North's semifinal chances dashed

Two losses have cost Northland any chance of reaching the semifinals of the 2010 Toro Women's Interprovincial championships at the Mirimar Golf Course in Wellington.
The Northland team were defeated for the second time by Waikato 5-0 during yesterday morning's round but then went very close to defeating one of the competition favourites North Harbour in the afternoon.
Aroha Tito and Sjanna Bonnington both continued their fine form at the tournament with wins over Rica Tse and Kristin Farrell respectively but although Samantha Dangen and Jo Wech were only one shot behind their opponents for most of the match they couldn't stop Harbour winning 3-2.
The upset of the day instead went to hosts Wellington who knocked over champions Auckland 3.5-1.5.
Northland started the day in fourth place on the division-two table, just two points adrift of the three unbeaten leaders, North Harbour, Waikato and Otago.
The team started the tournament on Tuesday with a solid 3-2 win over an evenly matched Taranaki team, with Phoebe Perrin, Tito and Bonnington all scoring wins.
However, they were beaten in their crunch match with Otago on Tuesday afternoon 1-4, with only Bonnington bucking the trend. The matches were all close, however, with the Northland players all taking their opponents to the 17th hole at least.
They bounced back on Wednesday afternoon, after resting up with the bye in the morning round, beating Manawatu-Wanganui 3-2 to remain in the hunt for a semifinal place.
Northland number three Dangen sat out the match to allow outstanding junior Rachel Williams to play at number five. Williams took her opponent Brydie Hodge to the 17th hole before conceding the match. Wech had her first win of the tournament, while Tito notched up her second win and Bonnington continued her unbeaten record.
Northland still have a lot to play for today. They can still qualify for the seven-eighth place playoff tomorrow if they can beat Tasman in final round.