphatic winners in the final at Paritutu on Sunday. They beat the Whangarei side of Steve Smith, George Lyddiard, Paul Wightman and skip Trevor Reader 28-6 in the decider.

While Reader, who impressed throughout the week with his draw play, opened the final with a single, the first 10 ends up until the tea break was nearly all West End. De Faria led 13-2 when the bell rung, with a five on the 10th end illustrating the dominance of the team. That made it 18-2.

Things didn’t really change after the adjournment. It became 22-3, and while three singles to Reader gave his team a chance of some respectability, a four on end 17 dispelled any hopes of a change. On that head, Reader drew a fine shot, but De Faria turned it out for four. A further two shots to De Faria on the next saw time called, with seven ends left unplayed.

Linn, despite only playing limited bowls, impressed with his leading, plastering the jack. Wilson was as steady as, consistently placing bowls around the head, while Walker showed off an array of shots in a game from the top shelf. And harnessing all of that strike power was skip De Faria, who added and converted. It was to many observers an almost complete team effort, with the side peaking at the perfect time.

“I said to the team at lunchtime that my life is good when I follow my wife’s directions,” De Faria said. “And the guys have followed mine brilliantly. They have all played so well.”

The victory carried even more significance for Walker, who collected a bar to his gold star for 10 Taranaki titles with the win. Linn now has nine, Walker has 13 and De Faria 27, which is a Taranaki record.

Reader was philosophical after the final, saying that his team preferred to think of the journey to the final, rather than the final itself. “It’s been a great week,” he said.

In the semifinals, De Faria beat Takaro’s Phil Gausel, Grant Pratt, Steve Toms and Mark Noble 22-20. Noble led 14-11 after 17 ends, but De Faria turned it around to lead by seven shots with two ends to play.

Reader ousted Brendan Anderson, Kevin Hills, Grant Anderson and Mark Anderson (Tower) 25-16. The sides were locked together after 20 ends, but Reader converted the next two ends as the Northlanders pulled away.

In the pairs event, Naki Nehemia and Nairn MacGibbon (Johnsonville) took out the title. They beat the Bannockburn pair of Allan Rickard and Hugh Andrews 24-11 in the final. Only one point separated the two teams after 15 ends, but it was all Johnsonville after that. Sharing third were Ted Morris and David Nightingale (Glendowie) and Kerry Walsh and Ian Franklin (Johnsonville).