Boys U16’s lose ground in chase for League Title
THE COUNTY BOYS U16 TEAM ‘CHEWING THE FAT’ POST MATCH
Report from Boys U16 Manager Gerald Duddy;
Sudbury GC in Middlesex was the venue for the Boys U16’s latest triangular matches on Sunday 13th August, with Essex making up the 3rd county. The narrow, tree-lined and undulating fairways which are common to many of the courses in the Middlesex area would prove to be a challenge to players from all counties that weren’t on their game.
The ever-reliable Ben Sessions of Bishop Stortford, lead from the front on the day knowing he already had a point on the board when the Middlesex opponent was unable to play due to illness. His match against Essex was a close affair and despite losing the 17th to go 1 down, Ben rallied and made a birdie 2 on the uphill closing par 3 hole!
Harry Cox, who had come back to play after qualifying for the British Boys the day before in Yorkshire, was next out and Harry, despite not having the best day on the greens, had a comfortable win against Essex but was taken to the 18th green by his host opponent. Harry was 3 down before winning 4 holes in a row from the 14th tee to go one up and finally see off his dogged opponent. Fellow Welwyn Garden City member, Louie Bloxham, had an easier time this week against his opponent from Middlesex who he had lost to only the week before whilst playing for the u18s running out a 6&5 winner. He was also cruising to a comfortable win against Essex until his opponent won a few holes late on to take the game to the final hole but Louie made a secure par and won his second point of the day. Match 6 involving Ed Wade from Harpenden Common provided our only other double points winner on the day. Ed had a comfortable 4&3 win against Essex and like Harry further up the course, Ed too made a great comeback against his Middlesex opponent from 3 holes down to gain another valuable point for the team.
Matches 3 and 8 involving Finlay Rennie and Jamie Jackson proved fruitless for us on the day as both players struggled with the layout, but they will learn from the experience and will undoubtebly bounce back. Luca Ibekwem in match 5 secured a narrow win against Middlesex after suffering a 2&1 defeat to Essex. Likewise, Alexander Coombs-Brown had a comfortable 5&4 win against Middlesex and pushed hard against Essex before finally losing 2&1.
Overall we beat Middlesex 6-2 but lost narrowly to Essex by a margin of 3.5 to 4.5 which leaves us 2nd in the league table with 5pts with one round of matches to go. Essex currently have 8 points. There is still the slightest of chances that we could qualify for the finals weekend at the end of September if we win both matches at Harleyford on the 27th August and other results go our way.
Click here for the full results vs Middlesex
Click here for the full results vs Essex
