Scots need to beat England on last day in Yorkshire

It follows an 8-7 defeat for the defending champions at the hands on Ireland yesterday, when England moved into pole position after making it two wins out of two with an 11-4 hammering of Wales.

The Scots led 3-2 after the morning foursomes but ended up losing after Ireland won both afternoon singles that were decided on the home green – Jack McDonald going down to Dermot McElroy and Scott Crichton succumbing to Jack Hulme.

“We feel really gutted to lose,” confessed Scotland captain Scott Knowles. “There were some excellent golf from all five pairings in the foursomes but, unfortunately, things did not go our way in the games that went down the last in the afternoon.”

In an event that could end up being decided on points won overall, England are in the driving seat on 19, three ahead of the Scots, with Ireland also still in with a great chance of claiming the title on 15.5.

“It’s all to play for tomorrow against England as we can still win on points difference,” added Knowles. “We need a performance similar to last year at Glasgow Gailes (where the Scots beat the Auld Enemy 10.5-4.5 after losing to Ireland in their opening game).

“The guys are up for it. They are determined to succeed and have the ability to back it up.”

Grant Forrest, last year’s Scottish Amateur champion, heads into the final day with a 100 per cent record. After winning twice against Wales, he repeated the feat yesterday. With his singles win coming against the highly-rated Kevin Phelan, the Craigielaw player is making a brave late bid to secure a Walker Cup berth.

In contrast, Graeme Robertson’s hopes of being named in that Great Britain & Ireland team appear to be slipping away after he suffered a second singles defeat in going down 2 and 1 to Gavin Moynihan. The Glenbervie player had also tasted defeat in the company of McDonald in the foursomes.