Men's Home InternationalsIreland's amateur golfers still have a grip on the Raymond Trophy after producing a second day rally in the Home Internationals at Prestwick in Ayrshire.
The defending champions, still smarting from Wednesday's opening round defeat to England, battled back with a 9-6 win over the 2002 winners, Wales, to keep the championship wide open going into the final round of matches today.
The seeds of victory were sown during the five foursomes encounters during the morning as Mark Gannon's side forged into a 3½-1½ advantage but it was Banbridge's Richard Kilpatrick who, perhaps, secured the most vital point of the day during a series of closely-fought singles jousts in the afternoon.
With the Welsh threatening to overhaul Ireland's healthy lead, Kilpatrick, a member of last year's victorious Irish side at Ballybunion, eased to a notable one-hole victory over Walker Cup star Nigel Edwards.
One-up playing the short par-four last after a birdie three at 17, Kilpatrick, a former Ulster Boys' champion, carved his tee-shot at the 284-yard closing hole into the right-hand rough.
The 22-year-old's pitch to the green came to rest within 15 feet of the hole but Edwards looked odds-on favourite to win the hole and pinch a half point for Wales when he put his approach to four feet to set up a golden birdie opportunity.
Kilpatrick missed his birdie attempt but Edwards, whose memorable 50-foot putt at Ganton last year virtually secured Britain and Ireland's Walker Cup triumph, surprisingly dribbled his birdie putt wide of the hole. Kilpatrick held his nerve to halve the hole with a par and secure a crucial point for the Irish.
"I didn't want to hit a driver on the last in case I went over the back so I took a hard one-iron and came out of it a bit," said Kilpatrick. "I had a bad lie in the rough and just hacked it out. I thought Nigel would've knocked his putt in so I was surprised when I got the chance to halve the hole. To win the match after that was a real bonus for us."
Irish champion Brian McElhinney maintained his unbeaten record in the event by stacking up 1½ points from his two games yesterday while former Junior Open champion Cian McNamara again demonstrated his blossoming talents with a rousing 5 and 4 win over 33-year-old former Welsh champion Craig Evans.
In the day's other fixture, Scotland produced the result the local crowds craved as they overcame auld enemies England.
Inspired by Eric Ramsay and Graeme Brown, who both rolled in eagle-putts on the 18th green to claim last-gasp singles wins, the Scots battled to a 8-7 victory and set up a vital clash with Ireland today.
MEN'S HOME INTERNATIONALS: Day-two results: England 7 Scotland 8. Foursomes (England names first): G Wolstenholme, S Tiley halved with A McArthur, G Brown; J Heath, A Gee bt E Ramsay, G Murray 1 hole; G Lockerbie, L Corfield bt L Saltman, R Ramsay 6&5; R Dinwiddie, J Ruth lost to G Campbell, S Jamieson 2&1; M Skelton, L Dodd lost to J King, S Wilson 1 hole.
Singles: M Richardson bt Wilson 3&2; Heath lost to McArthur 2&1; Wolstenholme bt Murray 1 hole; Lockerbie lost to Ramsay 1 hole; Tiley lost to Brown 2 holes; Dinwiddie lost to Saltman 3&1; Ruth bt Campbell 3&1; Gee halved with McLeary; Dodd lost to Jamieson 3&2; Skelton bt King 5&4.
Wales 6 Ireland 9. Foursomes (Wales names first): T Dykes, J Williams lost to B McElhinney, M McGeady 4&2; C Evans, G Wright halved with G Maybin, R Kilpatrick; N Edwards, R Thomas bt N Fox, M Campbell 5&4; C Smith, B Westgate lost to M Sinclair, G Bowden 2&1; R Davies, A Smith lost to S McTernan, D Crowe 1 hole.
Singles: Thomas lost to McElhinney 4&3; Wright halved with Fox; Williams bt Maybin 2&1; Edwards lost to Kilpatrick 1 hole; Davies bt Bowden 3&2; C Smith lost to Crowe 2 holes; Evans lost to McNamara 5&4; Westgate lost to Campbell 1 hole; Dykes bt Sinclair 4&3; A Smith lost to McTernan 2&1
