'A handy place to finish', said Claire after her win at the nearest point to the clubhouse courtesy of playing the 15th with brains and skill in equal measure.

On the 440 yard par five, Claire hit a five wood thirty yards short of the dangerous cross bunkers which her young oppoinent took on and passed. Selecting the same club again, Claire now riffled her shot with a touch of fade to the middle of the green, about 15ft from the flag. Her opponent pulled her second shot left, chipped but could not make a four, which Claire duly did - match over.

Next to complete was Jane Mander with a 5&4 win, with the news filtering through that Warwickshire were well up in both the final matches. Jane was all sqaure after nine and then won the next five holes in a row -

'She lost her rag a bit, near the end', said Jane, happy to post a point after losing her foursomes with Claire Howells with some steady golf 'but the ball didn't quite bounce our way'.

Tracy Atkin then won her match by 2 holes with sub par golf which included 3 birdies and an eagle. Tracy and Claire Dowling had been three up with five to play in the morning, only to lose two holes to birdies, one to their own mistake and a perfect three to finish with to take that match 1up.

Whilst 2005 team debutante Hannah Coles was walking back from the 15th with a 5&3 win to her credit, Claire Howells was taking her match to the 18th where her opposition made a great recovery to match that from Claire at the 17th after our No 4 had taken the previous two holes to square the match for its very tight finish.

Hannah was very steady for all bar a three hole run from the 11th to the 13th. In contrast, Lisa Barton's opponent got a bit of a shock (a huge shock actually) when Lisa started with three birdies in the first four holes. Lisa held that advantage throughout to win on the 16th.

Porbably the strongest team (on paper) is that of Northants, whom Warwickshire meet on Wednesday afternoon. Tomorrow we play Cambrideshire and Huntingdonshire. County Captain Pat Hale would very much appreciate support for the team and you are sure to see some great golf. This big win, with another tomorrow, will put lots of pressure on Northants.

The full results sheet from today is available in County Ladies | Teams | 1st Team | Scores