U14s Junior Boys Friendly match v Leicestershire & Rutland

Northants boys played really well at Market Harborough but narrowly lost 3 matches and halved the other against Leics & Rutland (overall score 0.5 - 7.5) with all four matches actually much closer than the score suggests.

Northants were giving a few shots but overall the teams were quite evenly matched as they battled over all 18 holes to decide the winners of our annual friendly.

In the absence of Cameron Black, Jack Meakin played a Captain's part and was a blade of grass away from halving a closely fought Match 1 on the 18, but the putt refused to drop. The teams had been close throughout and Jack playing with Krishan Panesar were unlucky to lose.

In Match 2, Josh Bland & Sam Mayman played some great golf but, despite leading by two holes early on, were pegged by a some brilliant play   particularly on the back 9 from their opponents and were 3 down on 15. They fought until the end winning a hole back but a series of halved holes led to a 2 holes defeat.

In Match 3, opponent Evan Fowler played superbly almost holing in 1 at the 12th and using his 5 shots to great effect as the L&R pair gradually took control after a fairly even start. Daniel Rees and Ollie Golby kept battling and were unlucky not to close the gap further after winning the 17th, but another three putt cost them the last hole and a 4 hole deficit overall.

In the last match James Lord, who birdied the 6th with a John Rahm style putt rattling into the cup, and Guiseppe Memoli were consistently out-driving the opposition but they lost their 2 hole lead on the back 9 with their opponents putting and chipping well and ended up all square in a match they might possibly have won.

All credit to Leicestershire & Rutland who fielded a similar team to the one that scored so well in the Keith Tripp trophy in August, although both sides were missing a couple of key players for this game. Today was a much better showing from Northants despite the result and we look forward to our team doing well in 2024.

The match was played in very good spirit and the travelling parents from both teams added to a great occasion. Jack Meakin made an excellent speech at his last U14 match to round off proceedings and we look forward to the return fixture at Oundle next year (October 13th).