It was not a good start for us in the morning matches. Myself and Joe Eastwood went down 4 and 2. Kane Stone and Ross Brabender joining us for the first time lost 4 and 3. Young old pals Joe Smith Jnr and Tayan Wagjiani fought well, only to lose on 17. Ex pro Michael O’Conner and Suhaan Shaik fought hard and well to get us our only ½ point in the morning. However, having seen poor Joe Eastwood, not in his best form, losing heavily 8 & 6. I myself played bogey free golf to put up our first win 5 & 4. Meanwhile, the red shirts behind were looking good as we were up in 5 matches. However, unfortunately for us, it proved a bridge too far for my team. We battled gamely and young Suhaan got another half point and Kane Stone secured a 2 & 1 victory. Tayan Wagjiani held his nerve to win one up and Ross Brabender snatched a well deserved half. Michael O’Conner and Joe Smith Jnr lost late on. All in all we where obviously disappointed to lose but my team came and played in great spirit as always and gave their very best. We had two teenagers in the squad and I’m sure they would have benefited from the experience especially as they where involved in tight matches.
We will dust ourselves down and be very determined for a good showing against Essex towards the end of the month. Finally, my thanks to the county support as always and my assistant Phil Scott and caddie Mark Hilding .. (we still had a great day).
Joe Smith
Challenge Team Manager