GUERNSEY have a mountain to climb to salvage anything from the annual Garenne Seniors Challenge Trophy match at L’Ancresse. In very testing conditions on the links, the home team failed to win any of the five opening fourballs and go into this morning’s 10 deciding singles matches requiring seven wins and a half to rescue the tie.

It all fell away for Guernsey on the inward nine after a tight start.

In the top match Steve Birkett and Niall Counihan were one up on Kevin O’Toole and Barry Thorp at the turn and although pegged back they regained a one-hole lead when Birkett hit to 15ft of the 12th pin and proceeded to roll in the tricky downhill putt.

Sadly, though, they were unable to hold onto the advantage and lost one down.

Immediately behind them Roy Corbet and Micky King were trailing Vic Bourgoise and Colin Attwood from early on and succumbed 3 and 2, while Brian Lucas and Jock Tanguy were also in trouble at the turn and duly went down.

Two other home pairings were level through seven, but only one of them salvaged something, the team of Ken Giles and Richard Vaudin.

* THE future of the two-day Seniors’ Challenge Trophy has been secured.

The Garenne Group have agreed to support the annual clash between the Channel Islands’ best over-50s men golfers for the next three years.

‘Sport is such an integral part of CI life and we see this kind of support for top quality local sporting events to be extremely important,’ said Garenne Group chairman, Stuart Falla.

Guernsey Golf Union president Roy Martel said Garenne’s backing has ‘really raised its profile’.

‘The event hasn’t been sponsored for the last couple of years, so this is great news,’ he added ahead of the 2004 match.