Young Tykes on England duty

HALLAMSHIRE’S Barclay Brown and Sheffield-born Joe Pagdin proved to be a sharp combination as England won the Boys’ Home Internationals for the third consecutive year. The Sheffield steelers were undefeated from three games in the foursomes as England achieved a 100% record at Royal Dornoch with a final day 8-7 win over Ireland.

Earlier in the round robin event England defeated a Scottish team that included Wakefield’s George Heath 10-5 and followed that up with an easy 11-4 win over Wales. England have now won the under-18 team event 17 times since 1996. Ireland were left to settle for runner-up spot while Scotland finished in third place after beating Wales 11-4.

Stephen Burnett, England’s captain, said: “I’m really proud of the players. We knew that the biggest game of the competition would fall on the final day and it was a tight match. “Ireland were really strong contenders, but the last few singles matches this afternoon went our way. All credit to our players, they pulled the result out of the hat.

“It has been a fantastic three days at Royal Dornoch and we have been very well looked after by everyone involved. There are not many better courses than this.

“We now look forward to defending the title at Ashburnham. We will retain the core of this team for next year and they will put up a strong defence of the title.”