Bayof Plenty Men’s and Women’s Baywide Sevens Interclub

The finals day at Mount Maunganui was se tup perfectly for what was going to be a great competition. The greens were great, and the day was seriously hot.

In the men’s first round it was Mount Maunganui that got off to a great start with their singles and fours winning. But it was their pairs team that snatched a draw from the jaws of victory. They were up by 14-2 but it was Kawerau’s L. Hoete and J. McLean that fought back right to the last end to gain a noble draw.

In the women’s first round it was Omokoroa that had an outstanding performance taking out all 3 disciplines. It was A.Stephen and C. Thomson that spearheaded the round with a 26-8 win over Whakatane.

In the men’s second round it was Kawerau and Ngongotaha that showed amazing consistency with two wins a piece. It was Kawerau’s singles and fours that did the deal for them and Ngongotaha’s fours and pairs that won their second wins in a row.

In the women’s second round it was once again Omokoroa setting the standard but this time in the fours and singles. A feisty Tauranga domain fought back with two wins themselves beating Ngongotaha in the fours and Whakatane in the singles.

This left a fighting chance for three teams in the men’s and women’s events. It was the consistency of Ngongotaha in the men’s pairs and fours that won them the competition in the end. A solid performance by R. Gregory and M. Staite provided the backbone to the overall performance in the weekend. But it was their fours team with H. Bell playing outstandingly well to extinguish the hopes of Mount Maunganui getting through.

In the women’s event, it was Tauranga Domain that came home with a wet sail picking up two games including an important one over the Omokoroa team. But it was Omokoroa that stumbled over the line with a win to their fours team getting them through to win the competition overall.

Congratulations to the men’s Ngongotaha and the women's Omokoroa sevens teams who will be representing the Bay at the national interclub event.