First out were Rob Browning & and Chris Dougill ('Doogs') who despite good golf came up short loosing 2&1. Next up were 1st team regular Tom partnering Joe Harris making his debut for the team.

Joe had the advantage of playing Park Hill as this was the home club for his University Loughborough, and due to the result it seems Joe spends an awful lot of time there, Tom & Joe got off to a great start bringing in our only point of the morning with a 3&1 win.

I partnered Richard Oddy again but this week we fell victim to lack of local knowledge, miss clubbing several times this resulted in being put out of our misery on the 16th loosing 3&2.

Karl Smith & Steve Creed ('Creedy') despite their experience and determination had the same issues and went down to the same result 3&2.

Ryan Wallace & Will Bailey put up a strong fight only losing out on the last hole, despite a 20 footer being holed by Will this was then followed in by their opposition to grab the point for Leicester.

The Morning score then was completely different to last week's whitewash, this week we went to lunch 4-1 down. This though did not surprise me at all and a good result would have only been one point or so better due to our lack of course knowledge. I hoped for better in the afternoon and our team seemed more than up for the task.

Apart from one big win from Karl this was probably the closest group of matches I have known for a long time. Five halves showed what a difference one game on the course makes (proves the need for a practice round at away venues for the coming year if we intend to be competitive)

Rob came close to an upset playing their number one only losing out at the last after falling victim to the water hazard on the long par 5 finishing hole. Doogs was the first of many halved matches quickly followed by Tom and myself.

Rich then came to the last 1up and finished of the task with a solid shot into the green to close his match out.

Joe Harris found out how difficult it was when playing for the first team, losing 3&1 but gaining valuable experience and this was Joe's first game for the county at senior level and it will certainly from what we have seen be the start of many.

Karl was the one big win for us on the day, with a 5&3 early finish for my fellow Handsworthian, showing the good form alongside his experience that will be very hard to beat for the firsts or second team this year.

Will Bailey (Pictured) made his return 'debut' after a stint in the pro ranks and it was nice to see you back with us.

He lost out this time 3&2 but again gaining great experience and good competitive golf.

Last out again was the old war horse Creedy - why Steve feels the need to give his opposition a head start I am not sure, and last week Creedy waited until he was 4 down before coming back to win.

This week Steve's opponent got off to a flier opening with two birdies then winning the third with a par, so three down on a strange course makes thing difficult to say the least, but as in the past Steve then produced his best golf to take the match down the last hole where halves in par gave us our fifth halved match of the afternoon.

Despite our loss we gained a great deal from the day, the past two weekends have allowed me to introduce some new faces to the team - thank you to the established team members for making the new lads feel welcome and calming the nerves.

There is going to be a lot of competition for the 1st team places this year and that can only be good for the county and all individuals (and perhaps a few headaches for me)

Secondly, as I said above, it really important to have a good knowledge of the courses we play so we can get off to a flier with the morning foursomes.

The need for us to be prepared will be paramount if we want to win the league this year.

Thanks to our President John Powell for his support throughout the afternoon, shooting around on the buggy relaying the latest scores and progress back to me.

Finally if you have not already done so please get you entries in for the trials ASAP

Good luck to those who are traveling to Saunton for the West of England this week

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