Haxby Hefford was in good form at the Otago Rowing Championships over the weekend before wind interupted the regatta. Photo supplied.Weather may have interrupted the latter stages of the Otago Rowing Championships, but the large Ashburton contingent of rowers who made their way down to Lake Ruataniwha on the weekend still walked away with some solid results.

High winds limited racing action on Saturday and many finals were cancelled due to the conditions, while others were reduced in distance, but rowers still stood up and asked to be noticed, putting them in good stead for a busy summer once the calendar rolls over to 2020.

A number of Ashburton rowers picked up victories in either their heats or finals at the regatta and two A Final successes highlighted the weekend.

The women’s masters double sculls, held over 1000 metres went the way of Rose Kellet and Helen Hodge, while Kellet was also part of the women’s masters coxed/coxless quad sculls team alongside Kim Hamill, Gendie Woods and Teresa Eden who were also successful in their A Final.

Hodge also finished second in the A Final of the women’s masters single sculls.

Accomplished singles sculler Haxby Hefford was in line for a good result in the men’s club single sculls, having won his heat to advance further before the final was cancelled and it was the same for Ged Wall who also picked up a victory in his heat of the Boys’ Under 17 single sculls.

The men’s novice coxed four of Matthew Pearce, Parker Bradford, Riley Harris, Zane Cameron and Harriet Leverton were also on the winners list, winning their heat before finishing third in the A Final.

January will be a busy time for local rowers with a number of different regattas set to take place over the course of the month around the South Island.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 19 December 2019

Liam Sullivan, pictured here playing for Ashburton College, was in outstanding form last week for the Mid Canterbury Under 17 cricket side. Photo supplied.It might not have ended the way they might have liked but the Mid Canterbury Under 17 cricket side came back to home turf on the weekend with some good results behind them at the Canterbury Regional Under 17 tournament last week.

The team of youngsters, featuring some prominent names for the future of cricket here in Mid Canterbury, lost the third and fourth playoff match on Friday afternoon against a strong Metro Red side but a number of players stood up, featuring in the top 10 for individual statistics for the week.

Mid Canterbury kicked off their campaign with a tough loss to Canterbury Country.

Bowling first, they restricted their rivals to an achievable 134/7 with Liam Sullivan and Angus Spittall both grabbing a brace of wickets each.

In reply though, the green and golds were always in trouble and were eventually all out for 83, with 33 from Devon Flannery the highlight while Sam Cuttle chipped in with 22.

In the second match the side were set to take on neighbours, South Canterbury but the weather took care of that match and it was abandoned, leaving the Mid Canterbury side needing to target their match against Buller to push for higher honours in the competition.

But Canterbury Metro Red stood in the way first.

Again, Mid Canterbury did the job with the ball, restricting their rivals to another low score of 124 all out with Angus Jemmett taking three wickets, while Sullivan and Liam Fuller both grabbed two each.

With the bat, it was a day to forget with only two players reaching double figures before Mid Canterbury were rolled for 56.

The next day the match against Buller provided a far better result.

The job with the ball was done once again with the West Coasters kept to just 103 before they were all out.

Millar Newlands was the chief destroyer with 3-7 off his seven overs, while again Sullivan was in the wickets claiming two, as did Fuller again. In reply, Mid Canterbury did the job easily with Jemmett leading from the top to score an unbeaten 56 to see his side over the line.

Next up Mid Canterbury took on Metro Black and in restricting them to 161 all out they probably felt like they had a chance.

Sullivan had continued his hot form taking 3-38 off seven overs, while Jemmett was again in on the action taking 2-11.

But the batting issues crept back into the game against a good bowling line-up and Mid Canterbury were all out for 83, with a 16 from the bat of Jemmett the best the batsmen could offer up.

That solitary win was enough for Mid Canterbury to sneak into the top four play-off and on Friday they took on Metro Red again.

Batting first this time they scored 122 before they were all out.

Flannery top-scored with 32 while Isaac Bazely and Sullivan were in on the runs too scoring 30 and 24 respectively.

Metro managed to chase down the target easily enough though, losing just three wickets.

Sullivan was again the main man with the ball taking 2-28 while Jemmett grabbed the third wicket.

Sullivan’s efforts with the ball over the tournament saw him finish second overall leading wicket taker in the competition with 11 wickets from just shy of 20 overs during the five matches.

Jemmett was also inside the top 10 with seven wickets of his own and also featured in the top 10 runs scorers for the tournament with an average of 27.3.

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 14 December 2019

Connor Brosnahan will be a key figure on the court today. Photo supplied.With round two action under way in Mid Canterbury’s open grade tennis action, the chance to make an early break on the competition is open for all sides today.

With action set to take a break after this weekend’s games until the 25th of January, there’s everything to play for and everything to lose for all six teams.

Fairton, who made the most comprehensive of starts to the competition by losing just one of their nine games in the first day of round two against Dorie, will be hoping to carry that form through to this weekend when they take on Allenton.

Allenton waited until the final day of play in round one to get their first win of the season but after defeat two weeks ago, they’ll be keen to get things back on track against a strong looking line-up today.

Connor Brosnahan led the way in the No.1 singles spot for Fairton in that victory over Allenton and he will be up for a good challenge today if playing in the same spot against Jason Feutz.

Round one winners, Southern, who were narrow victors over Methven in the first day of play for the second round, will be looking to keep their momentum flowing forward with their clash against Hampstead in the second of the three fixtures today.

Meanwhile Methven will be doing battle with a smarting Dorie after their heavy defeat at the hands of Fairton a fortnight ago.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 14 December 2019