An injury crisis did not stop Cambridgeshire delivering a well deserved victory against Northamptonshire last Sunday at Ely City GC.
Faced with six squad players unavailable for the season opener, Graham Goodman had to shuffle his pack for the match which proved a winning hand.
Opening up the foursomes Danny Loveday and his partner Luke Ryan dovetailed well, with Ryan’s power and Loveday’s mint short game to run out 2&1 winners. Paul Hodgkin and Josh Austin-Tierney were up early in their match but the Northants pairing fought back on the fairway and halved the match. Two debutants, Joe York and 16 year old Jake Plumb won 1up after falling early behind.
Cambridgeshire finished off the foursomes in style with Alex Kephart and Luke Bowers winning 6&;5 and finished at lunch 3.5 -1.5.
Ryan started the singles at his home club going 3 up until some birdies at the end by Northamptonshire made the match finish all square. Hodgkin’s powerplay ran out a win 3&2. York slotted home 2 birdies to win 6&5. Plumb was 3 under par which included 3 birdies and an eagle to win by 6&5. Loveday was minted and was his flushing best and never looked back in his 4&3
win. Austin -Tierney completed the victory with a grinding 3&1 victory. Cambridgeshire won the singles 5.5 to 2.5 and won the match 9-3.
Graham Goodman, Director of County teams said afterwards “ Being hit by a number of injuries would of affected a number of teams but not Cambridgeshire’s strength at the moment. This only
allows new players making their debuts to come in and deliver. Everybody in the team contributed and special mention must go to debutants Jake, Joe and stalwart Danny for gaining maximum points and also to Luke, Josh and Paul for being unbeaten”