MEN'S HOME INTERNATIONALS LAST DAY

Scotland, waiting for England slip, take

4-1 foursomes lead over Ireland

FROM THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
England edged towards the title by overcoming Wales 3.5 – 1.5 in the foursomes while Scotland kept their hopes alive with a 4-1 lead over Ireland on a brutal final morning of the Home Internationals at Hillside.
Gale force winds accompanied by heavy showers tested all 20 players in action and it took stern discipline and resolve to beat the elements as well as the opposition.
Scotland, out first against the Irish, held the upper hand although four of the five contests went the distance. The exception was the middle contest where Ross Kellett and James Byrne gained a commanding 4 and 3 win over Niall Kearney and Kelan McDonagh.
There was no more than a shot separating Wallace Booth and Michael Stewart for Scotland and Ireland’s Alan Dunbar and Paul Cutler in the top match but the Scots won the 18th with a par four to claim victory.
Gavin Dear and Keir McNicoll trailed Pat Murray and Dara Lernihan early on but the Scots won four holes in a row from the fourth to be 3-up. They still enjoyed that advantage with four to play but the Irish took the 15th, 16th and 17th, all with pars, to take the contest down the last where a half saw the Scots home.
David Law and James White seemed set for a comfortable win over Cian Curley and Paul O’Kane as they went 4-up after eight holes. But the Irish got back to 1-down after 12 as the Scots suddenly lost their grip. The Irish also won the 15th with a concession to level and they stayed that was to gain a half point.
That was also the case with the bottom match where Glenn Campbell and Steven McEwan for Scotland were locked in a tight tussle with Connor Doran and Robert Cannon. Again no more than a hole separated the pairings but the Irish took the 15th with a par to level and that’s the way it finished.
England got off to a flier with Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Haines winning four of the first five holes against Alistair Jones and Richard Hooper and they extended that to 5-up at the turn.
The Welsh won the next two holes all although other holes were exchanged, the England pair stayed in front to win 3 and 1. Wales responded with Ben Westgate and Adam Runcie being out in a creditable 37 strokes to be 4-up over James Robinson and Matt Nixon. The Welsh extended that to 6-up through 12 and they eventually won 4 and 3.
That was the same score in which Jamie Abbott and Farren Keenan overcame James Frazer and Oliver Farr in the bottom match. The English were helped by an Abbott chip-in on the second while Keenan holed his seven-iron approach for an eagle-two at the ninth. The other two matches went all the way.
Sam Hutsby and Chris Paisley were 1-up with two to play against Nigel Edwards and Rhys Enoch but the Welsh took the 17th with a par while the 18th was halved in fives to leave the contest all square.
Dale Whitnell and Luke Goddard enjoyed a 2-hole lead over Joe Vickery and Rhys Pugh through 13 holes but again the Welsh battled back, winning the 14th and 15th but a birdie-four at 17 allowed the England pair to claim a narrow victory.
All match scores, championship commentary and news updates are available on the Home Internationals website, www.homeinternationals.org.