One of Clifford's pairings were under par as well - Sam Hufton and Richard Cresswell - but they were loser possibly for a reason that became apparent in the singles.

Having seen the loss in the No 1 foursomes, the remaining players in the 1sts match all responded perfectly. Paired together were Centenary Champion and that year's runner-up Ben Stafford and Russell Heritage and they shook hands on the 17th. Gareth and Rory Kirwan were already winners, courtesy of superb golf which saw them five under when they won.

Ian Stranks and Bill Nicolson were three down before they won on the 18th and the morning was complete with the win for the Maxstoke pairings of Antony Gascoigne and Rob Browning making the score Warks 4 Derbys 1

Pete Clarke and Neville Gardner made the score Warwickshire 4 Derbys 2 at Robin Hood with their win but that two point advantage seemed slim when both Chris Dougill and Sam Hufton were both well down with the closing holes to play in the singles.

Nick Clifford's worries were short lived as Fred Jewsbury and Richard Cresswell took their matches by big advantages The news of Hufton losing and soon Ollie Foster having the same fate was countered by 4&3 wins for John Taylor and Steve Dyson then a 2&1 victory by Karl Smith. Dale Middleton was always in charge of his match but had to counter a late charge by his opposition before shaking hands

At Chesterfield, Gareth Jenkins was part of his team, at No 3. There are 15 points available in the Firsts games (18 in the Seconds) so watching Andy Sullivan and Rory Kirwan win at 1 and 2 and then winning yourself (Gareth) followed by your No 4 taking his singles point - all this amounted to 8 points 'in the bag' and that first overall match points.

There was more to come when Russell Heritage, Rob Browning and Bill Nicolson all took their singles.

'I am delighted' said a very happy Gareth from his car on the way back home, 'The team all played great.'

In addition to having to manage the team at Chesterfield, Gareth had to select his team fot he County Championship qualifier at Coventry Finham, on Saturday 23rd June.

That team will be :

Matt Cryer (Finham), Andy Sullivan (Purley Chase), Ben Stafford (Maxstoke), David Hayes (Finham), Dale Marson (Rugby) and Rory Kirwan (Kenilworth). The reserve has not yet been decided.

At Robin Hood, Nick Clifford was also 'past the winning post' with that sixth singles victory. For once the Seconds team 'tail' did not wag. Neither Neville Gardner nor Clifford's Deputy for the next Match Pete Clarke were able to win. Chris Leonard found himself up against Derbyshire opposition who 'munched' the ball as far as Leonard had seen any Amateur ( a 2 iron vs an 8 iron approach at one hole).

The same player was in the team that beat Cresswell and Hufton in the morning and is apparently US bound to go to University. The same will be true of Chris Dougill who somehow escaped from being 3 down with 4 to play for a half point and to give the team a 10-5 to 7.5 win.

'He used his get out of jail card', said Clifford of Dougill, 'the whole team performance was excellent and its a great start to the season.

'It was a good foursomes performance as well - which goes against the grain of previous years.'