Half-a-second mate – Welshman pipped by Kiwi Master

Half-a-second mate – Welshman pipped by Kiwi Master

The Wales shearing team went within half-a-second of completing another western rout for their country when members Gwion Evans was beaten by just 0.018pts in the Reefton Shears Open final on Saturday.

Evans and teammate Rhys Jones had already beaten a Top of the South team in the third match of their New Zealand Tour, and a win for Evans in the final event would have sealed a unique treble of doubles at the Inangahua A and P Show at Reefton Racecourse.

While it was the first win for the Welsh on the current tour, after two matches in the North Island, Wales had beaten the Top of the South at Reefton in both 2013 and 2014, when team member Richard Jones won the Open finals back-to-back, the only Open-class wins by any Welsh shearer in New Zealand.

Evans dominated the test against Top of the South shearers Chris Jones and Richard Sampey, both from Marlborough, as Wales won comfortably by more than 18pts, a morale-boosting victory ahead of the mountainous goal of beating New Zealand for the first time in New Zealand in an Elders Primary Wool Series test at Gore onFebruary 21.

Evans also dominated the pace in the ultimately demonstrably closer Reefton Open final, shearing the 15 lambs in 14min 27sec, the only finalist to shear under a minute a sheep.

But it was the quality of Master Shearer, former New Zealand representative and Rakaia contractor Grant Smith that carried the day, after he was only third to finish and took 15min 10.63sec.

Half-a-second quicker by Evans, or half-a-second slower by Smith would have been enough to reverse the result, a big moment for Smith, who had had to endure 20 finals of minor-money-only since his most-recent previous win at Oxford almost two years ago.

RESULTS from the Reefton Show Shears at Reefton on Saturday, February 7, 2015:

International: Wales 114.455pts (Gwion Evans 55.971pts; Rhys Jones 58.485pts) beat Top of the South 132.463pts (Chris Jones 62.578pts; Richard Sampey 69.885pts).

Open final (15 sheep): Grant Smith (Rakaia) 15min 10.63sec, 55.865pts, 1; Gwion Evans (Wales) 14min 27sec, 55.883pts, 2; Delwyn Henriksen (Waipara) 15min 4.69sec, 61.501pts, 3; Richard Sampey (Blenheim) 16min 24.82sec, 63.108pts, 4.

Senior final (10 sheep): Andrew Ferguson (Takaka) 13min 39.6sec, 49.88pts, 1; Jotham Rentoul (Tapawera) 14min 10.62sec, 52.931pts, 2; Joseph Stephens (Ireland) 13min 44.19sec, 58.41pts, 3; Michael Herlihy (-) 11min 58.63sec, 58.932pts, 4.

Intermediate final (4 sheep): Shun Oishi (Japan) 8min 12.84sec, 48.142pts, 1; Tony Te Para (Te Kuiti) 7min 3.53sec, 57.427pts, 2; Aaron Win (Reefton) 9min 2.66sec, 61.383pts, 3.

Junior final (3 sheep): Eve Peddie (Oxford) 6min 26.78sec, 41.672pts, 1; Duncan Higgins (Havelock) 8min 25.12sec, 42.256pts, 2; Alan Oldfield (Christchurch) 7min 43.62sec, 47.514pts, 3; James Webster (-) 7min 17.69sec, 52.885pts, 4.

Blades final (4 sheep): Phil Oldfield (Geraldine) 11min 24.77sec, 59.905pts, 1; Noel Handley (Rangiora) 11min 10.59sec, 60.196pts, 2; Alan Oldfield (Christchurch) 11min 43.44sec, 65.05pts, 3; Godfrey Rotterton (Ireland) 19min 33.06sec, 139.32pts, 3.

ENDS

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