Golf/Men's Amateur Team Championship: Ireland suffered a huge let-down over the Royal Hague course in the Netherlands yesterday when they crashed out of contention, beaten by an in-form Swedish side.
Having topped the qualifiers by some distance - 11 strokes - Ireland were hopeful they could clinch the title for the first time for 16 years. But their hopes evaporated quickly as they were soon in trouble in the two foursomes matches.
Playing in the first game, Walker Cup hopeful Justin Kehoe and newcomer Brian McElhinney battled bravely against Par Nilsson and Kalle Edbeg but in the end went down by 2 and 1.
But the bigger disappointment was that Colm Moriarty and Gareth Maybin, both hugely talented, were completely outplayed by Steven Jeppesen and Niklas Lemke and crashed to a 6 and 4 reverse.
As always in European competition, to come back from two down after the foursomes is a monumental task, and although the Irish showed their characteristic fighting qualities, they were never really going to peg back the Swedes.
In the end there were just two Irish winners - McElhinney who has enjoyed a splendid championship for his debut, and Moriarty, who was impressive in beating Jeppesen by 3 and 2.
Moriarty, from Athlone, was five under par and six up at the turn before Jeppesen took the 10th with a par and then birdied the 12th and 15th to bring it back to three - but that was as close as he got.
McElhinney, a member of the North West club, was always in front after taking the lead at the opening hole, and he established a two-hole advantage by the l0th and held on for a 2 and 1 victory over Lemke, one of Sweden's top players.
Noel Fox, Gareth Maybin and Kehoe all bit the dust as Ireland went down 5-2.
"Of course it's disappointing, but that's matchplay," said Irish captain Mark Gannon. "That we led the qualifiers by 11 strokes counted for nothing today and we can have no grumbles as Sweden were the better side."
The best Ireland can now finish in these championships is in fifth position, and today they face Wales.
In the semi-finals of the championship proper, England, whose last title success was 12 years ago in Madrid, take on France while Spain play Sweden - and the survivors meet tomorrow to decide the 2003 champions.
QUARTER-FINALS: Sweden v Ireland (Sweden names first): Foursomes: P Nilsson and K Edberg bt J Kehoe and B McElhinney 2 and 1; S Jeppesen and N Lemke bt C Moriarty and G Maybin 6 and 4. Foursomes result: Sweden 2 Ireland 0. Singles: W Schauman bt N Fox 3 and 2; Jeppesen lost to Moriarty 3 and 2; Nilsson bt Maybin 3 and 2; Lemke lost to McElhinney 2 and 1; A Noren bt Kehoe 1 hole. Singles result: Sweden 3 Ireland 2. Match result: Sweden 5 Ireland 2.
Norway v England (Norway names first) Foursomes: E Tage-Johansen and J Gudjonsson bt G Wolstenholme and O Wilson 3 and 2; L Brovold and T Nevestad lost to R Finch and J Lupton 3 and 2. Foursomes result: Norway 1 England 1. Singles: O Olsen lost to Wilson 3 and 2; Gudjonsson lost to Wolstenholme 4 and 2; Brovold lost to Fisher 3 and 2; Tage-Johansen halved with Finch; Nevestad bt R Walker 2 and 1. Singles result: Norway 1½ England 3½. Match result: Norway 2½ England 4½.
Wales v Spain (Wales names first): Foursomes: C Smith and A Smith bt P Martin and A Canizares 2 holes; N Edwards and S Manley lost to G Fernandez-Castano and A Heredia 2 and 1. Foursomes result: Wales 1 Spain 1. Singles: Edwards bt S Grout 1 hole; Manley lost to Martin 5 and 4; A Smith lost to Gomez 4 and 3; G Wright lost to Heredia 2 and 1; D Price lost to Fernandez-Castano 5 and 4. Singles result: Wales 1 Spain 4. Match result: Wales 2 Spain 5
France 4 Netherlands 3.
