Jersey prove too strong for gallant hosts

FOR a few minutes yesterday Guernsey looked as if they might pull off a minor miracle. Trailing by five points going into the concluding 10 singles matches of the Ronez Inter-insular, the hosts needed to claim eight of those rubbers to regain the trophy. The Sarnians' record on the final afternoon against Jersey is not great, but the 2007 team showed an amazing fighting spirit to put a few butterflies in their rivals' camp.

With Craig Nielson having edged the visitors closer to victory thanks to a tight one up win over Danny Blondel in the first match out and Alex Guelpa comfortable over debutant Tom Le Huray, the reds began looking around for the all-important half that would see them retain the silverware.

But they were left wondering if it would come at all as out on the course Guernsey were on a roll and the next five results were all rubbers for the greens.

Bobby Eggo started the ball rolling as he capped the 30th anniversary of his inter-insular debut with his 24th singles win over Jersey - he has halved three and lost three down the years.

Jack Mitchell then put together an outstanding run of four successive birdies from the 12th to overcome Gavin O'Neill 3 and 2 before his fellow L'Ancresse teammates Steve Mahy and Jamie Blondel claimed one up wins over Matthew Parkman and 16-year-old Chris Young respectively.

With Jersey still stuck on 9.5 points, Mick Marley then dented James Birch's hopes of securing the trophy.

Having holed a tricky par putt on 16 to remain level, the Guernsey stalwart was just short of the green with his drive on 17 and putted up to 'gimme' length for a birdie that his opponent could not match.

Marley then put the final nail in Birch's coffin with a brilliant birdie two on the last.

But Jersey's hero arrived in the form of Andy Clarke.

He, too, was involved with in a ding-dong battle with Sean Mills but when the players halved 17 for the Jerseyman to be dormy going to the next tee, the visitors could start celebrating.

Clarke secured the full point on the last green, which won the trophy outright.

Behind that match, Dave Nicolle put up a brave fight and took Paul Le Chevalier down 18 despite his opponent having reached the 16th three up.

The Sarnian just came up short of the green on the last though and could not maintain his run of holes.

But Nigel Vaudin provided the home supporters with something to cheer in the final game out.

He marched onto the 18th with a one-hole lead over Channel Island champion Richard Ramskill and proceeded to hit a majestic tee shot that homed in on the flag, pitched a few yards short of the hole and rolled just inches past to the gasps of the crowd.

Ramskill was to the right with his tee shot and putted up short of the cup before Vaudin rolled in his five-footer to take a notable scalp.

However, Guernsey captain Steve Turvey was left to reflect on what might have been had his side managed to take more from the fourballs and foursomes that had thrown up some tight battles.

'The number of matches that have at least gone up 17 has been incredible,' he said.

'We knew we were up against it from the start because the combined handicap for all 10 of the Jersey team is just three. Ours is about 12.

'So we knew we had to perform well in the fourballs and foursomes and we just came up short.'

Saturday afternoon's fourballs were all in the balance until late on in the rounds, but unfortunately only Eggo and Mitchell secured a point for the hosts.

They wrapped up their rubber against Christy McLaughlin and Birch on the 17th where Eggo's stunning drive finished less than 15ft from the pin.

Elsewhere, Nicolle and Le Huray had done brilliantly to claw back an early four-hole deficit and level on the 12th against Ramskill and Young only for their opponents to birdie the next two holes on their way to a 2 and 1 win.

Marley and Danny Blondel also succumbed on the 17th while Jamie Blondel and Mahy went as far as 18 but came away with nothing to show for it.

The other pairing - Vaudin and Mills - were beaten on the 16th to emphasise the close nature of the series, but it was Jersey who had the killer instinct.

The foursomes were also hard fought although in the majority Guernsey were playing catch up from fairly early on. That was despite the hosts providing the highlight as Mick Marley got a hole in one on the third. He aced with a seven iron.

Jersey claimed the opening two rubbers, both of which concluded on the 16th, before Mahy and Jamie Blondel opened Guern-sey's account for the day against McLaugh-lin and Birch.

Le Chevalier and Clarke gave the visitors their third point of the morning, but undoubtedly the best of the rubbers was the last out.

Guernsey's youngsters Le Huray and Mills had shown tremendous guts in coming back from being three down after six to suddenly be dormy on the 17th tee.

Their opponents Ramskill and Clarke responded with an excellent birdie to take the match down 18 where Mills left his partner with a long approach putt across the green compared to an 18-footer for the reds.

Le Huray raced his effort well past the hole and Mills missed the return while Ramskill gave his partner a four footer for the half and Clarke duly obliged.

'I was really pleased with the way the players reacted in the singles this afternoon,' said Turvey after the earlier disappointments.

'They will be disappointed to lose, but they can be pleased that they did not let their heads drop. To win the singles series is no mean feat and they can take great pride in that.'

Turvey felt that the singles wins by Mitchell and Vaudin over illustrious opponents were particular highlights.

He also had some words of praise for the one Sarnian debutant.

'Tom was nervous on Saturday to start with and that is only to be expected,' said the captain.

'Then he and Millsy played really well this morning to come from three down to be dormy on the 17th tee box.

'It was a bit of an adrenalin rush on the last putt and he feels he lost it but, as I told him, he hadn't. I said ?you've taken their top two players from La Moye all the way and got a half out of them - there's no shame in that?.

'Admittedly, the singles was a big learning curve for him, but he knows what he has to do to develop his golf from that experience.'