THE final two rounds of the Haigs Mowers Zululand League were played at the Empangeni Country Club last Saturday, and as the Duke of Wellington was supposed to have said after Waterloo, ‘It was a damn close run thing’.
In the women’s section, log leaders, Country Club, retained their lead by beating Richards Bay C 17-9 but both Richards Bay A and B stayed within touching distance by recording wins of 20-14 and 22-12 against Bowling Club and Mtunzini respectively.
In the final round, played in the afternoon, Richards Bay B fell out of contention when they were beaten 11-22 by Richards Bay C.
This meant that the result of the game between Richards Bay A and Country Club would determine who would be crowned champions for 2015.
Richards Bay A on 6+27 would have to beat Country Club on 8+42 by more than seven shots and they set about their task with some confidence.
With a four shot lead and two ends to play it looked as though the Bay could pull it off, but Country Club fought back to claim two shots on the penultimate end and despite giving away a single on the final end, they managed to confine the score to 13-16, which was good enough to cement their place at the top of the log where they had been throughout the season.
Men’s play
In the first round of the men’s section, log leaders, Country Club dropped to second place (10+19) when they were beaten 12-24 by Richards Bay A (10+37).
Richards Bay C lost ground when they lost 17-23 to Mtunzini A and Bowling Club A were beginning to look threatening (8+44) by virtue of a 32-12 victory over Richards Bay B.
In the afternoon session, Richards Bay C (10+44) beat their A side (10+26) by 24 shots to 13 and Bowling Club A took over the lead (10+51) when they beat Mtunzini B 25-18.
This meant that defending champions, Country Club, had to either beat or peel with Richards Bay B to retain their title.
And so it happened.
In the final end, with the scores locked at 17-17, the skips at the mat and Country Club lying two shots, victory in sight, the jack was moved and the two shots now belonged to Richards Bay who took the game 19-17 which meant that Bowling Club A, who had lost the first two games of the season were deserving winners of the 2015 Haigs Mowers League.
Final Log Positions
Men – 1 Bowling Club A 10+51, 2 Richards Bay C 10+44, 3 Richards Bay A 10+26, 4 Country Club 10+17, 5 Mtunzini A 6-23, 6 Richards Bay B 6-50, 7 Bowling Club B 4-23 and 8 Mtunzini B 0-42.
Women – 1 Country Club 8+39, 2 Richards Bay A 8+30, 3 Richards Bay C 6+0, 4 Richards Bay B 6-8, 5 Mtunzini 2-29 and 6 Bowling Club 0-32.
There will be no local competitive bowls this week due to the All Natal Fours being played in Durban.
