GEORGE, 11 December 2019 – KwaZulu-Natal went on a tear for a second successive day at Oubaai Hotel, Golf and Spa, while Ekurhuleni and Western Province strengthened their grip in the battle for supremacy in Tuesday’s second round of the South African Under-19 Inter-Provincial Tournament.

A-SECTION

Ekurhuleni and Western Province remained neck-in-neck with three wins a piece and a 6-all draw between the two sides in the second round.

The defending champions routed North West and Central Gauteng on day one and Western Province defeated Southern Cape and Gauteng North. The teams faced each other on day two with Ekurhuleni holding a 3-game point advantage, and the status remained after both teams beat Boland 8.5 – 3.5. Ekurhuleni, with 8 points and 32 game points – will be looking to keep their hat-trick hunt on track against Gauteng North in today’s third round while Western Province – in second with 8 points and 29 game points – enjoys a rest day with North West.

Meanwhile Southern Cape got back into the mix with a strong performance on day two.

The host union lost to Western Province in the opening round, but banked 2 points after beating Gauteng North and they secured third spot in the standings on 4 points with a 9 – 3 win over North West on Tuesday.

The Garden Route side will look to further boost their tally in their three-way tussle today against Boland, who currently hugs the bottom of the log, and fourth-placed Central Gauteng, who had a second round bye.

B-SECTION

A hugely determined KwaZulu-Natal has made a strong case for promotion by setting the bar almost impossibly high over the first two days of this year’s premier junior team competition.

Twelve months after their surprise relegation, the coastal side began their campaign in the Southern Cape with serious intent, surrendering just 1.5 points to Limpopo and Mpumalanga on day one.

The rampage continued on day two as Joseph Kunene’s young charges mowed down Free State and Northern Cape with staggering results.

After scoring clean sweeps in the foursomes session, Luke and Jack Cubitt, Mitchel Hampson, Cade Cryer, Sean Paxton and Nomads North and South Junior champion Kyle Kistensamy mowed down their opponents on both teams.

Nathan Trodd beat Free State’s Hannes Conradie 4 & 2 and Astin Wade Arthur downed Nelius de Jager from Northern Cape 4 & 2 to secure 11 – 1 victories over both teams.

With 8 points and 44.5 game points in hand, the B-Section log leaders will start the third day with a 4-point lead over their third round opponents Border and Mpumalanga, who has a second round bye with Free State.

Mpumalanga routed Eastern Province 7 – 5 in the second round to move to second in the standings, edging out Border by 16 to 14 game points.

Eastern Province, currently fifth in the standings on 2 points, will aim to score the maximum points in their three-way match against Limpopo and Northern Cape today.

A-SECTION SCORES ROUND 2

Ekurhuleni 6 – Western Province 6

Ekurhuleni 8.5 – Boland 3.5

Western Province 8.5 – Boland 3.5

Southern Cape 9 – North West 3

Byes for Central Gauteng and Gauteng North

A-SECTION LOG ROUND 2

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

1 Ekurhuleni (4, 3, 1, 0, 7, 32)

2 Western Province (4, 3, 1, 0, 7, 29)

3 Southern Cape (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 21.5)

4 Central Gauteng (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 13)

5 Gauteng North (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 9)

6 North West (3, 0, 0, 3, 0, 8.5)

7 Boland (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 7)

B-SECTION SCORES ROUND 2

KwaZulu-Natal 11 – Free State 1

KwaZulu-Natal 11 – Northern Cape 1

Free State 9.5 – Northern Cape 2.5

Mpumalanga 7 – Eastern Province 5

Byes for Limpopo and Border

B-SECTION LOG ROUND 2

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

1 KwaZulu-Natal (4, 4, 0, 0, 8, 44.5)

2 Mpumalanga (3, 2, 0, 1, 4, 16)

3 Border (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 14)

4 Free State (4, 1, 0, 3, 2, 19.5)

5 Eastern Province (3, 1, 0, 2, 2, 18)

6 Limpopo (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4.5)

7 Northern Cape (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 3.5)