Leah Mackenzie was in the victorious Masterton women’s team. PHOTOS/FILE
BOWLS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Featherston came from behind to win the men’s title, and Masterton were convincing winners of the women’s championship in Bowls Wairarapa’s Mitsubishi Sevens premier interclub competition, which concluded on Saturday.
The Masterton men went into the second of the two days of competition with a 14-point lead over the defending champions Featherston.
Masterton started the day with a 19-4 win over Carrington, while Featherston closed the gap slightly with 22-0 clean sweep of Greytown.
The two teams then fought out an 11-11 draw, giving Masterton a 10-point advantage over Featherston going into the final round clash with Greytown.
The odds were still against Featherston, who needed to win all three games in singles, pairs, and fours, and hope that Greytown could upset Masterton.
Featherston completed the 22-0 whitewash of Carrington, and Greytown duly upset Masterton 14-8 to hand Featherston their second consecutive championship by three points.
Featherston finished on 87 points, with Masterton on 84, Greytown 52, and Carrington on 47 points.
Masterton locked away the women’s championship with a 15-8 defeat of Featherston, with one match to spare.
Masterton ended the championship on 59 points, with Featherston second on 30, and Carrington on 21.
The Featherston men and Masterton women will now represent Wairarapa in the New Zealand club finals in Christchurch in April.
Poor weather on Sunday denied the representative selectors the opportunity to try out combinations, with the traditional fixture against Kapiti washed out.
