Seconds Suffer Singles Setback

Neville Gardner - 2nds Team Captain - Monday, 3 October, 2011

Sunday 2nd October 2011 - Nuneaton Golf Club vs Staffordshire - We went into our last league match of the season knowing nothing short of victory was required for us to have a chance of winning the league. The usual run-up in the week leading up to the match saw me lose 3 players from my original selection (Rich Oddy called up to the firsts, Dale Marson was unable to get the day off from work and I had to drop out due to a tweaked back).

Fortunately the strength of my squad meant that I had very able replacements in James Bromley, Nicky Jenkins and Michael Pell. So I turned up at Nuneaton GC with high expectations for my last game as Captain.

The sun shone on us all day, a stark contrast to our final match of last season. Sadly the greens had been hollow tined and dressed the week prior to the match and so were not up to their usual very high standards.

My foursomes pairings looked really strong on paper. First out were the 'Hearsall Boys' Sam Foster and James Bromley. Sadly they were not up to their usually high standards and ended up losing 3&2, but news in the matches behind was much more encouraging.

Dale Middleton and Stu Bloxham gelled well together and had a comfortable 3&2 win. They were quickly followed back into the clubhouse by the final pairing of Karl Smith and Michael Pell who recorded a very strong 6&5 victory. The other two matches were finely poised and both went up the par 5 18th.

Fortunately for Warwickshire the 18th was to be kind to us in the morning. Nicky Jenkins and Chris Freeman played the hole sublimely - a Freemo Boomer followed by Nicky's best shot of the year to 4 feet was enough for a 1 up win. Paul Walker and Gary Greenway didn't need such stunning stuff, but also came off the green with a 1 up victory.

So 4 - 1 up at lunch was surely a strong enough lead to see us record the required victory.

After 7 holes things were looking good as Warwickshire were up in five games, all square in two and behind in three.

Sam stretched his lead in the top match and showed the rest of the team the way to close out a match, winning 5&4.

In the following three games things were not as good as some stunning Staffordshire play saw defeats for Dale, Stu and Gary.

Paul followed Sam's example and got another point on the board, so we only need two more. Chris was looking good in his game as his opponent was struggling and ended up with a comfortable victory, so just one more point needed.

Nicky lost his chipping touch and lost every hole where he missed the green. Sadly he missed too many greens and was defeated. Michael was always just behind his opponent and couldn't quite get back to parity, so another game was lost.

That left two matches on the course and we were up in both. James won the 14th and the 15th to go dormie three up at much the same time as Karl lost three holes on the spin to go two down. Surely we'd get the point we needed.

James' tee shot on the 16th drifted on the strong breeze and ended up out of bounds so he went dormie two up. At the same time Karl's opponent found water on the 15th, so he was back to one down.

James missed the green on the par three 17th and failed to get up and down, meaning he went back to dormie 1 up. Karl in the meantime was halving the 16th to remain 1 down.

Sadly the Warwickshire luck from the morning on the 18th had run out as James' opponent made a birdie to halve the game. The Warwickshire spectators and team players all dashed back to the 17th to see Karl loose the hole and therefore his match.

So we had been trounced 6.5 - 3.5 in the singles meaning the game finished halved 7.5 points each. Sadly this result means that even if Notts lose away at Derby we will still finish second in the league, so we will not be able to do the treble of league victories.

My thanks go to Nuneaton GC for allowing us the use of their course and their excellent catering. Thanks also to Matt Nixon for starting us off and to John Jewsbury, Bob Harrison and Jim Deane for their support on the day. Finally thanks to Kev Beattie and his team for a tight match played in a terrific spirit.

For additions to the 2nds Picture Gallery CLICK HERE

Results of the County 2nds Match Against Staffordshire at Nuneaton GC

Foursomes

James Bromley & Sam Foster Lost 3&2 Ben Russell & Martin Crook

Dale Middleton & Stu Bloxham Won 3&2 Jon Haynes & Greg Evans

Paul Walker & Gary Greenway Won 1 Up Kev Beattie & Lee Wain

Chris Freeman & Nicky Jenkins Won 1 Up Simon Bright & Steve Trottman

Karl Smith & Michael Pell Won 6&5 Josh Pickard & Pat Ruff

Warwickshire 4 Staffordshire 1

Singles

Sam Foster Won 5&4 Lee Wain

Dale Middleton Lost 2&1 Ben Russell