Ireland lose Leona - and

the foursomes to Scotland

Scotland shaded the morning foursomes 2-1 against Ireland while England, for the second day in a row, made a clean sweep of their foursomes, this time 3-0 against Wales.
The loss of their national women’s champion, Leona Maguire, with a back injury was a blow to Ireland as they met Scotland in the contest which looked like deciding who would be runners-up to England.
Sarah Cunningham replaced Leona as foursomes partner to 13-year-old twin sister Lisa Maguire in the first tie off the tee on another very wet morning at Panmure Golf Club.
Scotland’s top pairing of their Under-18 girls champion Carly Booth (pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, all rights reserved)and Under-21 title-holder Kelsey MacDonald beat the make-shift Irish pairing by 4 and 2 after winning the second, third, fourth and seventh in teeming rain.
Sarah and Lisa did win the fifth, eighth and 10TH to be one down on the 11th tee but after a couple of halved holes, the Scots pulled away again with successes at the 13th, 15th and 16th.
It was Lisa Maguire’s first defeat after four wins through four sessions of play.
Scotland went 2-0 up when Annabel Niven and Lesley Atkins beat Stephanie Meadow and Sarah Louise Winter by 3 and 2. The key stretch in this tie saw the Scots win the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth to move from one down to four up at the turn.
It was a first win in the tournament for both the young Scots.
Ireland kept their hopes alive by restricting Scotland to a one-point lunchtime lead. Ireland’s Patrice Delaney and Emma O’Driscoll won the 18th to finish one up on Rebecca Wilson and Sammy Vass after a ding-dong struggle.
The Scots were two up after 13 but Delaney and O’Driscoll won the 14th and 15, lost the 16th to go one down again but won the last two holes.
English women’s champion Hannah Barwood and Holly Clyburn staged a grandstand finish to win the last three holes for a two-hole win over the Welsh pair of girls champion Amy Boulden and Katherine O’Connor in the top foursome.
It was a see-saw match in which Barwood and Clyburn won the fifth and sixth to two up after the third and fourth holes had been exchanged. Boulden and O’Connor squared matters with successes at the ninth and 11th and the Welsh pair went one up for the first time at the 14th.
After the 15th was halved, Barwood and Clyburn squared the tie at the 16th, went one up at the 17th and, with a birdie 3, clinched their victory by taking the 18th for a two-hole win.
It was Amy Boulden’s first reverse after four wins.
Rachel Connor and Heidi Baek advanced England’s morning lead to 2-0 by beating Kelly Miller and Gemma Bradbury 2 and 1. The Welsh pair won the second and fifth to go two up but Connor and Baek levelled it by winning the sixth and seventh.
Then the English pair went two up by taking the 10th and 12th . Miller and Bradbury cut their deficit to one by winning the 13th but that was their last success. Connor and Baek went two up again at the 14th and halved their way from there.
Kelly Tidy and Alex Peters made it a comprehensive 3-0 foursomes win for England by beating Natasha Gobey and Laura Watkins 3 and 1 in the last tie to finish. Tidy and Peters lost the first and third holes but won the second and then took the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh for a three-hole lead.
The Welsh won the eighth but Tidy and Peters regained a three-hole lead at the ninth.
The English advantage increased to four holes at the 13th.
ends