Double win sets up S&B for the season SOUTHPORT AND BIRKDALE
LANCASHIRE made a winning start to the new county golf season – but only after withstanding a fightback in the singles.
The Red Rose county had started brightly against the Southport and District Golf Association at Formby in the traditional curtainraiser to the campaign.
They took the foursomes 4½-1½ to hold a healthy advantage at halfway, but the host team battled back after the break in the singles.
However the tail of the Lancashire team proved strong enough to hold off Southport and secure an 11-7 success.
For the SDGA team, 16-year-old scratch player Greg Holmes of Royal Birkdale won his debut singles match 1up against Joe Brice of Manchester.
Greg will feature in the Lancashire Boys team aiming to retain the Four Counties title at Shifnal GC from April 11-13.
Pleasington’s Michael Hunt marked his comeback after a year out with a shoulder injury by teaming up with Curtis Clarkin to edge out Mark Duncalf and Greg McIlroy 1up in the foursomes.
England international Sean Towndrow, from Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club, led the afternoon fightback with a 4&3 win over the experienced John Carroll, and was followed in by Duncalf, Andrew Molloy and Anthony Stirling.
But Lancashire took four of the last five matches to pull clear in the final reckoning. RESULTS FOURSOMES: Tomlinson/Cranfield bt Molloy/Blundell 1 hole; Carroll/Winn bt Reid/Towndrow 2&1; Kenwright/Kelly lst to Harris/Stirling 6&4; Hunt/Clarkin bt Duncalf/McIlroy 1 hole; S Doherty/ Williams v Shelley/Hughes halved; Brice/McFerran bt Holmes/Banks 3&2 SCORE: Rest of Lancashire 4½ Southport DGA 1½ SINGLES: Henry Tomlinson (Royal Lytham) bt Richie Blundell (Hillside) 3&2; John Carroll (Huyton and Prescot) lst to Sean Towndrow (S&A) 4&3; Ian Kenwright (Haydock Park) bt Chris Reid (Southport Old Links) 7&6; Michael Hunt (Pleasington) lst to Andrew Molloy (Hillside) 4&3; Thomas Winn (Morecambe) lst to Anthony Stirling (Formby) 1 hole; Reece Cranfield ( Wigan) lst to Mark Duncalf (Formby) 1 hole; Luke Kelly (Ashton Under Lyne) v Geoff Harris (Formby) halved; Sean Doherty (Rossendale) bt Jack Shelley (Formby) 2&1; Paul Williams (Hillside) bt Bryan Hughes (Hesketh) 3&2; Joe Brice (Manchester) lst to Greg Holmes (Royal Birkdale) 1 hole; Paul McFerran ( Warrington) bt Greg McIlroy (S&A) 3&2; Curtis Clarkin (Nelson) bt Joe Banks ( West Lancashire) 3&2 SCORE: Rest of Lancashire 6½ Southport DGA 5½
SOUTHPORT and Birkdale’s cricketers completed their preparations for the 2017 ECB Premier League season with two victories over the Bank Holiday weekend.
However, what pleased skipper Chris Firth rather more was that Tearan Gleeson and Bradley Yates enjoyed good debuts for the Trafalgar Road club, whose first team hosts Rainhill in their opening Liverpool Gin Liverpool Competition match on Saturday.
Gleeson made 63 and Yates 37 in S&B’s 186 for eight against Fleetwood Hesketh in Saturday’s 40-over game. Jack Wrigglesworth, Tommy Wareing and Lee Bolton all took a couple a wickets for the Sea Cop side but S&B’s total was sufficient to see them home by 56 runs.
Wrigglesworth completed a good debut for his new club by making 41 and Lee Bolton added 28, but Andy Warhurst’s mean figures of one for 4 off six overs and Olly Green’s 3-31 off six were enough to secure the win. Fleetwood Hesketh were eventually dismissed for 130 in 39.1 overs.
A weather forecast of rain later on Easter Sunday caused the game against Myerscough College to be reduced to a 25-over affair but S&B adjusted to the changed conditions and won the game by 20 runs.
Yates made 33 but Nick Knight also batted well for his 29, as did Isaac Lea in making 18. In Myerscough’s innings Harry Daniels and Firth took two wickets apiece but Gleeson’s leg spin was particularly impressive, the Australian taking two for 15 from his three overs.