Sloan team held to a draw

Our Sloan team battled to a draw with the old foe Nelson at Totaradale on Sunday.

It was slightly disappointing result after we lost several matches late in the piece and means we are yet to record a win and still trail the field after four rounds.

Playing at No 6, the nerveless Lewis Wilson got us off to a good start, coming back from losing the first three holes to be all square at the turn and then shooting 39 on the back nine to zoom to a 3/2 win.

His fellow junior Andrew Craig did well to get back to square after being three down at the halfway mark only to falter on the final few holes to be defeated 2/1.

No 4 Neil McLaren was always behind, but halved the deficit to two on the back nine before fading to a 4/2 loss.

Geoff Halkett got us back in the tie with a hard fought 2/1 victory. Two up early and all square at the turn, he hung tough to grind out a result.

Keri Kotua shot an excellent 74 off the stick to coast to a 5/4 win and get our noses back in front. Keri built on a three-up lead on the front nine to keep his opponent under the thumb.

In the deciding match No 1 Andy Isle was all square at the turn before going two ahead early on the back nine. However, his opponent, former Waahi Taakaro member Sam Best,  then won three holes on the bounce and then held on for a 2/1 for Nelson to claim a share of the points.

In other matches, Motueka extended their already healthy lead with an easy 8-1 win over Murchison, while Golden Downs moved into a share of third place with a 9-0 whitewashing of Takaka. Greenacres consolidated second with a comfortable 7.5-1.5 victory over Tasman.

So after four rounds the points table is: Motueka 30, Greenacres 24.5, Golden Downs and Totaradale 17.5, Tasman and Nelson 12, Murchison 10,  Takaka 9.5, Waahi Taakaro 8.

The next round is on June 12 at Murchison where we play Motueka.