Senior men's home internationals at Crail
SCOTLAND-WALES DRAW, IRELAND'S
WINNING START AGAINST ENGLAND
FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Scotland and Wales shared the spoils and Ireland secured an opening victory over England in extremely testing conditions at the Senior Home Internationals at Crail today.
It was the weather that dominated the day as all four teams battled against the elements, with the morning matches under threat of postponement at times. It was the Irish who dealt best with the blustery conditions, scoring a 6-3 win over England while Scotland and Wales shared a 4.5-4.5 draw.
Neither Scotland nor Wales looked like seizing the initiative of their opening match. The afternoon singles were set up nicely following a 1.5-1.5 draw in the morning foursomes, Scotland’s sole victory coming from the partnership of Cowglen’s John McDonald and Edzell’s Jim Watt who defeated Paul Bloomfield and Jeff Thomas.
Nigel Evans and Robert Broad defeated Ian Taylor and Colin Christy while Scotland’s David Gardner and Tony Stafford shared a point with Keith Simpson and Basil Griffiths.
It was Scotland who looked most likely to seal an opening point when they raced to a 3.5-1.5 lead after the two opening singles matches. Scottish Seniors matchplay champion Tony Stafford underlined his credentials with a 3 and 1 victory over Keith Stimpson following his half point gained in the morning foursomes playing alongside Broomieknowe’s David Gardner. Gardner, out in the second match also took his foursomes form into the singles with a 4 and 3 victory which included an eagle at the par 4 10th.
However Phil Jones’ Welsh side then turned the match on its head winning the next three matches. Firstly Basil Griffiths edged out Colin Christy by 1 hole after the Kilmalcom player three putted the last from fifteen feet, before Paul Bloomfield defeated recently crowned Scottish Seniors Open Amateur Champion Scott MacDonald 2&1. John Whitcutt completed the turnaround, seeing off Royal Burgess’ Ian Taylor 3&2.
Jim Watt rescued the Scots with a 4&3 win over Royal Porthcawl’s Jeff Thomas to share the point and leave both teams well placed for success come Thursday’s conclusion at the Fife course.
Scotland Team Captain Gordon MacDonald reflected on today’s opening draw:
“The weather was horrific, it made it really tough for all the players but a draw was the right result, it was a very tight match throughout.”
MacDonald was optimistic ahead of the Scot’s match against double European Team winners England tomorrow:
“They are a strong side, and they obviously showed that by winning the Europeans but we also did well to win the bronze medal. We beat England last year after they had just won the European Team Championship so we know we can do it.”
“The team have done fantastic this season, it’s a new team of guys and you would never know that when you see how quickly they’ve gelled.”
Today’s other match between the two in-form nations, recently crowned European Senior Men’s Team Champions, England and Ireland, chasing a third successive Senior Home Internationals title was equally as tight with Ireland coming out on top.
The Irish took a 2-1 lead into the afternoon singles thanks to wins from the pairings of Garth McGimpsey and Seamus McParland and Tom Cleary and Michael Quirke. However, Richard Palmer’s England side showed the battling qualities that helped them to recent European success to win two of the opening three singles games to tie the match at 3-3.
Crewe’s Roy Smethurst again showed why he is considered the top seniors player in Britain with a 2 and 1 victory over Tom Cleary. Smethurst, who has four English Senior Championships, one British Senior Championship as well as a European Seniors Championship and French Seniors Championship to his name, also won his morning foursomes match alongside Alan Squires.
However, Adrian Morrow, Billy Donlon and Michael Quirke came to the rescue for Barry Doyle’s side to put any possibility of an English comeback to bed, all notching crucial wins over their English counterparts to seal a notable scalp for the Irish.
Team captain Doyle praised his team’s morning performance and its importance in securing the victory:
“The foursomes are always crucial in this format. It gave us a cushion going into the singles and was great for the mentality of the side going into the afternoon in the lead.”
“We were coasting this afternoon in the singles but credit has to be given to the English as they battled back really well, we always knew it was going to be a close match but the team did well to hold on for victory. It was good to get some revenge after they beat us at the Europeans!”
Doyle is hopeful for the next two matches but admits both the Welsh and Scottish sides are very much unknown quantities this year:
“We don’t know anything about either team this year. The Welsh have introduced a few new players and they didn’t play at the Europeans and the Scots have got almost a completely new team from last year which will make it difficult for us.”
Tomorrow’s matches see home side Scotland taking on England and in-form Ireland facing up against Wales.
For full scores from day one of the Seniors Home Internationals.
CLICK HERE
WINNING START AGAINST ENGLAND
FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Scotland and Wales shared the spoils and Ireland secured an opening victory over England in extremely testing conditions at the Senior Home Internationals at Crail today.
It was the weather that dominated the day as all four teams battled against the elements, with the morning matches under threat of postponement at times. It was the Irish who dealt best with the blustery conditions, scoring a 6-3 win over England while Scotland and Wales shared a 4.5-4.5 draw.
Neither Scotland nor Wales looked like seizing the initiative of their opening match. The afternoon singles were set up nicely following a 1.5-1.5 draw in the morning foursomes, Scotland’s sole victory coming from the partnership of Cowglen’s John McDonald and Edzell’s Jim Watt who defeated Paul Bloomfield and Jeff Thomas.
Nigel Evans and Robert Broad defeated Ian Taylor and Colin Christy while Scotland’s David Gardner and Tony Stafford shared a point with Keith Simpson and Basil Griffiths.
It was Scotland who looked most likely to seal an opening point when they raced to a 3.5-1.5 lead after the two opening singles matches. Scottish Seniors matchplay champion Tony Stafford underlined his credentials with a 3 and 1 victory over Keith Stimpson following his half point gained in the morning foursomes playing alongside Broomieknowe’s David Gardner. Gardner, out in the second match also took his foursomes form into the singles with a 4 and 3 victory which included an eagle at the par 4 10th.
However Phil Jones’ Welsh side then turned the match on its head winning the next three matches. Firstly Basil Griffiths edged out Colin Christy by 1 hole after the Kilmalcom player three putted the last from fifteen feet, before Paul Bloomfield defeated recently crowned Scottish Seniors Open Amateur Champion Scott MacDonald 2&1. John Whitcutt completed the turnaround, seeing off Royal Burgess’ Ian Taylor 3&2.
Jim Watt rescued the Scots with a 4&3 win over Royal Porthcawl’s Jeff Thomas to share the point and leave both teams well placed for success come Thursday’s conclusion at the Fife course.
Scotland Team Captain Gordon MacDonald reflected on today’s opening draw:
“The weather was horrific, it made it really tough for all the players but a draw was the right result, it was a very tight match throughout.”
MacDonald was optimistic ahead of the Scot’s match against double European Team winners England tomorrow:
“They are a strong side, and they obviously showed that by winning the Europeans but we also did well to win the bronze medal. We beat England last year after they had just won the European Team Championship so we know we can do it.”
“The team have done fantastic this season, it’s a new team of guys and you would never know that when you see how quickly they’ve gelled.”
Today’s other match between the two in-form nations, recently crowned European Senior Men’s Team Champions, England and Ireland, chasing a third successive Senior Home Internationals title was equally as tight with Ireland coming out on top.
The Irish took a 2-1 lead into the afternoon singles thanks to wins from the pairings of Garth McGimpsey and Seamus McParland and Tom Cleary and Michael Quirke. However, Richard Palmer’s England side showed the battling qualities that helped them to recent European success to win two of the opening three singles games to tie the match at 3-3.
Crewe’s Roy Smethurst again showed why he is considered the top seniors player in Britain with a 2 and 1 victory over Tom Cleary. Smethurst, who has four English Senior Championships, one British Senior Championship as well as a European Seniors Championship and French Seniors Championship to his name, also won his morning foursomes match alongside Alan Squires.
However, Adrian Morrow, Billy Donlon and Michael Quirke came to the rescue for Barry Doyle’s side to put any possibility of an English comeback to bed, all notching crucial wins over their English counterparts to seal a notable scalp for the Irish.
Team captain Doyle praised his team’s morning performance and its importance in securing the victory:
“The foursomes are always crucial in this format. It gave us a cushion going into the singles and was great for the mentality of the side going into the afternoon in the lead.”
“We were coasting this afternoon in the singles but credit has to be given to the English as they battled back really well, we always knew it was going to be a close match but the team did well to hold on for victory. It was good to get some revenge after they beat us at the Europeans!”
Doyle is hopeful for the next two matches but admits both the Welsh and Scottish sides are very much unknown quantities this year:
“We don’t know anything about either team this year. The Welsh have introduced a few new players and they didn’t play at the Europeans and the Scots have got almost a completely new team from last year which will make it difficult for us.”
Tomorrow’s matches see home side Scotland taking on England and in-form Ireland facing up against Wales.
For full scores from day one of the Seniors Home Internationals.
CLICK HERE
Labels: Senior men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Tuesday, September 14, 2010
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