It was so nearly the longest streak in Christie Cup tennis, but Wanganui's hopes of making it a record fifth consecutive year with the silverware ended with the narrowest of defeats in a 13-11 loss to Manawatu at the Basset St courts last weekend.
Wanganui had to say goodbye to several of their stars and cup stalwarts such as cousins Kyle Butters and Paige Hourigan, who had returned to their American colleges since returning to help their home province defeat Taranaki 16-8 in December.
It was part of an unfortunate exodus where only a handful of the original squad of 14 who beat Taranaki were able to play.
Nonetheless, Wanganui were still in it when they trailed after the singles matches by 7-5, while then splitting the doubles games 3-3, bringing everything down to the mixed doubles at the end of the day.
Out of the 24 games, Wanganui only needed to win 12 for a draw and therefore retaining the Cup - which is what happened in last year's fixture with Manawatu down in Palmerston North.