JOHANNESBURG, 14 April 2016 – The battle for supremacy in the A-Division of the 28th INDWE SA Senior Amateur Inter-Provincial is going right down to the wire as defending champions Western Province and Central Gauteng lock horns for victory on Friday.

The 2015 champions handed Ekurhuleni a 9 – 3 drubbing in Thursday’s third round rampage at the Wanderers Golf Club to protect their number one spot in the rankings.

Western Province have 10 points in hand and 40.5 games points.

They need just one more solid delivery to complete a successful A-Section title defence and claim their fifth victory in six years.

But Province will have to be in top form, because Central Gauteng went on the rampage.

The host union defeated Southern Cape 7 – 5 and beat North West 7.5 – 4.5 to gain four crucial points and joined Western Province at the top of the log.

Central Gauteng and Southern Cape went four for four in the singles, but Central Gauteng bagged the victory after taking a 3 – 1 lead in the foursomes.

The side also led North West 3 – 1 heading into the singles. Richard Bruyns claimed the first scalp for Central Gauteng when he beat Henri Swanepoel 6 & 5, but Christo Reyneke, Ben Kleynhans and Johan Coetzer retaliated with victories to put North West back in the fight.

It was down to the top order to get the job done, and Jock Wellington, Stephen Johnston and Steve Williams delivered with stunning blows to put Central Gauteng back in the driver’s seat.

John Durie battled Schalk Naude to the bitter end to get one more point for North West, but Naude didn’t let up and the game was halved.

At least one match on Friday will go the way of Central Gauteng or Western Province, as the two teams face off in a three-way draw with KwaZulu-Natal.

The difference heading into the final round comes down to 1.5 games points and the defending champions will have to fight to the bitter end to profit on their slender advantage.

Meanwhile Gauteng North turned the tide with two solid victories, but it was too little, too late for the Daisies.

Gauteng North beat KwaZulu-Natal 7.5 – 4.5 and defeated Eastern Province 7 – 5 to take their tally to five points. The Daisies climbed to fourth in the standings, but still lag a point behind Ekurhuleni.

The two teams will face each other in the final round in the three-way draw with Southern Cape, while Eastern Province will play North West.

The fight for survival at the bottom of the log is also perched on a knife’s edge.

North West beat Southern Cape 7.5 – 4.5 and Eastern Province drew 6-all with KwaZulu-Natal.

The results left Southern Cape in seventh with three points and Eastern Province at the bottom of the log on 2 points. However, the 2015 B-Division champions have 30 games points in hand while the Garden Route team has 25.5.

If Eastern Province defeat North West, it could spell relegation for Southern Cape, so every games point they can gain against Gauteng North and Ekurhuleni will help to avoid the wooden spoon.

Super Seniors

Western Province stayed the course in their bid for an unprecedented sixth consecutive title in the Super Seniors section, but the four-man side had to pull out all the stops to defeat a feisty Central Gauteng 3.5 – 2.5 on Thursday.

After a 1-all tie in the foursomes, Ivan Palframan drew first blood for Province when he defeated Smart Ncube 5 & 4, but Ian Smith levelled the scores with a 5 & 3 result against Tim Hewan. Anton Bezuidenhout put Province back on the winning track when he downed Colin Weinstein 3 & 2 and the final game between Mark Hair and Central Gauteng’s Frank Johnston ended in a draw.

KwaZulu-Natal and Ekurhuleni also squared off 3-all while Southern Cape handed Gauteng North a 6 – 1 drubbing.

Western Province will start the final round with six points, and take on KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng North. Second-placed Southern Cape is just two points behind the log leaders.

The Garden Route side is just one point ahead of Ekurhuleni and KwaZulu-Natal in the standings and will have to go all out in the final round against Central Gauteng and Ekurhuleni to have a hope of stopping the mighty Western Province.

ROUND THREE RESULTS – Seniors
Gauteng North 7.5 – KwaZulu-Natal 4.5
KwaZulu-Natal 6 – Eastern Province 6
Gauteng North 7 – Eastern Province 5
Central Gauteng 7 – Southern Cape 5
Central Gauteng 7.5 – North West 4.5
North West 7.5 – Southern Cape 4.5
Western Province 9 – Ekurhuleni 3

SENIORS A DIVISION LOG
1 Western Province (10 points; 40.5 game points)
2 Central Gauteng (10 points; 38.5 game points)
3 Ekurhuleni (6 points; 30.5 game points)
4 Gauteng North (5 points; 30 game points)
5 KwaZulu-Natal (3 points; 30 game points)
6 North West (3 points; 27 game points)
7 Southern Cape (3 points; 25.5 game points)
8 Eastern Province (2 points; 30 game points)

ROUND THREE RESULTS – Super Seniors
KwaZulu-Natal 3 – Ekurhuleni 3
Southern Cape 5 – Gauteng North 1
Western Province 3.5 – Central Gauteng 2.5

SUPER SENIORS A DIVISION LOG
1 Western Province SS (6 points; 13 games points)
2 Southern Cape SS (4 points; 10.5 games points)
3 Ekurhuleni SS (3 points; 9.5 games points)
4 KwaZulu-Natal SS (3 points; 8.5 games points)
5 Central Gauteng SS (1 point; 8 games points)
6 Gauteng North SS (1 point; 4.5 games points)