A strong finish by the top players helped St Clair Blue beat Taieri Lakes 5-1 in the semifinal of the men’s Metropolitan senior A pennant series at St Clair on Saturday.
St Clair Blue will now go forward to play series leader Otago at Balmacewen in the final of this year’s pennant, with the winner qualifying for the provincial final on October 14, at North Otago.
St Clair No5 Tony Giles was too good for Taieri captain Ken Shaw while Taieri’s Brian Shaw evened the score, beating Joseph Hancock on the 12th green.St Clair No6 Ross Colquhoun is always a tough opponent on his home course and he downed Ian Boath 3 and 2 on Saturday.
St Clair No3 Jakob Bleach gave his side its third win, squeaking home at the expense of Brett Kennelly on the final green.
The final two matches were in the balance with the prospect of a 3-3 result and a sudden-death playoff to decide the finalist.
But No1 Cody McMullan and No2 Conor Jamison finished strongly to secure the win for the home team.
Both games were tied until Jamison holed a 7m downhill putt on the 17th green to take the lead.
He also won the final hole when Hayden Robertson made a bogey five, putting the result beyond doubt.
McMullan trailed an in-form Mark Andrews for most of the round but the pair went on to the final hole all square.
McMullan hit a superb approach to the last green which finished 3m behind the cup.
He holed his birdie putt to take the honours, giving St Clair a 5-1 win which belied the closeness of the match.
