Under 18s Derbyshire vs Warwickshire – match report

Venue: Rugby Golf Club, Warwickshire

Date: 6^th May 2019

A fantastic win to defy the odds!!

Warwickshire 6.5 – Derbyshire 8.5.

Another cold but clear day saw the Under 18s playing their first away match of the season, as they travelled to Rugby Golf Club to play a strong Warwickshire side, who fielded 4 players off 1, 2 off 3 handicap, with the rest all category 1 golfers. Derbyshire were without their top 3 players due to them playing in national events.

Notwithstanding what seemed like difficult odds, Matthew Pepper and Tom Allen rose to the challenge in the foursomes and with a superb par on the very difficult final hole, emerged with a great half. This, coupled with wins for Max and Jack, and Ben Wain and Tom Weeks, saw us going to lunch all square.

Matthew and Tom went out 1 and 2 in the singles and how they played. Matthew led from the front and helped the whole team believe they could pull off a shock win. He closed his match out by 6 and 5 and was 4 under par in doing so. Tom showed nerves of steel in holding his opponent off on the last to record a 1 up victory and, whilst Max lost on the last, Jack played superbly too to win his match against a county second team player by 4 and 3. Ben was excellent in a comfortable 5 and 3 win, and suddenly we needed just 1 and a half more points to secure a victory. We were behind in all the other matches though so it was still going to be tricky. Tom Weeks was off to a great start but couldn’t hold on and lost on the 16^th; Harvey Sands and Gavin Ingram both succumbed on the 17^th.  Josh Atkins was chasing his first point in singles though, and was not to be denied, as a brilliant par on the last saw him pip his opponent by 1 hole. As in the first match against Worcestershire, it was down to Louie Cole , this time playing an opponent with a handicap 6 less than his, to try to see us home. A close match saw them playing 17 all square. A great up and down from 20 yards gave Louie a half and so to 18. Louie put his drive left into a bunker but played out well and then struck an 8 iron in to the middle of the green. It proved too much for his young opponent who could do no better than a 6 – we had again got home in the last match of the day.

Given the strength of the two teams on paper, this must rank as one of the finest ever wins by a Derbyshire Under 18s team. The way everyone rose to the occasion was inspiring, again their incredible spirit and sense of team camaraderie so noticeable. Special mentions must go to Matt and Tom who were fearless at the front, to Josh for his first point in singles, and to Louie for his composure in holding on so well at the death.

My thanks go to Rugby Golf Club and Warwickshire for their hospitality, once again to Paul Smith for his support throughout the day and his innate ability to find the right words at the right time, and as ever, to the parents, without whose support none of these experiences would be possible.

Next league match is against Shropshire and Herefordshire at Mickleover on July 14th.

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