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Manawatu-Wanganui have a lot of catch up to do in their final two matchups at the 2015 Toro Interprovincial in Invercargill today after a tough week of competition on the Otatara course.
After a bye in the first round, Manawatu-Wanganui have won two and lost two with 11.5 total match points to be sitting back in sixth position in Division 1.
The top two teams from each division go through to the semifinals, with Manawatu-Wanganui looking to catch the unbeaten Waikato and second-placed Bay of Plenty on the table while hoping other results go their way.
The team started with a 3.5-1.5 victory against Aorangi, where they rested No1 player Josh Munn to give a game to reserve Junior Tatana.
It proved important as Tatana defeated Jeremy Goodman 2/1, while Regan Cording beat Daniel Perham 1up and their other three teammates, including Marton's Lachie McDonald and Castlecliff's Hayden Ring, were squared in their games.
This was followed by a disappointing 3-2 loss to North Harbour on Day 2 as temperatures hit 30 degrees.
North Habour's leading player Jason Gulasekharam defeated Munn on the final hole in their game.
"He gave me a hiding last year. Josh went scuba diving he was shooting so low, but I was always looking forward to this match and hoping to get one back at him," said Gulasekharam.
After spraying his drive on the 18th hole, Gulasekharam produced a spectacular up-and-down from 71m and stuck it to four feet and halved the hole.
"I have never been so nervous over a four foot putt in my life," said Gulasekharam.
Manawatu-Wanganui rebounded to beat Poverty Bay-East Coast 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon, with only Ring not getting on the winners sheet against Peter Kerekere, while McDonald defeated William Brown 5/4.
But yesterday the team was defeated 3-2 by Bay of Plenty and were looking at a hard road to hoe for the remainder of the tournament after McDonald was beaten by Landyn Edwards 3/1 and Ring lost to Sam Davis 8/7.
Manawatu-Wanganui will now play Canterbury this morning and then title contenders Waikato this afternoon to see if they can scrape through to the final four.
-Results
Round 2 - Manawatu-Wanganui bt Aorangi 3.5-1.5: Lachie McDonald square with Jordan Green; Hayden Ring square with Garth Simpson; Regan Cording bt Daniel Perham 1up; Josh Sedgwick square with Jeff Hewitt; Junior Tatana bt Jeremy Goodman 2/1.
Round 3 - Manawatu-Wanganui lost to North Harbour 3-2: Josh Munn lost to Jason Gulasekharam 1up; Lachie McDonald bt Mark Hutson 5/4; Hayden Ring lost to Chang-gi Lee 2/1; Regan Cording bt Jake Meenhorst 1up; Josh Sedgwick lost to Cameron Jones 2up.
Round 4 - Manawatu-Wanganui bt Poverty Bay-East Coast 4-1: Josh Munn bt Nathaniel Cassidy 3/1; Lachie McDonald bt William Brown 4/3; Hayden Ring lost to Peter Kerekere 5/4; Regan Cording bt Tony Akroyd 1up; Josh Sedgwick bt Andrew Higham 5/3.
Round 5 - Manawatu-Wanganui lost to Bay of Plenty 3-2: Josh Munn bt William Howard 1up; Lachie McDonald lost to Landyn Edwards 3/1; Hayden Ring lost to Sam Davis 8/7; Regan Cording lost to Jordan Golding 5/4; Josh Sedgwick def Henry Spring 2up.