NATIONAL NEWS - Eastern Province claimed two vital victories in the battle for promotion at the 56th South African Inter-Provincial Championship, sponsored by Tempest, while KwaZulu-Natal stunned Mpumalanga on day two at the Fish River Sun Resort on Tuesday.
Smarting after their first round loss to North West, Eastern Province came out guns blazing. The side thrashed Limpopo 10.5 – 1.5 and handed Border an 8 – 4 drubbing.
Luke Jerling and Alan Lones won both foursomes 6 & 5 to the side on a winning course and the rest of the team stepped it up to secure a 3 – 1 lead over Border and a clean sweep against Limpopo.
Lones won his single 5 & 3 to get the momentum going and Andile Adam, Fezekile Kana, Dylan Germshuys, Sieg Human and Luke Jerling piled on the rest of the points against Limpopo.
Kana scored first blood against Border when he whipped their skipper Sean Coetzee 5 & 3. Human and Kyle de Beer – who had to step into the fold for Naldo Claassen after the first round – both halved their games and Adam, Lones and Germshuys took their tally to eight.
“We were gutted after the loss to North West and then we got the news that Naldo’s dad had passed away and he had to head home,” said EP manager Sieg Human.
“We decided at our team meeting to play for Naldo and we took everything we had to Limpopo and Border. All the guys really stepped up to the plate and it was fantastic to witness their determination when that brutal westerly wind showed up in the singles.
“Although we lost a couple of matches to Border, they were close fights and I am incredibly proud of their fighting spirit. We’ll take that same attitude out there against Free State tomorrow. We edged out KwaZulu-Natal by half a games point for the lead in the log and we need to try and extend that fragile lead.”
KwaZulu-Natal won three foursomes games and all but one of their singles against Mpumalanga.
“Malcolm Mitchell fought like a terrier to halve his game against Quintin Wilsnach,” said manager Ivan Curlewis. “I’m thrilled with the 10-5 – 1.5 result, but I won’t sleep easy until we get past their matches against North West and Border on Wednesday.
“We wanted a strong performance from the team over the first few days to put us in the running and they’ve come through magnificently. It’s great to have the confidence of the three victories, but tomorrow we will start with a clean slate. The matches against North West and the local favourites will be anything but easy and the guys need to regroup and start fresh tomorrow.”
Border, meanwhile, scored an impressive 9 – 3 win against Limpopo to get some points on the board.
The host union led the foursomes 3 – 1 and seasoned campaigner Ben Jonas kept them in the front when he defeated David Wiggill 4 & 3.
Lwazi Gqira whipped Limpopo number one Cameron Nesmith 4 & 3 to continue the bleeding and Nico Joubert, Sean Coetzee, Neil du Preez and Andre du Toit wrapped up their first victory.
Free State re-joins the action against Eastern Province on Wednesday, while Mpumalanga and Limpopo will have a third round bye.
B-SECTION RESULTS – ROUND TWO
Eastern Province 10.5 vs Limpopo 1.5
Foursomes:
De Beer / Human beat van der Walt / Gerber 2 & 1;
Jerling / Lones beat Pepler / Putter 6 & 5;
Germshuys / Brophy beat Loock / Masehela 5 & 4;
Adam / Kana beat Nesmith / Wiggill 2 & 1;
Singles:
Kyle De Beer halved with Barend Gerber;
Dylan Germshuys beat Jay van der Walt 4 & 3;
Andile Adam beat Peter Masehela 1Up;
Hando Brophy lost to Ricardo Loock 2Down;
Fezekile Kana beat Franco Putter 4 & 3;
Alan Lones beat David Wiggill 5 & 3;
Siegmund Human beat Gerhard Pepler 4 & 3;
Luke Jerling beat Cameron Nesmith 4 & 3;
Limpopo 3 vs Border 9
Foursomes:
Van der Walt / Gerber beat Ngantweni / du Toit 4 & 3;
Pepler / Putter lost to Pope / Coetzee 1Down;
Loock / Masehela lost to du Preez / Gqira 6 & 4;
Nesmith / Wiggill lost to Joubert / Jonas 1Down;
Singles:
Barend Gerber beat Steven Pope 3 & 2;
Jay van der Walt lost to Andre du Toit 2Down;
Peter Masehela beat Fellow Ngantweni 2Up;
Ricardo Loock lost to Nico Joubert 2 & 1;
Franco Putter lost to Sean Coetzee 2 & 1;
David Wiggill lost to Ben Jonas 4 & 3;
Gerhard Pepler lost to Niel du Preez 3 & 1;
Cameron Nesmith lost to Lwazi Gqira 4 & 3;
Eastern Province 8 vs Border 4
Foursomes:
De Beer / Human beat Ngantweni / du Toit 4 & 3;
Jerling / Lones beat Pope / Coetzee 6 & 5;
Germshuys / Brophy lost to du Preez / Gqira 3 & 2;
Adam / Kana beat Joubert / Jonas 1Up;
Singles:
Kyle De Beer halved with Steven Pope;
Dylan Germshuys beat Andre du Toit 3 & 2;
Andile Adam beat Fellow Ngantweni 1Up;
Hando Brophy lost to Nico Joubert 3 & 1;
Fezekile Kana beat Sean Coetzee 5 & 3;
Alan Lones beat Ben Jonas 3 & 2;
Siegmund Human halved with Niel du Preez;
Luke Jerling lost to Lwazi Gqira 1Down;
Mpumalanga 1.5 vs KwaZulu-Natal 10.5
Foursomes:
Strydom / van Dyk lost to Albertse / Sole 3 & 2;
Lessingh / Morrison lost to Broomhead / Mckay 2 & 1;
Van Heerden (Jnr) / Smith lost to Mansfield / Mitchell 5 & 3;
Wilsnach / van der Merwe beat Saulez / Mwandla 2 & 1;
Singles:
Devon Strydom lost to Gavin Sole 4 & 3;
Hannes van Dyk lost to Louis Albertse 3 & 2;
Ru-Jean Lessingh lost to Jason Broomhead 5 & 3;
Stephen Morrison lost to Gregory Mckay 3 & 2;
Kevin Smith lost to Clayton Mansfield 5 & 4;
Andre van Heerden (Jnr) lost to Siyanda Mwandla 2 & 1;
Quintin Wilsnach halved with Malcolm Mitchell;
Peetie van der Merwe lost to Matt Saulez 6 & 5;
B-SECTION LOG
(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)
1 Eastern Province (4, 3, 0, 1, 6, 31.5)
2 KwaZulu-Natal (3, 3, 0, 0, 6, 31)
3 North West (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 16.5)
4 Border (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 13)
5 Free State (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 11.5)
6 Limpopo (4, 0, 0, 4, 0, 8.5)
7 Mpumalanga (3, 0, 0, 3, 0, 8)
ARTICLE: LALI STANDER
