England struggle in second day foursomes
When the Home Internationals resumed at a sun-drenched Royal
St George’s this morning, England were decidedly second
best against Scotland in the foursomes, the Scots going into
lunch 3-1 ahead with one match halved.
England champion Paul Waring and Gary Wolstenholme, playing
in his 18th Home Internationals, were always fighting an uphill
battle against Lloyd Saltman and Eric Ramsay after losing
the first two holes to pars. They went three down at the fifth
and never managed to dent the Scots advantage, going down
4 and 3.
Teenagers Oliver Fisher and Jamie Moul matched Andrew McArthur
and Bryan Fotheringham for eight holes but then hit the slippery
slope, losing five holes in a row from the ninth, only one
to a birdie. Again the English pair were fighting a losing
battle and the end came at the 15th with a 4 and 3 scoreline.
The middle match proved England’s lone success with
the experienced James Crampton (pictured above) and Matthew
Cryer always up on Richie Ramsay and Jonathan King. The English
pair edged in front at the fourth and increased that at the
tenth and again at the 12th to be three up. The Scots managed
to get it back to one down after 17 but a par at the last
was enough to give the English lads a two hole success, both
players maintaining their 100% records.
Adam Gee and Robert Dinwiddie were another pairing who failed
to fine their form. They fell behind to a Scottish birdie
at the short third and lost two of the next three holes as
Glenn Campbell and Jamie McLeary went three ahead. That was
the same margin after 13 holes but winning pars at the next
two holes got the England pair back to one down but they were
unable to close the gap further.
In the bottom match, Steve Tiley and Ed Richardson were given
a tough time on the front nine by Scott Jamieson and George
Murray, who were out in a four under par 32 to be two up.
Tiley and Richardson battled back to all square after 12,
lost the 13th, but managed to win the short 16th with a par
to level again on their way to a battling half.
Having trounced the Scots 10-5 yesterday, Wales found Ireland
a much tougher proposition and lost the foursomes 3-2.
Rhys Davies and Zac Gould were locked in a tense battle with
Sean McTernan and Rory McIlroy in the top match, which remained
all square until the Irish birdied the 15th and 16th for a
2 and 1 win.
Amateur champion Brian McElhinney and Michael McGeady always
held sway against James Williams and Tim Dykes after the Irish
won six holes in a row from the fourth, the last three with
birdies. Few lose such a lead and the match finished on the
long 14th in a 5 and 4 win for the Irish, who were two under
par.
Walker Cup man Nigel Edwards and Ryan Thomas stopped the
Irish run by beating Gareth Shaw and Aaron O’Callaghan
3 and 2, but the men in green ensured overall victory when
Pat Murray and Cian McNamara got the better of Llewellyn Matthews
and Cennydd Mills 2 and 1.
In the bottom match, Wales again prevented what could have
been a complete disaster when Craig Evans and Craig Smith
beat Richard Kilpatrick and Connor Doran also 2 and 1.
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