England ladies one step from retaining their European title

After sharing the foursomes honours 1-1 with their semi-final opponents Sweden, England went through 4.5-2.5 after winning three and halving one of the afternoon singles.

India Clyburn (Lincolnshire) and Alice Hewson (Hertfordshire) lost on the last in the top foursomes, but Gemma Clews (Cheshire) and Sophie Lamb (Lancashire) held their nerve to win at the 20th hole to level matters at lunch-time.

Lamb went to two extra holes again in her singles match – and won once more – and Hewson doubled up as well with victory in the top match. Clyburn won 2&1 and Clews halved, a defeat for Leicestershire’s Lianna Bailey merely reducing the extent of Sweden’s loss.

Woodsome Hall’s Rochelle Morris will hope to get a start in the final after being rested for the past two days.

Italy defeated Spain in their semi-final having defeated Holland by the same score on Thursday.

Hallowes’ Sam Bairstow finished as Yorkshire’s highest-placed competitor in the Midland Youths Championship at Stoke Rochford.

Bairstow placed seventh with scores of 72 69 74 and a storming last-round 65.

Victory went to Notts’ Jordan Boulton who followed three successive rounds of 69 with a closing 68.

Yorkshire had a second player inside the top 10 in Huddersfield’s Josh Morton.

He had opened with a 67 and added rounds of 70 71 73.

Lindrick’s Bailey Gill, the first-round leader, was 17th (66 72 73 75), a shot better off than his club-mate Sam Rook (75 71 72 70). A third Lindrick player, Nathan Fell (74 71 70 75) was 31st alongside Hallamshire’s Julian Wood (74 71 76 69).