Man-wang chalk up their first win

Manawatu-wanganui are on the board at the national interprovincial championships at New Plymouth, but are off the pace when it comes to the playoff hunt.

After losing 4-1 to North Harbour on Tuesday, Manawatu-wanganui lost to Bay of Plenty 4-1 yester morning, then came back to have their first win, beating Poverty Bay-east Coast 4-1.

Against Bay of Plenty No 1 Junior Tatana was the only one to win, beating William Howard 2up.

No 2 Regan Cording and No 3 Regan Mcconaghty both halved with Henry Spring and Landyn Edwards respectively.

Manawatu-wanganui No 4 Mike Atkins and No 5 Greg Shaw were both whipped 6 and 5 by Shaun Campbell and Jordan Golding respectively.

Manawatu-wanganui were in better form against Poverty Bayeast Coast, where Atkins was the only one to drop his match 1up against Andrew Higham.

Tatana beat Nathaniel Cassidy 2 and 1, Cording beat Peter Kerekere 1up, Mcconaghty beat William Brown 3 and 2, and Shaw beat Tony Akroyd 1up.

It doesn’t get easier for Manawatu-wanganui, as they play two-time defending champions Waikato, then Auckland, today.

There is a log jam at the top of both divisions, as Waikato, Bay of Plenty and North Harbour are all unbeaten.

Waikato have barely worked up a sweat in their matches by beating Aorangi, Poverty Bay-east Coast and Auckland in clinical fashion.

Auckland can most likely cancel their weekend accommodation with their loss to Waikato as the extremely tough division one draw strikes early.

Canterbury maintain top spot in division two after defeating Tasman 4-1 in the morning and securing a fighting halve against southern rivals Otago late in the day to hold a 1-1/2 point lead in their division.

A clutch putt from Taranaki’s Andrew Searle on a surrounded eighth green in the morning was the deciding moment as they upset Northland 3-2, putting Northland out of contention.

Taranaki then went on to score a courageous halve against a strong Wellington side.

Although they don’t have perfect records, Wellington and Otago are still yet to lose a match which keeps them within striking distance of the semifinals. They clash on Friday morning in what could be a playoff for the second place in division two.

The clash of the morning today will be Bay of Plenty versus North Harbour.