League News
Scratch League
Wellingborough collected their first victory of the campaign in emphatic style as they thrashed Northants County 8-0 at home.
Despite losing their opening three fixtures of the season, the hosts made a confident start as Gary Grimmitt (4&3) and Robert Charter (3&2) secured the opening two points.
Matthew Smith and Chris Howes bagged equally convincing wins, Ian Auld confirmed the team success by taking his match on the 18th hole before Adam Sherlock added another home point.
With no top division side having completed a whitewash victory since 2018, Wellingborough showed their ruthless streak as they completed the perfect day, courtesy of wins from Sam Waite and Jon Harris.
The battle of the two unbeaten sides in the second tier went the way of Kettering as they recorded an excellent 5½-2½ victory at Collingtree Park to make it three wins in three outings.
All the damage was done in the early ties as Nick Keech and Andy Robinson both triumphed on the 17th hole, Ben Atherton took game three with two holes to spare, before Ed Keech and Reece Dodd wrapped up the team success with big wins.
Collingtree, who had won their two previous matches, got themselves on the scoreboard with points from Trevor Twelftree and Brandon Sanders, and a half from Ray Connolly against Joseph Hyde.
Brampton Heath grabbed their second away victory of the season in the third division with a brilliant 5-1 success at Oundle.
Damien Heffernan (7&5), Philip Anderson (5&4), Harry Brown (4&2) and Jack Brown (5&3) all recorded comfortable wins for the visitors, while Stephen Field and Alec Francis secured a half apiece.
With Brampton having played less matches than anyone else in this section, Daventry sit top of the pile after a battling 3½-2½ away success at Rushden.
Although the hosts won the first and fourth ties with holes to spare, and also picked up a half in game three, they were powerless to stop Daventry, whose points came from Tom Green, Chris Eveleigh and Daniel Haynes.
Handicap League
Kingsthorpe booked their place in the last four of the Handicap League with a fifth win in five Group C outings with a 30-0 home demolition of Silverstone.
After a narrow victory in the opening tie, the hosts seized control with big wins from Leigh Woodward and Kev Purkis (seven holes), Adam Malin and Kyle Humphries (six holes) and Rob Cary and Mark O’Neill (six holes).
With Robert Tansley and Peter Botterill taking the next game by five holes, Dave Allcock and Michael Hares confirmed the biggest team success in this year’s Handicap League as they secured the final tie by five.
Overstone Park sealed top spot in Group D with a gritty 6-4 victory in their last match at Rushden, who needed a big win to overtake the leaders.
After the opening two ties resulted in a narrow win for either side, the match was effectively put beyond Rushden’s reach in game three when Peter Etheridge and Jay Vieyra recorded a five-hole success for Overstone.
Rushden did manage to claim two more victories and a half in the remaining three games, but it wasn’t enough to turn the contest in their favour as the visitors finished the campaign with seven wins from eight matches.
At the other end of the standings, Cold Ashby avoided the wooden spoon as they fought back from an early deficit to complete a 19-5 home victory against Oundle, who finished bottom.
Kettering all-but-ended Peterborough Milton’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals as they produced a stunning comeback to beat their Group B rivals 10-8 at home.
Milton, who went into their final match on top of the table, made a great start as Mark Doody and James Middleton (three holes) and Steve Townsend and Steve Dickinson (four holes) took games one and three.
The hosts reduced the arrears with narrow wins in the second, fourth and five ties, but they still trailed by five with one match on the course.
However, the Kettering duo of Jack Murray and Kevin McHenry found their best form when it mattered as they completed a seven-hole win to turn the overall result in favour of the home side.
Although Kettering now lead the standings on points difference with one match to play, they can be overtake by Wellingborough and Northants County, while Peterborough still have an outside chance of qualifying if results go their way.
Junior League
Delapre secured their first victory of the Junior League season in Group C with an excellent 3-1 win at Northampton A.
Liam Greenough grabbed the opening point for the visitors, Todd Martin recorded a 3&1 win, before Pele Zidane confirmed the away team’s success on the 18th. Lily Davies added a consolation point for Northampton by winning the closing hole.
Collingtree Park maintained their chances of progressing into the semi-finals as they edged a tight home contest with Group D pacesetters Northants County A by the scoreline 2½-1½.
Adam Haywood (Collingtree) and Krishan Panesar (County) traded big wins, before Lucy Haywood put the home side in the driving seat by securing another point on the penultimate hole.
In the knowledge that anything less than a team victory would put County out of reach at the top of the table, Collingtree’s Jamie Bryden kept his nerve to secure a half against Eloise Feely.
