Last updated at 11:56, Monday, 09 July 2012

Thanks to the heroic efforts of the green staff at Eden Golf Club, the Daily Telegraph Northern Counties League match match between Cumbria and Northumberland took place as scheduled.

Will Bowe

But the Cumbrians were unable to make the most of home advantage, going down 10-8.

The morning foursomes started brightly for the Cumbrians with Will Bowe and John Longcake beating Webb and Curry by an impressive 5&4.

The visitors struck back immediately as Minnikin and Storey beat Nicky Bell and Kieran Waters 6&5, thus ending Waters’ unbeaten record as a county player.

The Windermere pairing of Andrew Millray and Adam Chapman, aged 17, restored Cumbria’s lead by beating Gray and Douglas by 5&4.

But, after that it was downhill for the Cumbrian team as they lost the next three matches, to go into lunch 4-2 down.

The afternoon singles started positively with Bowe (Workington) beating Webb 3&2 and Longcake (Silloth), in his 137th game for Cumbria, coming home by 6&4 against Curry.

Bell (Eden) chipped in with a halve after tieing with Gray.

Waters (Carlisle) lost against Minnikin 2&1, but Millray won against Hayhoe by one hole and Chapman beat Dixon 4&3.

Cumbria led at this stage by one point but then success dried up as Forster (Brampton), Jack (Carlisle), Hand (Eden) and Nixon (Brampton) all fell to the opposition.

The Ulverston duo of Morrow and Edwards pulled points back in the last two matches as Morrow tied with Dawson and Edwards recorded a 4&2 victory against the veteran Twynholm.

With the final score 10-8, Cumbria were disappointed with this unexpected loss against bottom of the table opposition.

“If you lose your Foursomes 4-2, the Singles become much more of a struggle to win,” said Cumbria president Cliff Heath.

“We encountered some heavy defeats in the match and we will need to address this before our next match against Cheshire early next month,” he added.

Foursomes

Cumbria names first: W Bowe & J Longcake beat M Webb & J Curry, 5&4; N Bell & K Waters lost to AJ Minnikin & J Storey 6&5; A Millray & A Chapman beat K Gray & D Douglas 5&4; M Jack & T Forster lost to R Hayhoe & L Matthewson 5&4; G Nixon & M Hand losts to J Hermeston & A Dixon 5&4; C Morrow & AJ Edwards lost to S Twynholm & L Dawson 4&3.

Cumbria Foursomes 2 - Northumberland Foursomes Total - 4

Singles

Will Bowe, Workington, beat M Webb 3&3; John Longcake, Silloth, beat J Curry 6&4; Nicky Bell, Eden, halved with K Gray; Kieran Waters, Carlisle, lost to AJ Minninkin 2&1; Andrew Millray, Windermere, beat R Hayhoe 1 hole; Adam Chapman, Windermere, beat A Dixon 4&3; Thomas Forster, Brampton, lost to J Hermeston 2&1; Mike Jack, Carlisle, lost to J Storey 5&4; Martin Hand, Eden, lost to I Matthewson, 2&1; Geoff Nixon, Brampton, lost to D Douglas, 3&2; Craig Morrow, Ulverston, halved with L Dawson; Andrew Edwards, Ulverston, beat S Tywnholm 4&2.

Cumbria Singles Total 6 - Northumberland Singles Total 6

Result: Cumbria 8 Northumberland Overall 10

First published at 11:28, Monday, 09 July 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk