It’s three on the spin for red-hot Shropshire

The Trophy is an annual challenge match between Shropshire & Herefordshire and Nottinghamshire, and after winning the last year’s encounter at Chilwell Manor Golf Club in Nottingham, S&H were up for the challenge of retaining the Trophy at The Shropshire Golf Club.

And the hosts came flying out of the blocks as some scintillating golf in the morning Foursomes saw them claim an early 5-1 lead.

The first pairing of Isaac Jones (Oswestry) and Charlie Boys (Hill Valley) bagged a 5&4 win while the dynamic combination of Zach Banks (Shifnal) and Harry Watts (Ludlow) wasted no time in disposing of their opponents 7&6.

A minor setback in the third match saw Alfie Daniels and Elliott Fellows fall to a 3&2 defeat, but that was as close as Nottinghamshire would get as the next three S&H matches resulted in solid wins for Harry Bryce (Telford) and Ben Steventon 6&5, Jack Dirkin (Wrekin) and Harry Slater (Wrekin) 2up, and Brodie Miller (Telford) and Seb Reynolds (Shifnal) 3&2.

The afternoon session saw a continuation of S&H dominance with captain Jones winning his opening singles match 2&1.

His morning partner Boys fell to an unexpected 3&1 reverse despite playing some encouraging golf.

Banks continued his fine form with an excellent 4&3 win, and was followed in by his morning partner Watts winning his match 2up.

Elliott Fellows (Bridgnorth) posted a steady 2&1 success as S&H took an unassailable 9-2 lead. There were a couple of setbacks as Daniels fell by the slimmest of margins, one down, and Bryce lost to Notts captain Dan Towle 3&2.

S&H then took total control by winning four of the final five games to secure a 13-5 success.

Steventon triumphed 1up, Dirkin 7&6, Slater (Wrekin) 1up, and Miller 4&2, before Notts managed to claw a point back in the final game, with Reynolds falling to a 4&3 loss due to a heavy handicap deficit in this under-14 encounter.