Some would say, rather cruelly perhaps, that the two teams battling it out - manfully, as it transpires - in this latest edition of the Seve Trophy at The Heritage at Killenard in Co Laois are of the patched up variety. Marc Warren, though, inadvertently provided some substance to that insinuation when a bedroom accident on Thursday night meant he turned up on the first tee for yesterday's second series of fourballs as the original Mr Band-Aid.

Warren, a rookie on the Britain and Ireland team, suffered wounds to his abdomen and arms when he shattered a chandelier in his hotel bedroom, apparently while perfecting his swing with a five-iron.

Wearing nothing but a towel at the time, the Scot's impromptu practice session led to him shattering
the glass light-shade and receiving a cut across his stomach that needed half-a-dozen butterfly stitches.

He also suffered a cut to his forehead and had shards of glass removed from his arms. Yesterday, Warren - who, along with playing partner Colin Montgomerie, was on the end of a fourball drubbing from French duo Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret - could at least see the funny side of the incident. "I've taken some stick, but that's only to be expected when you do something as stupid as that.

"I'd never done anything like it before. Sure, I hit the ceiling before, but I'd never smashed a light shade." While team-mates murmured things along the lines of him being a "shady character" and interviewers asked if they could be "enlightened" about what had happened,

Warren was nevertheless able to play without any pain or inconvenience and, in fact, contributed more birdies than Montgomerie (six to one) in attempting to stem the tide.

On a grey, overcast day with some heavy showers, Jacquelin and Havret - who reached the turn in 31 and then finished off the deal with a run of five birdies in the next six holes - produced the best golf of all.

But it wasn't sufficient to inspire the other members of the Continental Europe team and, when Paul Casey sank a fivefooter on the 18th to give Britain and Ireland a one hole victory in the last fourball, it meant that the two teams were locked on five points apiece with two more days of play - today features a double programme of greensomes and foursomes with tomorrow confined to singles - remaining.

Nick Faldo's tinkering with his team reaped dividends. Yet again, the Bradley Dredge- Phillip Archer partnership delivered the goods, winning the top match over Peter Hanson and Robert Karlsson by 5 and 4. The other B and I wins came from Oliver Wilson and Simon Dyson,
who triumphed by 3 and 2 over Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen, and Casey and Justin Rose who
accounted for Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gonzalo Fernandez- Castano by one hole.

Casey, ranked 22nd in the world, and Rose, ranked 13th, were a new partnership - each suffering defeats in the opening series on Thursday - and they seemed to be coasting when going three-up after winning the ninth hole. However, the Spanish duo produced five birdies in the next six holes to reduce the deficit to one hole and both had birdie putts to level matters that agonisingly lipped out on the 17th, only for Casey to get the job done on the 18th with an up-and down from a greenside bunker for a par to halve the hole and win the match.

"I don't think either of us wanted to go two days without a point on the board, we're too strong for that," argued Casey. "We have a strong team and being behind has spurred us on and kicked the guys into gear."

Apart from the impressive play of Jacquelin and Havret, continental Europe's only other win yesterday came from Mikko Ilonen and Markus Brier, their second success in two outings.

The Finnish-Austrian alliance accounted for Nick Dougherty and Graeme Storm by one hole, a much tighter affair than had seemed on the cards early on in the match when they'd led by
four after seven.

Faldo has rested Montgomerie, who has lost his first two matches, for the morning greensomes, but intends to return the Scot to the team-sheet for the afternoon foursomes.

"I'm on a learning curve here," admitted B and I captain Nick Faldo, who is also captain for the European team at next year's Ryder Cup in Kentucky.