Hertfordshire v Essex
The final match of the season was a must win situation, by a large margin, if we were to overtake Essex at the top of the table. The Captain, Connor O’Brien, welcomed Ronnie Seagroatt and Nick Curran from the Under 18s and thanked them for agreeing to play.
This was followed by the news that Laurie Owen had broken down on the way to the match and was currently waiting to be recovered from Duxford and would not make it for the morning foursomes. So one down without a shot being played not an ideal start in any circumstances.
The two Under18s, Nick Curran and Ronnie Seagroatt, led us off in the foursomes and whilst they fought hard they never managed to get their noses in front finally losing on the 17th green 2 and 1.
Will Lyons and Finlay Rennie were next out and despite being 3 down after 5 holes fought hard to gain some momentum and won 2 of the next 3 to be 2 down after 8. However, despite their best efforts the opposition stayed ahead with our pair losing on the 15th by 4 and 3.
All hope of a point from the foursomes now rested on the shoulders of Daniel Stannard and Adam Berg – Capin. All did not seem lost as the match was all square after 5 holes and we were still in touch at 1 down after 8. However, the tide turned and the match ended on the 14th with a loss by 5 and 4.
So 4 games to none at lunch was not the result that was either expected or required. There was some good news as Laurie Owen had managed to arrange insurance for and borrow his Father’s car and was now at Moor Park to take his place in the afternoon singles which it was agreed were to be played in fours due to some administrative issues with the tee times.
We were led off by Laurie Owen who despite being 1 down after 5 managed to turn the game around and was All Square after 15 with a chance of a point.
In the meantime Connor O’Brien went off second and despite being 1 down after 12 managed to turn the tables and was 1 up after 15, a chance of another point.
Ronnie Seagroatt was out next and his match did not start well for us as he was 3 down after 9. However, he fought back and after 15 was 1 down, another chance for a point.
Will Lyons was next out and despite his best efforts never managed to get in front. 3 down after 5 he fought hard and even with an eagle on the 9th was still 3 down. A small fightback to 2 down after 12 was short lived eventually losing 5 and 3. So one loss with 7 results in the balance.
Nick Curran was next and started the round well getting to 2 up after 5. However, his opponent coincidently Baillee Curran but no relation, had other ideas and managed to get back to all square after 9. Nick fought back and was 1 up after 15, perhaps another point?
Finlay Rennie was our 6th man and like Will Lyons never managed to get into his game 3 down after 5 he managed to get it back slightly to 2 down after 8 but in the end his opponent closed out the match 4 and 3. So two losses with 6 results in the balance.
Daniel Stannard was out next and despite to disappointment of his foursomes loss was 2 up after 5 and continued to apply pressure to get to 5 up after 12 and close out his match 6 and 5.
Adam Berg-Capin was last out and like Daniel before him was in complete control of his match. 4 up after 5 became 6 up after 12 eventually winning 6 and 5.
So 2 wins and 2 losses with 4 results to go, a chance of a win.
Unfortunately this was not to be the case despite all the games going to the 18th we only managed to win1 with Connor O’Brien victorious by one hole. Ronnie Seagroatt managed a half with Laurie Owen and Nick Curran losing by one hole.
Match result Hertfordshire 3½  to Essex 8½.
