Worth The Trip - Roberts Successfully Defends Street Shears Title

Southland shearers Brett Roberts and Nathan Stratford gained some petrol money for their round trip of over 1300km for two days on the competition circuit when they finished first and second in the Get to the Point Pleasant Point Gymkhana Shears Open final on Saturday.

Mataura shearer Roberts successfully defended the title he won last year in the outdoor environment of the main street through the State Highway 8 South Canterbury township.

But it was a close call with just 0.37 points spanning the first three, to third placegetter David Buick, of North Wairarapa farming locality Pongaroa, with a gap of almost 6pts to remaining finalist and Scottish shearer Gavin Mutch, the only finalist surviving from the Canterbury Shears New Zealand Corriedales championship final he won at Marble Point, near Hanmer Springs, 24 hours earlier.

Masterton shearers Kyle Mita and Adam Gordon rounded-off a successful trip south, with wins in the Senior and Intermediate finals respectively.

Mita, fourth at Marble Point, won a 10-sheep Senior final by 2.25pts from first-man-off Matt Hunt, of Waikaka, with third place going to Canterbury Shears winner Brayden Clifford, also of Waikaka.

Gordon, who at the age of 18 won both the shearing and woolhandling Novice finals at the 2019 Golden Shears, and No 1-ranked Junior last season, has won Intermediate finals on all four weekends of the new season, including two trips to the South Island.

He made his Intermediate debut with a New Zealand Spring Shears win at Waimate on October 10, and followed it with wins at the Poverty Bay A and P Show a week later, the Hawke’s Bay Show’s Great Raihania Shears on October 23, and then in the Canterbury Shears on Friday and today at Pleasant Point.

The Junior final today was won by young Ohai shearer Harley James Ransfield, who had been runner-up in Friday’s Junior final.

RESULTS from the Get to the Point Pleasant Point Gymkhana Shears at Pleasant Point, on Saturday, November 7, 2020:

Open final (20 sheep): Brett Roberts (Mataura) 16min 54.5sec, 56.48pts, 1; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 17min 29.72sec, 56.64pts, 2; David Buick (Pongaroa) 16min 55.94sec, 56.85pts, 3; Gavin Mutch (Scotland) 16min 45.12sec, 62.66sec, 4.

Senior final (10 sheep): Kyle Mita (Masterton) 12min 10.1sec, 43.91pts, 1; Matt Hunt (Waikaka) 11min 46.88sec, 46.14pts, 2; Braydon Clifford (Waikaka) 13min 39.34sec, 46.67pts, 3; Chris Malcolm (Winton) 12min 2.09sec, 48pts, 4.

Intermediate final (4 sheep): 7min 9.34sec, 26.97pts, 1; Chase Rattray (Ashburton) 6min 48.32sec, 27.92pts, 2; Alice Watson (Blenheim) 7min 1.13sec, 29.81pts, 3; Makaira Black (Timaru) 7min 59.07sec, 38.7pts, 4.

Junior final (3 sheep): Harley James Ransfield (Ohai) 8min 4.66sec, 32.23pts, 1; Richard Parore (Ashburton) 7min 59.78sec, 36.99pts, 2; Emma Martin (Gore) 11min 47.87sec, 55.73pts, 3; Caleb Mukuch (-) 8min 28.47sec, 61.42pts, 4.

Remaining shows before Christmas:

• November 14 (Sat): Central Hawke’s Bay A and P Show, at Waipukurau.
• November 21 (Sat): Nelson A and P Show, at Richmond; West Otago A and P Show, at Tapanui.
• November 28 (Sat): Taranaki Shears Stratford A and P Show, at Stratford.
• December 5 (Sat): Whangarei A and P Show, at Whangarei.

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