Lancashire face Surrey for title after scare - 5th Sep 2007

Lancashire had to dig deep to beat Somerset on an eventful second day of the English Boys County Championship at Royal Cromer and now meet Surrey, 7-2 winners over Worcestershire, tomorrow in the title decider.

Having overwhelmed Worcestershire on day one, Lancashire were expected to continue in that vein, but they were given a jolt as Somerset led by two points after the morning foursomes

That left the Lancastrians with a sizeable hill to climb and midway through the afternoon it didn’t look as if they would succeed as Somerset led in four of the six singles. But the Northerners gradually hauled their way back to claim four wins and a half which eased their racing pulses and took them over the line.

Tommy Fleetwood led the way with a 3 and 1 win over Curtis Edwards, who stayed in touch with the boy cap for 11 holes. But Fleetwood gradually pulled away despite Edwards’ efforts.

Adam Andrews was 1-down with three to play against Max Brittan but won the 16th with a birdie to secure a half but most of the rest were commanded by Lancashire.

Ciaran Doherty was another to step on the gas after falling behind to Jack Palmer. But he won three holes in a row from the 11th for a 3 and 2 win.

Andrew Palmer found himself 2-down to Somerset boy champion David Gregory with four to play but managed to win the 15th and 16th to get level while a birdie on the last sealed a 1 hole victory.

Jack Brooks trailed Ellie Cook for most of the way but turned the match around with three successive birdies from the tenth while another at the 15th put him ahead and on the way to another 1 hole success that sealed Lancashire’s success despite Matt Nixon losing on the last to Sam Day.

Meanwhile Surrey, pipped for the title by Lancashire last year, were in no mood to see a repeat and after edging the foursomes 2-1 they took control of the singles.

Despite being out in the bottom match, Stiggy Hodgson was first back in the clubhouse after demolishing Tom Warbrick 7 and 6. Hodgson won the first then ran in the first of his four birdies at the third before an eagle-three at the fifth put him 3-up. A birdie-two at the ninth saw the Surrey lad out in 33 and 4-up and he completed a solid afternoon’s work by winning the next three holes, two with birdies, to seal an emphatic victory. At the close Hodgson was five under par through 12 holes.

In the top match, Billy Fowles was always playing catch-up against Rudi Hercik, trailing 2-down after 14 holes. But he won the next two and held on for a half but lost his 100% record in the process.

Andrew Cooley also underlined Surrey’s fighting spirit by claiming a half with Chris Nugent after going 3-down through six holes. But he might have done even better going down the last 1-up. But Nugent’s par was good enough to share the spoils.

Boy cap Gary King was never beind in beating Jamie Taylor 2 and 1, while Lee Heaton and Ian Anson added to Surrey’s tally with 3 and 2 wins over James Newman and Matthew Tweddell respectively, both Surrey lads having trailed in the early stages.

In the end Surrey remained unbeaten in the singles, winning four and halving the other two.

Related Links

• http://www.englishgolfunion.org

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