Leicestershire & Rutland were celebrating a first national county title as their boys team won the national finals in dramatic style at Furness.
FORMAT: 4-team matchplay round-robin – 3 foursomes & 6 singles per match
All four counties were in the running going into the final day but a 6-3 victory over Kent proved decisive. With Gloucestershire beating Yorkshire, the Midlands champions finished top by virtue of gaining 14.5 game points to Gloucester’s 14.
The new champions qualified for the national final for the first time last year before losing out to Northumberland and team manager Dave Deacon was the happiest man in Cumbria after watching his side go one step further.
FINAL STANDINGS
He said: “I’ve got to start by saying what a fantastic week we’ve had. We’ve come to our place which is way out of our depth regarding the course – playing links golf.
“We made it to these finals last year but didn’t finish the job off. In the 120-year history of our county, none of the teams has ever won a major finals so the lads today have done Leicestershire proud.”
Leicestershire’s top foursomes pair set the tone for what was to follow. Kirby Muxloe duo Frazer Jones and Charlie Box went out in 30 (-6) on their way to 6&4 win, helping their team establish a 3-0 lead at lunch.
Winning Leicestershire & Rutland team:
• Frazer Jones (Kirby Muxloe)
• Charlie Box (Kirby Muxloe)
• William Plant (Cosby)
• Thomas Dziuba (The Leicestershire)
• Ethan Bell (Cosby)
• Millen Durham (Cosby)
In the singles Midlands Boys champion Jones maintained his sparkling form in the second match. He was seven under par for 11 holes as he swept aside the unfortunate Jack Swift 8&7.
With Box also winning 4&3 at the top of the order to secure the victory it just became about beating Kent by as many points as possible.
However wins for Kent’s Abe Bignall (Kings Hill) and Jack Lee (Rochester & Cobham Park) kept the result on a knife edge but a half point for Cosby’s William Plant in the bottom match was enough for the overall victory.
Gloucestershire came from 2-1 down in the foursomes to beat Yorkshire 5-4 but in both singles matches they lost, neither player was ahead at any point so catching the new champions always looked unlikely.
Skipper Ethan Bell (Cosby) added: “It means everything to all of us. I’m just so proud.
“From the start the foursomes went well today and we got off to a great start by winning them 3-0. We just had to get over the line really.”