Report by Mr Hueston:
We had 3 players enter the national singles event (Dom Kelekolio, Lui Kelekolio and Glen Williams). Unfortunately none of the boys qualified for the top section. They enjoyed the day and quality of bowls was an eye opener.
On Monday it was the Pairs competition. We had 8 teams entered. A notable mention goes to Caleb Cummings and Panatswa Dindingwe (4 wins) and Glen Williams and Lui Kelekolio(2.5 wins) who made the Top 16 teams but unfortunately both did not progress further.
Our other 6 teams battled away in the Plate competition. There were some close games and we manged to get 5 teams into the top 8. Lucas Aukuso & Maximo Morrone had to play Dom Kelekolio & Reece Edgecombe in the semi final. It was a tight game that came down to an extra end. Reece &Dom need 5 on the final end to draw the game and were holding 5 until a last bowl from Lucas Aukuso denied the game going into an extra extra end. Max and Lucas won 11-8.
This meant Lucas and Max went into the plate final against our toughest rivals Aotea College. It was a tight game with some great bowls played. Lucas and Max lead from start to finish and survived a late comeback to win 7-6.
Newlands College was well represented and is building some good depth to the bowls squadron. With 14 of 16 players attending nationals all being juniors things are looking good for the next couple of years.