This was due to one of their players being rushed into hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning with appendicitis and a replacement not being available at such short notice.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity to have a meaningful match, the word was sent out 'to find a player from somewhere to make the numbers up for B.B & O'. A quick phone call and 20 minutes later (and much to the surprise of the Warwickshire captain) along comes home club player Dan Baskott, the surprise being that Dan had already indicated that he was unable represent Warwickshire in this fixture !

Would his now availability to play for the 'opposition' make a difference !

On the golf course, the pairing of Andy Sullivan & Sam Dodds (recent winners of the 'Berkamstead' and the 'Midlands Closed' respectfully) gave Warwickshire the perfect start by cruising to a 5 & 4 win. Ben Stafford & Antony Gascoigne only needed to two putt the last green from 20ft for a 2nd Warwickshire win, 3 putts later and their game was halved.

From there onwards the foursomes went downhill rather fast with the pairings of county junior captain Rob Bardsley & Dale Middleton and Fred Jewsbury & Karl Smith both losing 3 & 2. This was followed by captain Pete Clarke & Nev Gardner being hit with a 5 birdie barrage by their B.B & O opponents that included a certain Dan Baskott to lose 1 down after the former unluckily horse-shoed a 4 footer on the 18th green.

Lunch therefore was a little un-palatable at 3.5 v 1.5 to the B.B & O.

Andy Sullivan traded birdies and eagles with his opponent to chalk up a very high quality 1 up victory. Sam Dodds saw a tricky downhill 20 foot birdie putt slip agonisingly by on the 18th green to record a half, whilst Ben Stafford would be narrowly defeated 2 & 1.

When both Dale Middleton & Pete Clarke arrived back early at the clubhouse with 5 & 3 and 6 & 5 victories respectfully the match was now evenly poised at 5 matches a piece and all was to play for.

Rob Bardsley making his debut at senior level found his opponent just a little too consistent as he went down 4 & 3, this will be a minor hiccup and a valuable learning experience for this talented youngster as he makes his way through county ranks.

Next was Fred Jewsbury, all square on the 17th tee, both he and his opponent missed the green at this tough par 3 hole. Fred however looked to have a distinct advantage being above ground whilst his opponent could only make a one footed stance in the greenside bunker, a tremendous sand save later and they would walk to the 18th tee still level. After a drive and an excellent approach to 3 feet by his opponent, Fred lost 1 down.

The team scores were now 7 v 5 in B.B & O's favour with 3 matches remaining, unfortunately the news out on the course was not good. Antony Gascoigne fought back manfully from a 4 hole deficit to record a very creditable half point, Karl Smith however could not come back from a similar score and would lose 4 & 3.

This just left Nev Gardner playing 'home club' B.B & O player Dan Baskott, and just to rub salt into the wounds Dan's local knowledge saw him sneak over the line to a 3 & 2 victory for B.B & O.

The overall match score therefore was a 9.5 v 5.5 defeat for Warwickshire.

It was noted in dispatches that had B.B & O not had the loan of Dan Baskott that the result of the match would have been a very convivial and friendly draw.

The B.B & O captain thanked Warwickshire for their genorosity and (somewhat tongue in cheek) promised that should we need to loan a player from them in the return fixture next year that they would make every effort to find an equally capable player.

Dan has also been re-assured that his 2 point B.B & O contribution will not in any way affect his future chances of representing Warwickshire !!!

And finally, our grateful thanks go to Coventry Golf Club for their clubhouse hospitality and presentation of the golf course for this fixture.