Leominster failed in their attempt to win the Shropshire and Hereford-shire Handicap League final for a third time when they went down 8-4 to The Shropshire at Telford.

After wins in their two previous final appearances, in 1975 and 1977, they had to settle for runners-up place in the 36-hole event.

The Shropshire gained a 4-2 advantage from the morning session and, after a quick turnaround, doubled their advantage during the afternoon.

Details (Leominster names first) - Morning: R Perry and M Davies beat J Roberts and S Hawke three holes, R Gunthorpe and D Ruff lost to P Murphy and a Barker three holes, N Morris and T Leney beat N Walker and T Harris one hole, P Merriman and R Davies lost to A McCaffery and A Ellis one hole, M Craddock and A Griffiths lost to J Reilly and R Bates two holes, S Morgan and C Malcolm lost to R Lewis and P Haley one hole.

Afternoon: Perry and Davies halved with S Lea and N Howarth, Gunthorpe and Duff halved with A Coles and S Fleming, Morris and Leney lost to Murphy and Barker three holes, Merriman and R Davies beat C Teece and T Harris four holes, Craddock and Griffiths lost to McCaffery and C Weaver one hole, Morgan and Malcolm lost to Roberts And Hawke seven holes.

n Kevin Gibbons' consistently high standard of golf was rewarded with victory in Leominster Rankin Club Society's sixth annual contest for the John Elmes Touring Trophy.

Nineteen competitors played stableford matches on four courses on the Killarney-based tour of Ireland.

Gibbons, third on each of the last two trips to Blackpool and Bourne-mouth, finished five points clear of nearest rivals Wilf Arrowsmith and Brian Faulkner.

It completed a hat-trick of runners-up places for Arrowsmith - the winner in 1998 - who pipped Faulkner on a countback in a tight finish.

Going into the last match at Mahoney's Point, Killarney, Gibbons led Faulkner by three points with Arrowsmith just two further points adrift. Gibbons and Arrowsmith finished level top in the match to clinch the top two places.

Overall result: 1 Kevin Gibbons 123 pts, 2 Wilf Arrowsmith 118, 3 Brian Faulkner 118.

Courses - Beaufort: 1 Dave Stephens 36, 2 Ted Price 35, 3 Dereck Jones 32; Ring of Kerry: 1 Kevin Gibbons 31, 2 Brian Faulkner 24, 3 Wilf Arrowsmith 23; Killeen, Killarney: 1 Martin Dowe 33, 2 Richard Arrowsmith 32, 3 Brian Faulkner 31; Mahoney's Point, Killar-ney: 1 Kevin Gibbons 34, 2 Wilf Arrowsmith 34, 3 Brian Faulkner 32.

Continual practise led to Don Sullivan's success in the twilight golf competition.

n Neil Greening and Jason Plant lifted the Herefordshire GC's Yorath Bowl when they defeated Tom McGoran and Clive James by five and three in the final of the pairs foursome knockout competition, played across the summer months.

Results, Inglis Salver and Everdell Cup, division 1: 1 TJ Hughes 42 pts, 2 J Plant 39, 3 NJ Greening 39; division 2: 1 K Harris 41, 2 A Gwynne 37, 3 GF Coleman 37.

n Leominster Seniors were joined by 25 guest clubs for their Am/Am competition. A close contest ended with only two points separating the top five groups.

Results: 1 G Gould and a team from Habberley 90 pts, 2 H Mundy-Llanwerne 90, 3 D Jones-Welshpool 89, 4 D Watkins-Llanwerne 88, 5 F Abram-Habberley 88, W Hoskins-Dartmouth 87.

n Burghill Valley's vice-captain designate, Peter Hood, won the George Fairbrother Cup. He finished plus two in the bogey/par competition, one shot ahead of his nearest rivals.

Result, division 1: 1 Jeff Davies +1, 2 Martin Powell +1 (countback), 3 Dinger Bell all square; division 2: 1 Peter Hood +2, 2 Don Horton +1, 3 Sean McNally all square.