All of our teams were in play on Sunday. The Bissett Shield side were at Howick against Pukekohe looking to take another step to direct entry to the final. They defeated Pukekohe 5-3, with wins to Thai Leng (2/1), Mathew Weir (5/4), James Eng (5/3), Brad Heaven (5/4) and Rakesh Patel (3/1). They are now on 34pts, just 0.5pt ahead of Royal Auckland/Grange whom they play in the final round at Whitford Park on May 6th. Other results saw RAGGC beat Howick 5-3, Titirangi beat Maungakiekie 5-3 and Akarana beat Whitford Park 7-1. A win or at worst a 4-4 draw will see us go straight to the final.
The Presidents team were in a battle with Titirangi at Windross Farm - the winner having the better chance to make the final play-off place. 3 of the matches were over early with only James Kim giving us a win (5/4), while Daniel Freeman and Alex Bagley were beaten by the same stage. All of the other matches went to the final few holes. Chris Goad lost 2/1 and Manu Taylor lost 2down to give Titirangi a slight advantage. Andrew Hipkiss won his match 2/1 while Karl Jorgensen and Logan Driver both teed off 18 with a 1up lead - 2 wins would give us a 4-4 result, but both put shots into the hazard on the right and lost the hole to halve their matches. A loss 3-5 puts us in 4th place, 2pts behind Titirangi for a play-off spot. In the final round on May 6th at Clarks Beach we play Royal Auckland/Grange, Titirangi play Waiuku. We need a big win and hope that Waiuku take something out of Titirangi.
The Captains team went a long way to securing top spot with a 5.5 - 2.5 win over Chamberlain Park, their nearest rivals. The team were down at the turn but secured a very important win. Wins to Nigel Smith (2up), Nathan Smith (3/1), Robby Turnbull (2up), Chris Blair (4/2) and James Brown (2/1). The half was secured by Jaime Lansi. They are now 4pts clear of Chamberlain Park and Pakuranga with the play-off secured and direct passage to the final with a good result against Wattle Downs at Chamberlain Park on May 6th.
Our Inter Club 2 team lost 3.5-4.5 against Maramarua - wins to Steve Callinan, David Pakieto and Alex McKay, with the half to David Knott. They are now 5pts behind the play-off position and play Whitford Park at Maramarua in the final round. Royal Auckland/Grange is well clear in this division.
The Inter Club 3 team drew 4-4 with Howick and are outside the play-off positions. Wins to Alex Ivanov, Darren Soo (8/7) - smashed him, bro!, Dave Pedersen with halves to David Evans & Hugh Lee. Their final match is against Wattle Downs at Wattle Downs. This division is led by Titirangi.