Perth and Kinross to miss final at Tain

Sep 26 2008 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

IT was a must-win match but Perth and Kinross had to settle for a share of the spoils against the South.

The opposition in the Scottish Area Team Championship had already won their opening matches.

A win by two clear points at The South's chosen venue, Stranraer, would have seen the Big County back in the finals weekend at Tain.

But a tied match wrecked Perth and Kinross hopes.

The management was quietly confident after being able to field arguably the strongest side available.

The line-up boasted three current or past Scottish champions in Wallace Booth, Kevin McAlpine and Glenn Campbell.

They were ably assisted by Gavin Dear, who has just been selected, along with Wallace, to represent Scotland in the Eisenhower Trophy in Australia later in the year, Stuart Graham, who has pulled off the county grand slam and Nicky Barr, whose credentials in these matches are beyond question.

Hopes were further raised by Wallace and Gavin having been successful in reaching the second stage of qualification for the pro ranks.

They were stopping off at Stranraer on their way home from a successful outing at the Oxfordshire.

These matches went badly for the Big County, with only Glenn and Gavin salvaging a point, leaving it all to do in the six singles matches.

Wallace and Gavin led the attack with Wallace keen to make up for his heavy foursomes loss.

Both out powered their opponents with some mighty hitting and had Perth and Kinross 3–2 ahead.

Unfortunately Kevin McAlpine’s dip in form continued and, coupled with exceptional putting by his opponent, he lost out.

So the match was tied at 3-3 and the ideal scenario would have been three wins from the last three matches.

Stuart Graham, however, was never up in his match and a lost ball at 14, when he was already two down, put an end to any hopes of a comeback.

That was being recorded about the same time as Nicky Barr closed out his match against 14 times Stranraer Club champion, Rab O'Keefe.

The final game – which was now irrelevant in terms of Perth and Kinross reaching the finals but important to decide the eventual outcome of the match – had Glenn Campbell going one down with two holes to play.

But he turned his match around to gain a half.

This was a particularly disappointing result for Perth and Kinross but, on the day, they were outplayed by their opponents and they wished the South all the best for the finals in Tain on October 4/5.

RESULTS: B Scott/G Sharp beat W Booth/S Graham 5 and 3; I Brotherstone/M Grunwell lost to G Dear/G Campbell one up; C Riddick/I Thomson beat K McAlpine/N Barr 2 and 1.

G Sharp lost to W Booth 4 and 3; B Scott lost to G Dear 4 and 3; I Thomson beat K McAlpine 4 and 3; R O'Keefe lost to N Barr 3 and 1; C Riddick beat S Graham 3 and 2; M Grunwell halved with G Campbell.

Match result – The South 4½, Perth and Kinross 4½.