MONEYGATE SCOTTISH AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS - Ayrshire bounce back to take bronze medals.

Ayrshire bounced back from a heavy defeat by defending champion, The North East District, in the morning semi finals of the Moneygate Scottish Area Team Championship at Prestwick GC on Sunday 15 May 2011 and secured third place and the bronze medals with an afternoon win overThe Lothians.

AYRSHIRE'S SGU SCOTTISH AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP BRONZE MEDALISTS
Ricky Magee (assistant manager), John Haggarty, Jack McDonald, Jamie Mackay
Gary Bryden, Euan Brown, Michael Smyth, Ronnie Potts (Manager) 

Pitched against top qualifiers and defending champions, The North East District, in the semi finals, the Ayrshire team started well and took early leads in three of the five ties, but by the turn the holders had taken the initiative from the host county and eventually ran out as winners of the morning semi final by 4.5 - 0.5

First Semi final details (North East names first):-

Scott Larkin & Adam Dunton beat Gary Bryden & Euan Brown by 3&1
Jordan Findlay beat Michael Smyth by 2&1
Kris Nicol halved with Jack McDonald
David Law beat John Haggarty by 5&4
Philip McLean beat Jamie Mackay by 4&3

NORTH EAST 4.5  AYRSHIRE 0.5

In the second semi final The Lothians, who defeated Ayrshire 12 months ago in the play off for third place and the bronze medals, faced Fife who, surprisingly, were bidding for their first ever Area Team Championship title.

Despite being considered by many to be favourites to progress to the final, Lothians suffered a 4 - 1 defeat at the hands of their opponents.

Second Semi Final match details were (Lothians names first) :-

Malcolm Campbell & Stephen Simants lost to Kevin Blyth & Peter Latimer by 2&1
Allyn Dick  lost to Brian Souter by 1 hole
Myles Cunningham last to James White by 4&2
Graham Robertson lost to Scott Crichton by 3&1
Grant Forrest beat Scott Stewart-Cation by 3&1

LOTHIANS 1 FIFE 4

In the afternoon play off for the bronze medals and third place in the competition, Ayrshire hasd the added incentive of avenging their defeat by Lothians at the same stage in 2010 and as in the morning it was the Ayrshire side who started best, gaining early advantage in a number of the matches. Lothians fought back over the middle part of the round and as the matches progressed into Prestwick's famous finishing four hole loop, the match seemed pitched slightly in Lothians' favour.

With Grant Forrest beating Jamie Mackay by 4 & 3 in the anchor tie, Lothians took a one pint lead but a crucial one hole win by Gary Bryden and Euan Brown over Stephen Simants & Myles Cunningham in the one foursomes tie levelled the score for Ayrshire.

Michael Smyth fought back from two down with three to play to take his tie against Allym Dick to the last hole, but the Ayrshire player was unable to complete the recovery, losing his tie by two holes to give Lothians a 2 - 1 lead.

John Haggarty levelled the score with a 2 & 1 win over Malcolm Campbell in the penultimate tie, leaving the destination of the bronze medals resting on the outcome of the match between jack McDonald of Ayrshire and Graham Robertson of Lothians.

After a tight match throughout, Scotland Boys internationalst McDonald found hiself one hole ahead with one to play. Whilst Robertson drove into rough short of the green, McDonald safely found the fairway just short of the putting surface and a good chip left him facing a good birdie opportunity from a few feet away. Despite his best efforts, Robertson was unable to secure a birdie and the hole went to Jack McDonald for a two hole victory and a 3 - 2 win for Ayrshire in the 3rd & 4th place play off.

Bronze Medal Play Off Match Details (Lothians names first)

Stephen Simants & Myles Cunningahm lost to gary Bryden & Euan Brown by 1 hole
Allyn Dick beat Michael Smyth by 2 holes
Graham Robertson lost to Jack McDonald by 2 holes
Malcolm Campbell lost to John Haggarty by 2&1
Grant Forrest beat Jamie Mackay by 4&3

LOTHIANS  2   AYRSHIRE   3

In the final, Fife, against the form book, defeated the defending champions the North East District, by 3.5 - 1.5 to take the Area Team Championship title and trophy back to 'The Kingdom' for the first time in the history of the event.

Championship Play Off Match details ( North East names first)

Scott Larkin & Adam Dunton lost to Kevin Blyth & Peter latimer by 1 hole
Jordan Findlay lost to James White by 1 hole
Kris Nicol lost to Brian Soutar by 4&3
David Law halved with Scott Stewart-Cation
Philip McLean beat Scott Crichton by 5&4

NORTH EAST 1.5   FIFE   3.5