NATIONAL NEWS - At the day three at the 56th South African Inter-Provincial, the Eastern Province claimed a decisive victory over Free State to keep their promotion battle on track while KwaZulu-Natal finally took a little breath of relief after coming through another two tough matches unscathed on Wednesday.

Eastern Province hammered Free State 8 – 4, KwaZulu-Natal beat Border by the same margin and defeated North West 7.5 – 4.5 while North West kept their promotions hopes alive with an 8 – 4 win over Border.

“The loss to North West on day one hurt our chances, so we need a win against Free State to strengthen our chances for promotion,” said Eastern Province manager Sieg Human after the side stretched a 3.5 -0.5 lead in the foursomes to victory.

Andile Adam and Fezekile Kana set the side on a winning run in the foursomes when they handed Therion Nel and Wilco Nienaber a huge 8 & 7 beating, and Kyle de Beer whipped Ivan van der Merwe with a massive 9 & 7 to keep the momentum going in the singles.

“Dylan Germshuys Alan Lones and Luke Jerling reeled in the rest of our points, and Fezekile halved his game to get us another half point.”

The double celebration brought Eastern Province within two points of KwaZulu-Natal, who lead the log standings on 10 points.

“The guys really rallied exceptionally well and we needed a good show,” Human said. “Both teams have a bye on Thursday, but we are in a challenging position before we take on KwaZulu-Natal in Friday’s final round.”

Last year KwaZulu-Natal came agonisingly close to promotion last year, but the 2009 champions lost their chance to Gauteng North in last year’s final round. Manager Ivan Curlewis kept the pressure up, not wanting his charges to get complacent after three wins, but at five for five in matches and wins, the man in charge is finally letting up.

“We led the foursomes against both Border and North West, but both teams put up a helluva fight in the singles,” Curlewis said. “The boys did fantastic under all that pressure to get the wins for us and they deserve to let their hair down on Thursday.”

Jason Broomhead, Clayton Mansfield and Malcolm Mitchell won both their games, while Gavin Sole, Gregory Mckay and Matt Saulez halved against North West.

Sole pounded Steven Pope from Border 5 & 4, Louis Albertse took a 3 & 2 result and Malcolm Mitchell pummelled Niel du Preez 4 & 3 to put KwaZulu-Natal in the drivers’ seat. Gregory Mckay secured the final half point when he squared off with Nico Joubert.

B-SECTION RESULTS – ROUND 3

North West 4.5 vs KwaZulu-Natal 7.5

Foursomes:

Peens / Britz lost to Albertse / Sole 3 & 1;

Swart / Bezuidenhout beat Broomhead / Mckay 2 & 1;

De Jager / Pickering lost to Saulez / Mwandla 2 & 1;

Beckley / van Niekerk lost to Mansfield / Mitchell 2 & 1;

Singles:

Albert Britz halved with Gavin Sole;

Christo Peens lost to Louis Albertse 2 & 1;

Riaan Swart beat Jason Broomhead 1Up;

Theunie Bezuidenhout halved with Gregory Mckay;

Zabastian de Jager lost to Clayton Mansfield 5 & 4;

Slade Pickering beat Siyanda Mwandla 1Up;

Danie van Niekerk lost to Malcolm Mitchell 2 & 1;

Aubrey Beckley halved with Matt Saulez;


KwaZulu-Natal 8 vs Border 4

Foursomes:

Albertse / Sole beat Ngantweni / du Toit 2 & 1;

Broomhead / Mckay halved with Pope / Coetzee;

Saulez / Mwandla lost to du Preez / Gqira 1Down;

Mansfield / Mitchell beat Joubert / Jonas 5 & 4;

Singles:

Gavin Sole beat Steven Pope 5 & 4;

Louis Albertse beat Andre du Toit 3 & 2;

Jason Broomhead beat Fellow Ngantweni 7 & 6;

Gregory Mckay halved with Nico Joubert;

Clayton Mansfield beat Sean Coetzee 3 & 2;

Siyanda Mwandla lost to Ben Jonas 3 & 1;

Malcolm Mitchell beat Niel du Preez 4 & 3;

Matt Saulez lost to Lwazi Gqira 2Down;


North West 8 vs Border 4

Foursomes:

Peens / Britz lost to Ngantweni / du Toit 2 & 1;

Swart / Bezuidenhout beat Pope / Coetzee 2Up;

De Jager / Pickering beat du Preez / Gqira 1Up;

Beckley / van Niekerk beat Joubert / Jonas 4 & 3;

Singles:

Albert Britz beat Steven Pope 5 & 3;

Christo Peens beat Andre du Toit 3 & 2;

Riaan Swart beat Fellow Ngantweni 5 & 4;

Theunie Bezuidenhout lost to Nico Joubert 1Down;

Zabastian de Jager halved with Sean Coetzee;

Slade Pickering lost to Ben Jonas 4 & 2;

Danie van Niekerk beat Niel du Preez 3 & 2;

Aubrey Beckley halved with Lwazi Gqira;
Eastern Province 8 vs Free State 4

Foursomes:

De Beer / Human beat van der Merwe / Erasmus 2 & 1;

Germshuys / Brophy beat Dreyer / van Wyk 4 & 3;

Jerling / Lones halved with Maree / van Zyl;

Adam / Kana beat Nel / Nienaber 8 & 7;

Singles:

Kyle De Beer beat Ivan van der Merwe 9 & 7;

Dylan Germshuys beat Heinrich Erasmus 1Up;

Hando Brophy lost to Attie van Wyk 4 & 3;

Andile Adam lost to Juran Dreyer 4 & 3;

Fezekile Kana halved with Richard Maree;

Alan Lones beat Wilco Nienaber 1Up;

Siegmund Human lost to Therion Nel 4 & 3;

Luke Jerling beat Andrè van Zyl 1Up;


B-SECTION LOG

(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)

1 KwaZulu-Natal (5, 5, 0, 0, 10, 46.5)

2 Eastern Province (5, 4, 0, 1, 8, 39.5)

3 North West (4, 3, 0, 1, 6, 29)

4 Border (4, 1, 0, 3, 2, 21)

5 Free State (3, 1, 0, 2, 2, 15.5)

6 Limpopo (4, 0, 0, 4, 0, 8.5)