Northland savour win over Auckland

Snagging a win over rivals Auckland for the first time was the highlight of the 2010 North Island Junior Interprovincial Golf Tournament for the Northland contingent at Cambridge Golf Club.
"We beat Auckland five games to three on Wednesday - and I believe it's the first time Northland have beaten Auckland at this tournament," Northland manager Michael MacDonald said.
Earlier in the week, Northland won one other match against Poverty Bay - seven games to one - and had many close calls throughout the four day tournament which started on Monday, placing them in sixth equal position with Auckland. The finish was on par with last year's effort but there were a lot of positives to take from the team's week in the Waikato, MacDonald said.
"All eight players in the team played really well and there were big improvements from last year's performance. It was a tight competition this year and Northland stepped it up a notch. We played more deliberately and the boys were more focused. Everyone was pretty wrapped with how we went."
Most impressive was 15-year-old Sean Masters, who was captain of the under 16 contingent in the Northland side, and won seven from seven matches. The No6 golfer for Northland, along with Sam An from Auckland, Hawkes Bay's Mathew Edmondson and Luke Toomey of Waikato were the only other golfers to progress through matchplay unbeaten.
Northland's No7, and also an under-16 division golfer, Kadin Neho also stood out during the tournament, winning six of his seven matches. Luke Brown (No8) completed his first tournament with the juniors, with four wins, and three losses - all of which were lost on the 18th hole.
Skipper of the Under-19 group and No1 for Northland Lee Neuman competed in his last Junior Interprovincial tournament, along with Northland No2 Chris Alexander.
The pair will move up to senior divisions next year. Neuman had two wins and several close calls on matches, while Alexander nabbed one and a half wins, and again, played in several matches that went down to the wire.
There is no rest for the Northland competitors, who will take on the region's best at the Golf Northland Matchplay (James Busby Plate) at Waitangi Golf Course today and tomorrow.
Meanwhile, North Harbour won the Junior Interprovincial Tournament overall with 13/37.5, while hosts Waikato were second (12/42), and last year's champions Bay of Plenty (11/35), were third.
Next up was Manawatu/Wanganui (7/24), Hawkes Bay (11/35) in fifth, followed by Auckland and Northland on 4/25.5, in sixth equal position, with Eastland trailing in eighth (0/5).