Canterbury fight back

Hosts Canterbury completed a stunning comeback at the national women’s interprovincial to secure a semifinal berth at Waitikiri Golf Club alongside Auckland and North Harbour yesterday.

Playing in the feature match against an unbeaten Wellington side, Canterbury found themselves down in four of five matches through nine holes but turned things around to win 3-2.

With all five matches finishing with 2 and 1 winning margins it came down to the wire, but the biggest comeback of all was Catherine Bell who was three-down early in the day to fight back and earn her team a vital point against Alanah Gullery.

Hillary O’Connor and Olive Tapu were Canterbury’s other winners while Wellington’s No 1 and No 5 – Darae Chung and Anita Harkerss – did the job for Wellington who now face a mustwin match today.

If all goes to script, a classic Canterbury versus Auckland final is looking likely as the defending champions also had a perfect day to confirm their place in the final four.

After claiming another 5-0 winning margin in the morning over Otago, things looked slightly nerve-racking against Northland in the early afternoon before their class came to the fore to show why they have 24 titles.

Today acts as a quarterfinal for Wellington and Manawatu¯ Whanganui who go head to head for the final place in the top four.