Lancashire and Hampshire take first-day   honours at men's county championship   Lancashire and Hampshire took the honours on the first day of the Men’s County Championship at Wychwood Park in Cheshire.  Both teams got off to a fast start, winning their foursomes 3-0, and Hampshire went on to complete a comfortable 6½-2½ scoreline against Somerset.  But Lancashire had to survive a late scare before defeating Lincolnshire 5½-3½. They had romped through the foursomes, winning the first two matches by the margins of 6 and 4, and 7 and 6, before taking the third point on the 18th.  But the Northerners lost three of the first four singles and were all square in the final two games as the players made their way up the 18th.  However, Lincolnshire’s hopes of a dramatic comeback were dashed when Matt Haynes pushed his approach to the last and his ball was lost in bushes close to the green.  Behind him, the final match was halved in par by Lancashire’s Sean Towndrow – an England international – and Lincolnshire’s Sam Whittaker.  “It was a bit of a fright,” said Lancashire captain Paul Williams.  “But this afternoon was exactly what we expected, Lincolnshire are here for a reason and we knew they would be a strong team. They played very well and all credit to them really, because they got a good thumping this morning.” This was Lincolnshire’s first defeat of the season after completing a winning treble: topping the Anglian League, winning the Eastern Counties foursomes and securing their place at this weekend’s county finals. Lincolnshire captain Steve Brattan commented: “It was close, but very, very disappointing. We still have high hopes but you really do need to win your first game.”  “It was deflating that we got off to such a bad start, we really lost the match on the first three or four holes of the foursomes. The back pair really got into the game but they just couldn’t get that point, or half point.” Hampshire are making their fifth appearance at county finals in nine years – and aiming for their first win since 1996, when Justin Rose was in their team.  They started their campaign in style, with three comfortable wins in the foursomes and another 3½ points from the singles. But Somerset pushed them hard in the afternoon: “They showed us how good they are,” said Hampshire captain Steve Williams. “We had won one match and were up in another – but down in the other four. But, once we got that second point a couple of others started fightbacks.” One of the highlights of the day was provided by Hampshire’s Tom Robson (image © Leaderboard Photography), who holed a 120-yard wedge shot for an eagle two on the fourth. He was five or six under par for his round, but Somerset’s Phil White was also on top form and the match went to the 18th before Robson triumphed.  Somerset captain Justin Lane counted the cost of the foursomes: “They were really dreadful. We had a good fightback in the afternoon, but not good enough,  “Hampshire played very steadily all day. I didn’t really see any bad golf played, but it didn’t go our way.”  Somerset last played at county finals in 2010 when they missed out on the title on countback. Tomorrow Lancashire play Somerset and Hampshire play Lincolnshire.  Click here for full scores Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07825 752 193