Second win for Sloan team

Our Sloan Trophy team had their best win of the season on Sunday, upsetting Totaradale at Nelson.

The 6.5 to 2.5 victory – our second on the bounce – saw us climb to fifth in the standings just a couple of points from third with three rounds to go.

The day couldn’t have started more badly, with No 6 Mike Murphy being caned 7/5 and his fellow junior Lewis Wilson going down 4/3 to former club member Elton Netto.

However, our intermediates played strongly to put us back in contention, with Geoff Halkett thrashing his opponent 7/5 after being five-up before the turn, while No 3 Dean Goodman continued his fine form with a 4/3 win built on the back on some good chipping and putting.

So it all came down to the two senior matches and our lads didn’t disappoint against their experienced and well-performed rivals. No 1 Peter Green – who had a shocker in Saturday’s club comp – showed plenty of ticker to turn it around on the back nine on Sunday when it counted. Two down at the turn, he produced a stellar finish, birdieing two and parring four of his final six holes to surge to a 2-up victory on the back of a 78 off the stick.

With the tie resting on the outcome of Keri Kotua’s match, our No 2 struggled with the putter early on to be three down at the halfway mark. But he too finished strongly with two birdies and two pars in his last five holes for a 79, including a vital par at the last where he had a shot to claim a crucial half to get the team over the line.

In other matches, Motueka strengthened their grip on another title with an imperious 9 to 0 drubbing of third-placed Greenacres. Golden Downs kept in touch by downing Tasman 7.5 to 1.5, while Murchison and Takaka battled to a 3-all draw.

So the points table after six rounds sees Motueka well in front on 43 points but still to have a bye. Next is Golden Downs (33.5), while Greenacres (24.5), Totaradale (24) and Waahi Taakaro (23) are in a tussle to stay in with a chance. They are followed by Nelson (20) and Tasman (14.5), with Takaka and Murchison sharing last on 13.5.

The next round is at Murchison on August 7 where we play Motueka.