The town women’s team beat its country counterpart 8.5-6.5 in the annual fixture on the Cromwell course on Sunday.
Town took a comfortable lead, winning four of the five morning foursomes, but then faced a spirited fightback in the singles in the afternoon.
The rural players reduced the overall margin by winning five of the singles games with one half to finish two points behind.
For town, Annabel Evans, Susan Greig, Eleanor Newton and Tracey Storer had two wins while No10 Andrea Tisdall had a win and a half.
No8 Rebecca Calder was the only country player to post two wins, combining with Nora Hastings in the foursomes and beating Tama Sasaki in the afternoon.
The youthful Abigael Crawford and Annabel Evans made up the top town foursomes pairing beating Liz McRae and Dale Dagg in 16 holes in the morning.
But McRae exacted some revenge in the afternoon downing Crawford 3 and 2 in the top singles match.
An 18-hole trial will be played at Balmacewen on Sunday before the top eight are selected to play against Southland for the Salisbury Cup on October 8.
After this event, a team of eight will be selected to play in the South Island interprovincial tournament at Balmacewen on October 28-29. The final five players and reserve will then be named for the national interprovincial in Northland in December.
