'The Midland League was the most important one - rather the Midland Leagues. From Day 1, I thought I had a group of players who if they played to their peak levels could take both League titles.

'The second objective was to qualify for County Finals. The third was to win the Final.

'I was 95% comfortable with being able to win the League. Availability was an issue for the County 6s so I was only 70% comfortable that we could win the group qualifier. What changed, in early May, was the form I saw at the Amateur, then the availability of Matt (Cryer).

'Paul Randle was an automatic selection, although Paul hadn't performed to the level he was capable of in previous years. Paul has become a great golfer in the last two years.

'Early on I wasn't comfortable with the shape of the team. That was until the Amateur when I specifically played with four people over the day - Rory (Kirwan), Bill (Nicolson), Ryan (Burton) and Jon (Wetton). Of the four, Rory stood out big time.

'Ben played really well in the Amateur, so did Russell and Andy Sullivan put in a solid performance, so from the early part of May when I haven't got a team, then along comes the Amateur and I have got a team. When Matt made himself available, I felt we had a very realistic chance of the County 6s

'The Midland League started so well. We had a great morning against Notts who are a really strong team. We really shook them with halving the foursomes and I was very optimistic going into the single.

'I said that I should have changed the order of the singles, as I did throughout the year, and probably it would have been a different result but then again, who knows? In the cold light of day, not enough of our guys played well enough in the afternoon.

'The next match, against Derbyshire, was a key. Derbyshire were supposedly the weakest opposition but they were tough, really tough. The next two matches (the big wins against Worcestershire and Shrops & Hereford) proved how capable were. You don't get wins like that very often.'

Graham moved back to the story of the County 6s qualifier, and how that win came about -

'When I played with Rory in the Amateur, it was obvious he had talent and he could handle himself. His first shot off the first tee was this nervy, proddy, pull into the rubbish on the left. It was his transition from Junior to Senior golf where every shot counts. I knew that if it came down to it, when the pressure was on, that Rory with Gareth on the bag, would do the business.'

All the anticipation was there for the fateful first week in October and against Staffordshire, Graham knew that our teams had a very good chance. The Seconds of course went on to convert their position into the title. For the Firsts, it was again entirely up to the team.

'I knew we had a tremendous chance. We lost the Derbyshire foursomes but we had won three of those series. In two singles series, over the season, the guys didn't play as they normally do - and that isn't a criticism, its an observation.

'People have said we shouldn't have played at Handsworth. We were playing a good team, wherever they played. I moved the order around, putting Matt and Paul down to three and four and leaving Gareth and Rory at the end. Staffordshire played good golf, good enough to win. Having come second last year, it seemed a natural progression to win this year. It just wasn't to be.?

So going back to the County Finals themselves, what was Graham?s take on the whole week?

'The Day 1 foursomes was pretty good - we were 2-1 down but that wasn't a disaster.

'I remember that Yorkshire were up-and-downing it from everywhere but for a good chunk of the afternoon, we were ahead - 5-4 or even 5.5-3.5 when the matches reached the turn.

'I was with Andy (Sullivan) in Match 1. He recovered really well from being two down to be one up then just missed a couple of shots on 14 and 15. That seemed a key moment as from the scoreboards I could see the same thing happening elsewhere. I think only Ben Stafford won and 7-2 just wasn?t a reflection of the match at all.

'Yorkshire played really strongly, especially on the back nine. I talked with Ian MacKenzie, their Captain, afterwards and he told me they had spent 75% of their practice time on the back nine.

'I believe that going into the back nine you like to think you will be ahead. That back nine they romped away with our tournament. I don't feel they were any better than us - they just beat us. Our lads gave everything. There were no 'soft' matches.

'We had a great day against Surrey then on the Sunday there moments in the afternoon when we looked like we could pull back (from the 0-3 loss in the morning foursomes). Overall, we were capable of winning it and I don't know why we didn't. Its not often that we get to go to County Finals and for those who do go more regularly, they are a top county and they know it. Its got to be worth a hole start in every match.

'It all went very quickly. I did enjoy it and we prepared well. I didn't enjoy the end results, especially for the spectators and the players. They were both fantastic.

'If there is one thing that the guys can take into next year, and Gareth will be a superb Captain - he richly deserves the position and he is a great golfer - the thing they need to develop is that they have to be fit enough to play at their peak performance every time they need to. That what the modern game is all about. Whether Tiger has been totally responsible, its fitness which is the key to play at the peak of their abilities!'

Thank you Graham - it was one hell of a year!