Championships - Girls' International Matches 2008
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06.08.2008
England favourite to win Girls' Internationals Stroyan Cup at Panmure Golf Club
PHOTOS FROM PANMUREDAY 2 SUMMARY
England look set to regain the Stroyan Cup they last won three years ago. They destroyed the title hat-trick hopes of Scotland by beating them 6 1/2-2 ½ on a miserably wet, windy and cool Day 2 of Girls’ Home Internationals at Panmure Golf Club, Barry near Carnoustie. England, with wins over Ireland and now Scotland, complete their programme on Thursday by playing Wales. The Scots play Ireland in a contest for the runner-up position. Ireland were held to a 4 ½-4 ½ draw by Wales. The writing was on the wall in rather large letters for skipper Elaine Moffat’s home squad when England made a clean sweep of all three morning foursomes. The English remained in the driving seat in the singles in which Scotland promoted Eilidh Briggs (who was withdrawn from the morning action, suffering from the tiring after-effects of a bout of hayfever), and 16-year-old Annabel Niven to the top two singles berths. English women’s champion Hannah Barwood beat Eilidh by 7 and 5 in a one-sided contest in which the Scot did not win a hole and was five down at the turn. England’s No 6 in the batting order, Rachel Connor, advanced the scoreline to 5-0 – a winning margin overall - by beating an off-form Sammy Vass 8 and 7. Rachel did not lose a hole and won six of the first seven plus the ninth to be seven up at the turn. Kelsey MacDonald put Scotland’s first point on the scoreboard by beating Helen Searle 5 and 4. Helen, introduced by England captain Julie Brown for her first outing of the week, had the misfortune to meet an in-form Scotland Under-21 champion in the No 4 position in the ‘batting order.’ Searle won only one hole, the 10th, to reduce her deficit to two holes. MacDonald then captured the 11th, 13th and 14th for victory. Holly Clyburn made it 6-1 overall for England with a 4 and 2 win over Annabel Niven who was always playing second fiddle after losing the first two holes. Clyburn was three up at the turn and won the 10th. Scotland’s Under-18 champion, Carly Booth, playing at No 3, beat Kelly Tidy 2 and 1 in a match between two members of Europe’s Junior Ryder Cup team for America next month. Kelly was two up after 10 but Carly turned the tide with wins at the 12th, 13th and 14th. Scotland’s heroine from the opening day, Rebecca Wilson, one down on the 18th tee, again showed her battling qualities by winning the last with a par 4 to gain a halved match with 14-year-old Alex Peters. England, winners by 6 1/2-2 1/2, thus avenged a 7 ½-1 ½ defeat by the all-conquering Scots 12 months ago. Lisa Maguire, the Irish girls’ champion, preserved her 100% success record through four sessions of play by beating Katie Bradbury 7 and 6 in the top singles tie in the Ireland-Wales match. Lisa lost only one hole, the third, and was five up after eight holes before adding further successes at the 10th and 11th. Wales, who had lost the foursomes 2-1, levelled the overall score at 3-3 with a 6 and 4 win by Kelly Miller over Patrice Delaney and a 5 and 4 success by Welsh girls champion Amy Boulden against Irish newcomer Sarah Crowe. Miller jumped into a four-hole lead after only five holes and was a commanding six holes to the good at the turn. Boulden made her personal record four wins out of four over the two days but Sarah was still square after six holes, having won the sixth to cancel out the loss of the third,. Boulden slipped into top gear to win four holes in a row from the seventh in the decisive part of the tie. Ireland edged ahead 4-3 with a 4 and 2 win by Emma O’Driscoll over Gemma Bradbury. Emma was two up after seven but lost the eighth before taking a grip on the outcome with successes at the 10th, 12th and 14th holes. That left two ties to finish and Wales, in the shape of Katherine O’Connor and Natasha Gobey, were one up in both of them coming into the closing holes. US-based Stephanie Meadow, trailing to O’Connor throughout the match after losing the second and fourth holes and still two down with two to play, bravely won both the 17th and 18th for a square match. That ensured that Ireland would get at least a draw and in the end that’s what they got. Even with Irish women’s champion Leona Maguire in the No 6 slot, they could not get the point that would have given them victory. Natasha, playing the game of her life, square the match at the 11th and edged ahead at the 14th and clinched a 2 and 1 victory by winning the 17th with a bogey 5.
MORNING FOURSOMES
England took a stranglehold on the outcome of their Day 2 match against Scotland when they made a clean sweep of the three morning foursomes on a wet and windy morning at Panmure Golf Club.
Holly Barwood, the English women’s champion, and Holly Clyburn beat the top Scots pairing of Carly Booth and Kelsey MacDonald by 4 and 3 in a tie that started off with an exchange of birdies.
The English birdied the first and the Scots birdied the second but Barwood and Clyburn regained their one-hole lead with a par at the third.
Holes six to eight held the key to the outcome of this match. England birdied the sixth and also won the next two to establish a four-hole advantage after eight holes.
Booth and MacDonald halted the slide by halving the next four holes and winning the 13th to be three down. But Barwood and Clyburn went four up again by winning the 14th and a half at the next ended the contest.
England increased their lead to 2-0 with a 4 and 3 win by Kelly Tidy and Alexandra Peters over Annabel Niven and Lesley Atkins who came in as a replacement for hayfever victim Eilidh Briggs.
The English pair never looked back after birdieing the second and third to go two up.
Niven and Atkins twice reduced their deficit to one hole through holes four to ten but Tidy and Peters won the 12th, 14th and 15th , the latter two holes with bogeys, to wrap up a victory.
England were well on their way to avenging last year’s 7 ½-1 ½ defeat by the Scots when they increased the lunchtime scoreline to 3-0 with a one-hole win by Rachel Connor and Heidi Baek over Rebecca Wilson and Sammy Vass.
Connor and Baek took the second with a birdie and the third with a par but lost the fifth, sixth and eighth as Wilson and Vass hit back. The English pair went from one down to three up with successes at the 12th, 13th and 14th.
The Scots won back the 16th on a concession but Connor and Baek won the last to finish two holes up.
The Maguire twins were in good form as Ireland took the foursomes 2-1 against Wales.
Leona and Lisa beat Gemma Bradbury and Chloe Williams by 4 and 3 after turning with a four-hole lead. The Welsh pair won the 10th and 14th but wins at the 13th and 15th tied up an Irish victory.
Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow and Sarah Louise Winter won the second foursome by 5 and 4 after losing the first hole to Kelly Miller and Natasha Gobey. By the 10th, the Irish had surged into a four-hole lead. They lost the 11th but Meadow and Winter came again to win the 13th and 14th for the match.
Wales’ third string of national girls champion Amy Boulden and Katherine O’Connor were never in arrears after winning the second and fourth. Sarah Cunningham and Emma O’Driscoll won the fifth but the Welsh pair took the eighth and ninth to be three up at the turn. They lost the 10th but won the 14th
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