FOUR-WAY TIE IN PURSUIT OF BOYS COUNTY TITLE
 The
destination of the Boys County Championship was in the balance
last night with each team recording one victory from two matches.
Lancashire and Shropshire & Herefordshire both bounced
back from first day defeats, Lancashire beating Gloucestershire
6.5 - 2.5 and Shropshire & Herefordshire getting past
Surrey by the same score.
Lancashire were determined not to slip up again and they
were quick out of the blocks, taking all three morning foursomes.
They continued the theme in the singles and no one underlined
the team’s spirit that Jack Senior in the top match.
Faced with a task of tackling the impressive Oscar Sharpe,
holder of every age group title from under 13 to under 16,
didn’t let his head drop despite seeing the Gloucester
lad reel off three successive birdies from the 11th to go
three-up. Senior then took the 14th with a par and despite
being two down with two to play, won both, sealing a half
with a birdie-three on the final green.
Although Gloucester won their first games through Ed Kennedy
and Chris Lloyd, Lancashire were not to be denied and they
wrapped up a fine performance with wins from James Robinson,
Michael Williams and Tommy Fleetwood.
Robinson was two under par when he beat Adam Carson 2 and
1 while Fleetwood, who was rested from the foursomes, rode
his luck in beating Oliver Glaze 6 and 5. On the 455 yard
sixth hole, Fleetwood was through the green but chipped in
for par, while Glaze, eight feet away in two, three-putted
to lose the hole and slip three-down. Then on the ninth and
five down, Glaze hit his approach within inches of a cup for
a gimmie birdie-three only to see Fleetwood follow him in
from 25 feet for a half. Nothing seemed to go right for Glaze
and it was no surprise when Fleetwood underlined his fine
play with a 6 and 5 victory on the 13th.
However, Chris Lloyd gave Gloucester heart with a solid display
against Sam Stuart in the bottom match, Lloyd being three
under par when the contest finished by a 5 and 4 margin on
the 14th.
After the foursomes had been shared in the other match, Shropshire
& Herefordshire took command in the singles with only
Tom Lowery tasting defeat, going down 2 and 1 to Tim Chatfield.
Ashley Chesters, (pictured left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward)
led from the front in the top singles, going round in four
under par 68 to beat Henry Smart, round in one under, by two
holes to maintain his 100 per cent record of four wins from
four.
Richard Prophet didn’t drop a shot in defeating the
gallant Tom Hayes on the final green, while Ricky Pharo was
three under in despatching Billy Fowles 3 and 2.
It was left to Matt Davies to round off a splendid Shropshire
effort with a 2 and 1 win over Tom Berry.
Today, with the title still there for the taking, Lancashire
meet Shropshire & Herefordshire, while Gloucestershire
play Surrey.
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