If the battle of the Celtic cousins at Portmarnock yesterday had an element of vengeance to it, the real winners of the affair weren't even involved. In fact, the sight of Englishmen, and boys, rooting for Ireland to do the dirt on Scotland was one to behold.
So it was that Ireland's drawn match with Scotland, their European final conquerors of a month ago, was sufficient to allow England to slip in through the open door to retain the R & A Trophy in the Boys' Home Internationals, beating the Scots on countback of total points - 25 1/2 to 25 - after they had each finished on two points. Ireland, at least, had the consolation of avoiding the wooden spoon, which went to Wales.
England successfully retained the title, their third successive win in the event, despite only winning one match, yesterday's crushing 10 1/2 to 4 1/2
win over the Welsh: they had drawn their previous two matches with Ireland and Scotland. But ultimate success only came courtesy of a helping hand from Ireland, hosting the tournament for the first time ever.
In truth, Ireland will feel that they should have beaten the Scots and gained proper revenge for their defeat in the Europeans. Going into the singles with a 3-2 advantage, David Gannon - who was in scintillating form - showed the way by toppling Scotland's star player Jay Taylor by a 6 and 5 margin. Gannon, who finished birdie, birdie, when concluding his match on the 13th actually won seven straight holes from the fourth.
Such inspirational play duly rubbed off on Derek McNamara, Martin McTernan and Richard Kilpatrick who all won their singles. But, needing just one point from the remaining four matches on the course, only Eoin Arthurs, who played the shot of the day, a threeiron approach to seven feet for birdie on the last, managed to get anything out of it when he halved with Steven Brown.
As things transpired, Arthurs' birdie finish was sufficient to give Ireland a drawn match - but it also ensured that it would deny Scotland the championship. England players and supporters acknowledged his deed with gusto, although they had played themselves into the position with their emphatic win over Wales.
