England did what they always seem to do well, when beating Ireland in the Women's Home Internationals in breezy conditions at Lahinch yesterday. The champions moved into a higher gear over the closing holes to secure matches that, for much of the afternoon, had appeared to be going the way of the host country.
There was a similar predictability about the other tie, in which Scotland beat Wales by two points. So, it seems unthinkable that the English will do anything other than outscore the Welsh in the final series today to secure the title for a sixth successive year.
"England simply ground us down over the last six holes," said the Irish captain Claire Dowling. "That's always been their strength and unfortunately for us, it hasn't changed."
The point was illustrated by the relatively strong Irish position when the six singles had gone through the ninth. The home side were up in three, down in two and level in one - potentially a winning position given that the foursomes had ended 2-1 in England's favour.
That lone Irish win came from the partnership of Elaine Dowdall and Eileen Rose Power, who capitalised on English errors to be two up when winning the long 14th with a conceded par. And they secured the match at the short 16th where a par was again sufficient.
At that stage, however, there was the inescapable feeling that ultimate success would be extremely unlikely from a lunchtime deficit. So, Ireland desperately needed the top match in which Hazel Kavanagh provided hope by sinking a four-footer for a winning par at the 16th. With a foretaste of the afternoon's exploits, however, Elaine Ratcliffe pitched dead from 50 yards at the 18th.
Suzanne Fanagan was involved in a splendid battle at the top of the singles order against Kim Rostron. Indicative of the quality of play was that they halved three holes on the homeward journey in birdie after Fanagan had birdied two holes on the front nine.
The Irish champion was one up with two to play and a win from her was vital if there was to be any chance of success overall. But she lost the 17th to a par, after finding a horrible lie in rough on the left off the tee.
Level going down the last, she was first to play to the green. Her 90-yard pitch was ill-judged, however, in that the ball failed to bounce forward from the front of the putting surface. Given that the pin was 20 yards on, towards the back right, she was faced with a very difficult two-putt. As it happened, the first attempt was overzealous and she missed the return.
After that, there was no way back for the Irish, particularly since Power was always in trouble at number two against the richly-gifted Ratcliffe, a plus-four handicapper. But there was considerable merit in the middle-order wins by Kavanagh and Dowdall.
Dowdall certainly had reason to be pleased with her first singles win for her country. Against English strokeplay champion Lynn Tupholme, she won the first and was always ahead from then on.
Particularly impressive was the manner of Dowdall's victory. She hit a five-iron tee-shot at the 175yard 16th to 10 feet right of the pin and then holed the putt for a winning birdie. It meant that outside of the rampant English, she and Vicki Thomas of Wales - also with three points out of three - were the only other players with maximum points.
Kavanagh maintained a tight grip on her match against Curtis Cup player Karen Stupples after dominating the outward journey. Paula Gorman, on the other hand, lost the early sparkle that had seen her win the second and third in eagle, birdie.
Ireland 3, England 6 - Foursomes - S Fanagan and H Kavanagh lost to E Ratcliffe and K Rostron 2 up; E Dowdall and E R Power bt F Brown and K Stupples 3 and 2; A Coffey and M McGreevy lost to R Hudson and K Smith 3 and 2. Singles - Fanagan lost to Rostron 1 hole; Power lost to Ratcliffe 4 and 3; Kavanagh bt Stupples 2 and 1; Dowdall bt L Tupholme 3 and 2; P Gorman lost to Smith 3 and 1; Coffey lost to Hudson 2 and 1.
Scotland 5 1/2, Wales 3 1/2 - Foursomes - A Rose and H Monaghan bt L Davis and R Morgan 5 and 4; L Nicholson and V Laing lost to E Pilgrim and V Thomas 4 and 3; E Farquharson-Black and A Laing bt R Brewerton and N Evans 7 and 5. Singles - Rose halved with Pilgrim; Monaghan bt Morgan 3 and 2; Laing bt Davis 3 and 1; Nicholson bt Evans 3 and 1; A laing lost to Thomas 1 hole; Farquharson-Black lost to Lawson 2 holes.
Today's Pairings - Ireland v Wales: Foursomes (9.0) - Fanagan and Kavanagh v Rose and Monaghan; Dowdall and Power v Nicholson and V Laing; Coffey and McGreevy v A Laing and Farquharson-Black.
