Young's brave battle not enough to stop England charge

North BERWICK'S Clara Young, at 14 the youngest golfer of the home team, snatched a half in her first singles match for her country, but it wasn't quite enough for Scotland to pull off an unlikely win over England in the Girls' Home Internationals at Gullane.

England looked set for an easy victory after claiming all three morning foursomes. But the side, seeking a fourth successive win in the Stroyan Cup, were set a tough task to clinch the match by the time the rain had cleared for the conclusion to the afternoon singles.

In the end, it all came down to the final match on the course - Young v Alexandra Peters - with the East Lothian county champion needing to win a full point to snatch a draw.

One down after ten holes, Young raised hopes when she stood one up with two to play and halved the 17th, But, in a dramatic finale, Peters hit her second shot to three feet for a great birdie at the last and a halved match meant the result went 5-4 in England's favour.

Kilmacolm's Eilidh Briggs, the Scottish Girls' Champion, had started the singles fightback with a 3 and 1 victory in the top match against Hayley Davis, and then Alyson McKechin made it two for Scotland with a one hole win over Georgia Hall.

Carnoustie's Ailsa Summers also won, but Gullane's Lesley Atkins lost for the second successive day, going down by 4 and 3 to Bronte Law.

The other match also hinged on the final singles and Chloe Ryan made sure of an Ireland win over Wales by defeating Jessica Evans 3 and 2.

The Irish beat Scotland in the opening round and now face holders England today in a title decider. Scotland must beat Wales to avoid the wooden spoon.