Nott cements Top of the South treble at Marlborough show

Nott cements Top of the South treble at Marlborough show

Marlborough concrete contractor and now part-time shearer Tony Nott cemented a Top of the South Treble with a win in the annual circuit’s final in in Blenheim on Saturday, despite having done almost no shearing this season and fronting-up so unprepared he almost decided against starting.

But it was the 53-year-old’s home-town event, at the Marlborough A and P Show, and he knew it was struggling for numbers, despite staging the Top of the South final for the first time in several years.

Having won back in 1989 and at one stage enduring a 14-year gap without making the final, he won the title in Nelson in 2012 and again last year, and said after the latest win: “It’s good to see it back on this side of the hill.”

Organisers are planning to alternate the final among contributing show venues to help foster greater numbers on the circuit of seven shows in the Nelson-Marlborough-West Coast region.

The final, comprising four of the circuit’s long-time supporters was over 15 sheep each, including corriedale hoggets and lambs, was “first-up” on Saturday.

“I hadn’t done any shearing for a while,” Nott said. “And there was not a lot of gear in the kit. But no one knew a lot about what was going on, and there was no pace on.”

His time of 21min 30.72sec was more than half-a-minute quicker than runner-up and fellow Marlborough veteran Chris Jones, and Nott also had a board-job advantage of over 3pts.

Both had to concede defeat in the Marlborough open final at the finishing-end of the programme. It was won by Rangiora-based shearing instructor Mark Herlihy, who had his first two Open wins last year.

The Marlborough senior final was won by Jotham Rentoul, of Tapawera, and the junior final by Duncan Higgins, of Havelock North. There was no intermediate class because of a lack of entries.

The next shearing competition in the region is at the Nelson A and P Show on November 22.

Results from the Marlborough A and P Show Shears at Blenheim on Saturday, November 8, 2014:

Top of the South:

Open final (15 sheep): Tony Nott (Blenheim) 21min 30.72sec, 88.669pts, 1; Chris Jones (Blenheim) 22min 2.1sec, 94.172pts, 2; Richard Sampey (Blenheim) 22min 40.72sec, 96.169pts, 3; Dave Brooker (Hawarden) 22min 14.47sec, 99.19pts, 4.

Marlborough A and P Championships:

Open final (10 sheep): Mark Herlihy (Rangiora) 15min 4.87sec, 63.444pts, 1; Chris Jones (Blenheim) 14min 14.13sec, 63.607pts, 2; Tony Nott (Blenheim) 14min 11.62sec, 65.581pts, 3; Frank Bint (Tapawera) 15min 33.72sec, 68.886pts, 4.

Open Plate (6 sheep): Richard Sampey (Blenheim) 8min 51.65sec, 45.583pts, 1; Dave Brooker (Hawarden) 8min 11.72sec, 49.086pts, 2; Rowan Nesbit (Rangiora) 10min 1.18sec, 49.559pts, 3; Earl Paewai (Waihope) 8min 20.16sec, 50.675pts, 4.

Senior final (6 sheep): Jotham Rentoul (Tapawera) 13min 4.66sec, 52.733pts, 1; Joseph Stephens (Ireland) 12min 29.75sec, 58.988pts, 2; Shane Nathan (Tapawera) 10min 58.6sec, 61.263pts, 3; Mark Rogers (Brightwater) 12min 49.72sec, 64.319pts, 4.

Junior final (2 sheep): Duncan Higgins (Havelock) 7min 44.25sec, 45.213pts, 1; Rob Hervey (Murchison) 7min 47.12sec, 58.356pts, 2; Amy Silcock (Waikari) 7min 24.94sec, 60.747pts, 3; Kaleb Avery (Blenheim) 7min 4.09sec, 71.205pts, 4.

ENDS

© Scoop Media