THE Herefordshire county team staged an astonishing rally to turn their fixture against visiting Brecon & Radnor at Leominster on its head.

Trailing 4-1 after the morning foursomes, and then 6-1 at the completion of the first two singles matches, Herefordshire then recorded seven wins and one half in the remaining eight singles to run out winners by 8-6.

Herefordshire gained their point from the morning session courtesy of two halves from the home course pairing of Ed Deasy and Stuart Franks, and the mixed club pairing of Gary Rushgrove (Leominster) and Robin Eckley (Hereford).

Rushgrove and Eckley were both winners in the singles, along with the Kington trio of Alan Williams, Darren Richards and Dave Morris, plus the Hereford's Jonathan Devereux and captain John McQuillan. Guy Haines, of Burghill Valley, finished all square with his opponent.

n Tony Howells enjoyed a successful week at Ross-on-Wye when they held the finals of their singles and pairs competitions.

After becoming men's club champion, he followed up by lifting the Yates Cup.

He defeated Paul Rivett in a 36-hole scratch matchplay contest to become club champion. The keenly contested match saw Rivett trail by two at the halfway stage, fight back to level after 33 holes, but then lose at the next two to go down by two and one.

The pair had fought their way through to the final by winning their three knockout matches after first qualifying for the final 16 placings.

In another closely fought final, Howells defeated Geoff Davies at the 18th to win the singles matchplay knockout competition for the Yates Cup.

The foursomes matchplay knockout final was yet another close affair. Past president Bob Beavis teamed up with his nephew, Robert Beavis, to defeat William Morris and Keith Southern at the 18th to take the McClean Trophy.

David James partnered Robert Beavis to victory in the Cinderford Cup. The pair won the final of this four-ball matchplay contest by defeating Chris Friend and Russell Price by two and one.

John Spratley defeated David Griffiths two and one to win the Hospital Cup.

Andy Grey suffered mixed fortunes in his two final appearances, firstly losing heavily to John Goodwin in the Len Weston Cup by five and three and then recording a similarly emphatic win, five and four, against Eric Stephens in the Harold Bradley Cup.

The Bob Beavis Cup, a singles matchplay knockout cup for juniors, saw Tom Walters defeat Alex Catchpole by six and five. Neville Ovens retained the Trevor Lane Cup, an equivalent cup for the seniors by defeating Barry Lacey four and two.

n Nick Downes is the Sapey junior champion after shooting a nett 68. He was followed home by Mark Williams (70), Jamie Briggs (73), Steve Rogers (80), Matt Hazeldine (80) and Ed Williams (82).

n The Burghill Valley September medal was won by Mac Park (86-18-68), with Les Amos (91-20-71) and Brian McDonald (92-20-72) in second and third places respectively.

n The Belmont Captain's Day putter stableford competition was a real humdinger with the first four all finishing on 37 points. The back-nine countback resulted: 1 Steve Farnell, 2 Matt Allen, 3 Mark Bloxham, 4 Alan Standring.

Results, September medal, 0-12: 1 Des Davies 82-10-72, 2 Lennie Andrews 83-11-72, 3 Willie Lloyd 79-6-73; 13-28: 1 Nigel Evans 90-24-66, 2 Stuart Thomson 83-13-70, 3 Jeremy Rolph 90-18-72.

n The business managers at Barclays in Hereford have organised a charity golf day in aid of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Society at Burghill Valley on Thursday, October 11.

It will be a stabelford for teams of four over 18 holes.

The cost will be £110 per team, including a two-course meal, and further details are available from Chris Boardman, Barclays Bank, Hereford (phone 01432 422105).