Midland League - Match 1 - June - Along came Nottinghamshire at Robin Hood GC - a difficult match on paper made easy by some excellent golf ending in a comfortable 12-6 victory - we were off!!.

Midland League - Match 2 July - Derbyshire away at Chevin GC - A couple of lessons were learnt here - Keep playing the old guard and always at the back of the field so a) they don?t hold the rest up and b) They enjoy the responsibilty..

This turned out to be the defining moment of the year, 9-6 down with 3 singles left on the Chevin slopes. First Fred Jewsbury finished off his opponent 3&2 as did Neville Gardner, which left only Pete Clarke who was 1 down with 4 to play. I didn?t tell him the full truth with regards the score but as is his way he wants to win his match whatever the situation and arrived at the 18th tee all-square. I?ll let Pete tell you the whole story (to those that are interested!!) but basically he holed about a 3 footer for his par to secure a 1up victory and a 9-9 draw.

August - Worcestershire at Edgbaston - a rejuvenated Worcestershire Team arrived for another close encounter. A Tight match all day until eventually Rob Browning secured a half in his singles match for a Warks 9.5 - 8.5 victory.

September - Hereford & Shropshire at Oswestry GC - another stopover and we all enjoyed the delights of Oswestry town as a team. Anyway 3.5 - 2.5 to Warks at lunch and then a superb round of singles matches meant a comfortable victory.

October - Staffs at Drayton Park GC (note 3rd away game of the season) - a couple of changes to the team that played at Oswestry - a very disappointed Neville Gardner (ever present throughout the year) had some party arranged in his local village hall so he missed out and I wanted to take the Woosnam approach and walk (2nd team can?t stretch to hiring a buggy all day, Graham!) the fairways so myelf and Neville were to be replaced by Ian Stranks and Liam Mallin.

Everyone knew the importance of the match and by lunchtime the team had made the day easy with a 5.5 - 0.5 foursomes result by producing some excellent golf in testing conditions. Further victories for 5 out of the first 6 singles matches secured an easy 12.5 - 5.5 win and the title. ?Captain Cliff? famous at least!!

I am not going to single players out for special praise as each player brought something to the table and I believe this was a team effort over the 5 matches. I only used 20 players throughout those matches, all of whom gave their all with a smile on their face and a team spirit to be proud of. Thanks to all those that played for me, it was a pleasure and I would like to think that we could all pull together and try and retain the league in 2007.

Finally, special thanks once again to Graham Hargreaves for his organizational skills, to Mark Smith for his time and effort with the team cards, Mrs Mark Smith for the snacks and lager on those Monday evenings and to Past President Jim Dean gracing us with his presence at all of the 5 matches.

See you all in 2007 for my last year as Captain.

Regards

Nick Clifford

Warks 2nd Team Captain