ENGLAND SO CLOSE TO HAT-TRICK AS SPAIN SNATCH VICTORY
England’s youngsters were denied a third successive
victory in the annual Costa Ballena Quadrangular tournament
in Spain when they were beaten by the hosts on the final day.
Having overcome Germany and Finland, England only required
a draw with Spain to complete a hat-trick and they were well
on course after taking the foursomes 2-1.
 But
they slipped in the afternoon, winning only one of the six
singles, that being secured by last year’s boy captain
Sam Hutsby (pictured left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward), as
Spain bounced back to complete a 6-3 victory.
That meant Spain, who had lost to Germany, and England had
two wins each but the Spanish took top spot with 17 match
points to England’s 15.5.
So close was the contest that just one more singles win would
have given England overall victory by half a point.
England’s top scorers were Hampshire-based Hutsby and
Gareth Evans from Yorkshire, the English Champion of Champions,
both with five wins from six, Evans’ setback coming
on the final afternoon, while fellow Yorkshireman Steve Uzzell
scored 4.5 and Matthew Baldwin from Lancashire four.
Results
England 7.5 Germany 1.5; Spain 7 Finland 2;
England 5 Finland 4; Germany 5 Spain 4;
Finland 5.5 Germany 3.5; Spain 6 England 3
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