2009

Match v Somerset 04/10 at Saltford

Hopes of ending the season unbeaten were dashed when Somerset proved just too strong in the 6.5 to 8.5 reversal at Saltford.

The morning foursomes were decided in favour of the home County with Richie Evans and Mike Hearne just managing a 1 hole victory to keep the scoreline manageable.

With 8 of the ten singles going to the 17th, the match was extremely close. However Somerset just seemed to have the edge when it mattered and with 4 of our players (and three of theirs) going down on the 17th the County were denied the win.

Hooper/Holmes v Laurie Cantor/Dave Gregory 4/2
Luke Thomas/James 3/2 v Matt Kippen/Phil White
B O'Neill/Flower v Charlie Cossins/Louis Boston 3/2
C O'Neill/G Phillips v Max Brittain/Ellis Cook 6/5
R Evans/Hearne 1 up v Craig Adams/Matt Lee
 
 
Hooper v Cantor 2/1
Thomas 2 up v Gregory
James v Kippen 2/1
Holmes v White 2/1
Phillips a/s v Cossins
Flower 6/5 v Boston
C O'Neill v Cook 3/2
Evans v Brittain 2/1
Hearne 2/1 v Lee
B O'Neill 2/1 v Adams
 

Overall Result 6.5 to 8.5

Match v Cornwall 06/08 at Neath

The home advantage was made to tell at Neath with the morning foursomes going our way with three solid wins and a half giving the County a 3.5 to 1.5 lead going in to the afternoon singles.

Successes in the top 3 singles extended the lead but the next two went the visitor's way. Joe Cruise kept Cornwall's hopes alive but a solid 3&1 win by Neath player Richard Williams making his County debut saw the County home.

Overall Result 9.5 to 3.5.

Hooper/Holmes a/s v Billy Downing/Alex Boyde
Gareth Phillips/James Frazer v Rob McGregor/Joe Cruise 3/2
Rich Evans/Rich Williams (Neath) 5/4 v Aaron Stevens/Anthony Nash
B O'Neill/I Flower 4/3 v Richard Ackland/Josh Greenway
N James/L Evans 3/2 v Ian Jolliffe/John Piner
 Singles
Hooper 2/1 v Nash
Frazer 1 up v Stevens
Phillips 5/4 v Greenway
Holmes v Ackland 1 up
James v Downing 2 up
Flower 2/1 v McGregor
Evans R v Cruise 2/1
Williams 3/1 v Boyd
Evans L v Piner 2/1
O'Neill 1 up v Jolliffe

Current League Table

The Houdini Act defeats Glos.

Facing the unbeaten Gloscestershire at Chipping Sodbury the County made the worst start imaginable losing the foursomes 5 - 0. If the prospects had been bright against Devon here "gloomy" would have been the height of optimism. If it had been boxing the ref. would have stopped the match to save us further punishment.

Perhaps the team showed it has the "win when you aren't playing your best" (or it ain't over 'til Duncan buys a pint) attitude and took command in the singles winning 8 - 2 to earn the points. Remarkably Ian Flower travelled up in the morning to replace David Phillips, taken ill overnight, and had the best win in the singles. Both Richard Hooper & Luke Thomas travelled straight back from the Home Internationals to play the practice round. It is encouraging that players we have now want to play. Those who have played at International level know it is difficult to come back and play at a lower level but both Richard and Luke produced vital wins in the Singles. As the detailed results show the matches were tight but after the foursomes who would have given us a chance.

County defeat Devon

An encouraging performance in the foursomes gave the County a 3.5 to 1.5 advantage. With the top two pairs having comfortable wins and the loss being only 2 & 1 the prospects were bright for a victory.

This optimism was bourne out and although we lost 5 singles four were tight and two could have gone either way. The overall match result being 8.5 to 6.5 in our favour, although Devon have yet to register a point this year.

Middle-order singles power County to victory over Gwent

Both teams wore black armbands and observed a minutes silence as a mark of respect following the tragic death of Cornwall and Wales player Ben Enoch

Points are not easily gained in matches v Gwent and at Vale of Glamorgan the County had to fight for every one. The morning foursomes produced three tight games which we just shaded and two largish defeats.

Richard decided that the middle order singles were critical, and so it proved. Michael Hearne taking Craig Evans down the last just losing 2H and an out-of-sorts Richard Williams going down 4&2 Gwent had wiped out the foursomes advantage. However victories in the middle 5 singles, and Chris O'Neill's big win ensured victory. Both Tom Rees with a victory over the doughty Mark Skinner and Gareth Phillips' big win confirmed their promise and helped the county take the match 9.5 to 5.5

Gower 20/04: So Near Against Wiltshire

Handily placed after taking a 3.5 to 1.5 lead in the morning foursomes the County just failed to stave off a fight back by the visitors in the afternoon singles.

With the last game undecided until the 18th and the second last finishing 2/1 the result was in doubt right to the end. The absence of County Captain Richard Hooper might well have been critical.

On a psoitive note performances by Matthew Hearne and Gareth Phillips, both returning wins in foursomes and singles augurs well for the remainder of the matches. That they were backed by Richard Evans proving to be as doughty and dependable as ever the "middle order" performed well.

Playing number 1 in the Channel League is not easy as others before will attest, James Frazer has the class to take on the role and this should provide us with the strength to have a successful campaign.

2008

Match v Cornwall Newquay September 7th

The County recovered from the disappointment of two home defeats to record an 8.5 to 6.5 victory over Cornwall at Newquay. For a change the foursomes produced a 3 -2 advantage and this proved crucial in the final analysis.

It proved a nailbiting affair with Dai Phillips at 9 getting home by 1 Hole and Brent O'Neill at 10 securing the all-important Half. Max Broadfield (Langland Bay), answering a twelfth hour call-up produced two points and contributed massively to the team's success.

Print / View detailed Results

Match v Devon Pyle & Kenfig August 31st

Glamorgan 4 Devon 11

"Beware the month of August" (to mis-quote Shakespeare) should be the County's watchword. Sunday's loss to Devon at P&K meant two home defeats in successive weeks leaving hopes of winning the Channel League as, well, just hopes.

As a team Devon proved far too strong and, whilst their players played well, ours couldn't quite live with them and the inevitable happened. A 2 - 3 reverse in the foursomes was followed by a going-over in the singles with only two Glamorgan players, Nick James and Richard Williams overcoming their opposition.

Team photograph

Match v Gloucestershire Royal Porthcawl

Aug. 24th Glamorgan 7 Gloucestershire 8

The foursomes points were shared 21/2 21/2 with a bg win in the last game being countered by a similar reverse in the top game. The other three games were close but having lost game 2 things didn't look good but the later games went in the County's favour.

With the exception of Jon Holmes' big win the singles were fairly tight but David Phillips' opponent's unfortunate injury leading to a concession was not enough to prevent a singles loss by 41/2 to 51/2. Brent O'Neill proved to the old adage of "two up three to play never wins" true and the match slipped away.

Print / View detailed Results

Match v Gwent Pontypool 8th June

Glamorgan 8 Gwent 7

The team turned around a 2-3 foursomes deficit. Richard Hooper and Jonathan Holmes and crucially by Richard Williams and Chris O'Neill who turned their game around in the last few holes kept the foursomes to a one point margin.

In the afternoon the singles went our way with a sterling performance. Luke Thomas lost the top match to Joe Vickery but then the tide turned in Glamorgan's favour with Hooper, Holmes, Ian Flower, Williams, and O'Neil winning their matches. The 'in form' Nick James gained a half and then it was all down to the last match on the course which saw the two old men of the teams Captain Evans and Mark 'Choco' Skinner involved in a typical dog fight. The match was halved and that gave Glamorgan a crucial well-earned victory.

Defeating the reigning champions on their own “patch” and our next two games being at home has lifted both morale and expectations after the Wiltshire match.

Luke Thomas and Richard Hooper won their County match blazers to mark 25 appearances and there were Channel League debuts for Richard Williams (Vale of Glamorgan) and David Phillips (Pyle & Kenfig).

Overall Player Results