LANCASHIRE ARE CHAMPIONS BY A WHISKER
 Lancashire
(pictured left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward) won their third
English Boys County Championship by beating Shropshire &
Herefordshire 5-4 in their final match at Pannal, but it was
a close call.
They finished level with Surrey, 6.5 - 2.5 winners over Gloucestershire,
with two victories apiece but Lancashire clinched it on games
won, 15 to 14.5.
You couldn’t have conjured a closer finish as Lancashire
couldn’t celebrate until Steven McGlynn holed his 18
inch putt on the final green for a vital half with Matt Davies
that secured the paper-thin victory.
They might have won it minutes earlier through Sam Stuart,
who was four-up with four to play. But he lost all four culminating
in Shropshire’s Ricky Pharo chipping in from off the
18th green to seal a half.
“You couldn’t have written a script like that,
could you?” asked Lancashire captain Terry Horrocks.
“It is a wonderful feeling to have won and to have kept
the Northern flag flying. I felt we had lost the championship
when Sam only halved his match but Steven McGlynn came through,
but it was too close for comfort.”
After they edged the foursomes 2-1, Lancashire seemed in
the driving seat, especially when Jack Senior beat Ashley
Chesters 3 and 2 in the top single between the only two players
with unbeaten records.
Martin Edge thrashed Sam Baker 6 and 4 to aid Lancashire’s
cause but Shropshire, who were also in with a good chance,
claimed wins through Oliver Farr and Richard Prophet.
However, Lancashire looked home and dry as Stuart stood on
the 15th tee four-up. But Pharo won the 15th with a par and
the 16th with a birdie-three. He also took the 17th when Stuart
three-putted but still looked odds-on when he hit the last
green with Pharo off to the left. But despite having a restricted
backswing, Pharo chipped in while Stuart missed from around
15 feet.
So Lancashire were relying on McGlynn, who came good by holing
from close range to secure the crucial half with Davies.
Surrey, who had beaten Lancashire in their opening match,
shared the morning foursomes and were entitled to feel disappointed
as they won four of the six singles against Gloucester and
halved the other two. But it wasn’t to be.
Shropshire & Herefordshire finished a close thing, leaving
Gloucestershire with the wooden spoon although there was little
to separate the four teams after three days of superb competition.
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