England beat France in tense finale

England have won the weekend international against France by 14-10 at Formby Golf Club in Lancashire.

“It was very tense, as we said it would be, and I am so proud of the boys,” commented England team captain, Kevin Tucker. “They have been a pleasure to be with, they are a fantastic set of lads. 

“All credit to the French team – they came back hard this afternoon, as we knew they would. It’s never easy to win an international match and the experience will do my lads a lot of good, especially our four debutants, Scott Gregory, Josh Hilleard, Bradley Moore and James Walker.”

The team – which received good luck wishes from Masters champion Danny Willett – went into the final singles session with a two-point lead and, to begin with, they seemed set to race to the title.But the determined French team had other ideas and, after each side claimed an early win, the afternoon turned into a dogged battle, with a series of close games.

Alfie Plant and Bradley Moore were next to score, each putting half a point on the board after tenaciously holding on. Plant was one down after 16 but birdied 17 to get back to all square and then halved the 18th. Moore lost the 16th and 17th to birdies to be one down with one to play – but won the 18th.

Scott Gregory – playing in the last match – provided the guarantee that England would reach the necessary points total. Early on, he was either one down or all square in his match but he forged ahead with three consecutive birdies from the 13th. It meant, he too, was three up with three to play, and England was certain of victory in the international.

This biennial international began in 1934 and England have now won 29 of the matches so far, conceding just five. The French team were last successful in 2010 in Chantilly.

Masters champion Danny Willett played in the 2008 match and sent his good luck message to the team last night. Tucker commented: “They were very pleased to receive it and it was very good of the Masters champion to send it.”

The full team was: Jamie Bower of Meltham, Yorkshire;  Scott Gregory of Corhampton, Hampshire: Josh Hilleard of Farrington Park, Somerset; Paul Kinnear of Formby, Lancashire; Bradley Moore of Kedleston Park, Derbyshire; Alfie Plant of Sundridge Park, Kent; Ashton Turner of Kenwick Park, Lincolnshire; and James Walker of The Oaks, Yorkshire.

Image © Leaderboard Photography

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A graduate of Cardiff University’s highly respected post-graduate magazine journalism course, Andy has successfully edited four different publications across the B2B, trade and consumer sectors. He is skilled at all aspects of the magazine process in addition to editing websites and managing social media channels.