Suffolk were confident. After all, their best finishes ever had been the previous two years and this year they travelled with a healthy mix of experience and form. Losing Ben Sayers before the event was a blow as his relentless seacroft form would be missed but the inclusion of the recent Amateur Foursomes champion pairing excited the Suffolk Selectors.

Day 1 and the weather was kind to the players despite what the forecasts had predicted. Suffolk lined up with five strong pairings of Max Weaver & Alfie Halil, Gregor Tait & Josh Robertson, Jack Cardy & Will Wright, Connor Talbot & Harry Brinded and finally Dan Hedges & Russell Oakey. The first opponents were BB&O (a team made up of three counties) and new boys, Warwickshire. Suffolk got off to a fine start with maximums from the top two groups and another 1.5 in match 3. The back groups chipped in with 1.5 more to get Suffolk off to a flyer. 7 points from the first session was a strong showing.

The afternoon would prove tough. National champions Leicestershire stood in the way along with a new look and unpredictable Norfolk team. Suffolk again battled well and were happy to come away with 6 points. Going to bed Saturday night with 13 was an improvement even on the last two years and excitement in the camp was growing.

Sunday morning would prove to be a thriller. At this point defending champions Lincolnshire were leading Suffolk by 1.5 points and once again looked formidable. They and a vastly improved Bedfordshire team meant a make or break morning for Suffolk. Things looked gloomy in the front three groups. Whilst a good battle ensued with Lincs, Bedfordshire were on fire taking points galore from two of the leading counties. All of a sudden it looked ominous, until the Suffolk tail wagged ferociously. The back two groups which now included a well rested but hungry Taylor Crisp flipped four matches on their head and went from zeros to heroes down the morning stretch. A situation that looked like a possible 0.5 from 4 in those games turned into 4 from 4 to create a total of 6 and the game was on!

The form of Bedfordshire and Suffolk meant Lincolnshires defence had been all but killed off and the new leaders were Englands number 1 county, Leicestershire. Whilst Suffolk knew catching the National Champs would be a tough ask they also knew Leicesters afternoon was a tough one and if they could get a healthy 7/8 points a door could open. Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire were Suffolk’s final opponents and that presented an opportunity. Frustratingly both counties seemed to show better form than they had so far in the tournament making things far from straight forward. This time though our top groups had woken back up and by the time our first 3 groups had finished there was 4.5 points in the hutch. The players rushed back to see how the back two groups were going and to see if their heroism from the morning could be repeated. Sadly it wasn’t to be. Suffolk’s great race had run out of steam and once again we would have to settle for second place and share that with Lincolnshire.

Once the dust had settled the players, captains, coaches and selectors were once again very proud of their efforts. 3 second place finishes in a row is a fabulous achievement and one the county should be thrilled with and for it to hurt so much shows how far they have come.