Dale Marson and James Smith were up against the oppositions' most successful pair of the season and they found them too tough. Tom Ibbertson and Dave Westwood ran over their opposition 7&5 to give us another half time lead- this time by a 3-2 margin.

We needed our customary fast start in the singles and didn't get it! Andy, Rob and Fred all failed to score and just like at Matlock against Derbyshire we were in trouble.

The captain, playing at four was three down after 11 and staring a loss in the face against Richard Turner but a change of fortune on the run-in gave Warwickshire their first singles point.

Dale and James were keen to make up for their morning loss and both were in command of their matches winning 4&3 and 5&4 respectively. Again it seemed we were going to have to rely on our bottom order to close the deal but no one seemed to be in charge of their game and it was clear that it was all going to come down to the final two holes. Tom sadly had to retire after a recurrence of a back injury that has plagued him on and off all season.

Dave was one down on the 18th tee and snatched a half with a classy save from the front trap. Yet again his short game was earning points for the bears. Chris and Ian both reached the 18th tee 1 up. This meant that at least a draw was in our hands and one of these full points would give us the magical five wins.

Chris's wedge into the last pitched into the pin and cruelly spun backwards off the front of the green from where he didn't get up and down. Sometimes in golf you need the breaks to get a result and we certainly didn't get one here!

So it all came down to Ian again. Warwickshire's regular anchor man is used to having to seal the deal down the wire but an uncharacteristically poor wedge into the last left him with a very awkward up and down which he failed to convert resulting in another halved match and a 7.5 - 7.5 scoreline.

Ultimately we could have won but we would have been lucky to do so and equally we could have lost which would have been slightly unlucky - a draw was a fair result for both sides and the players should take great credit for remaining unbeaten this year.

It seemed to me that we were slightly jaded and maybe lacking the intensity and focus that had seen us win our first four games. With the league already in the bag perhaps this was

understandable but slightly frustrating given the progress we have made this year.

Looking back on the season we have lots of positives to draw from our performances and hopefully we can build on this into next year's campaign.

Thanks to John Stubbings, John Duncombe, Tony Redding, Graham Hargreaves and the many Olton members who came to support us.

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