Irish hopes of winning the Men's Home Internationals Championships outright for the first time in over ten years suffered a blow today following defeat to Scotland in the morning foursomes at Ballybunion GC, Co Kerry.
The host side were beaten by 3½ points to 1½ after winning only one of their games in the final day of competition. Ireland have already beaten Wales and England over the past two days.
Michael McGeady and John Foster levelled the scores with a 3&1 victory over Jamie Mcleary and Eric Ramsay, after a 5&4 defeat for Darren Crowe and Brian McElhinney had given Scotland the edge in the opener.
Defeat followed for Ireland in the next two pairings before Justin Kehoe and Mark Campbell halved with Jonathan King and Stuart Wilson for what could yet prove a crucial score.
Ireland will hope to turn matters around in the afternoon singles, knowing that an overall draw will be good enough to claim outright victory.
Earlier, Wales took a step closer to claiming third place with a 4-1 victory over England in the foursomes.
Foursomes result: Ireland 1 1/2 Scotland 3 ½
Ireland nams first
D Crowe & B McElhinney lost to A McArthur & C Watson 5 & 4
M McGeady & J Foster bt J Mcleary & E Ramsay 3 & 1
N Fox & M O'Sullivan lost to G Campbell & B Innes one hole
R Kilpatrick & M Sinclair lost M Laird & S Mackenzie 4 & 3
J Kehoe & M Campbell halved with J King & S Wilson.
Foursomes result: England 1 Wales 4
England names first
M Skelton & J Heath lost to G Wright & D Price 6 & 4
R Fisher & G Wolstenholme lost to C Smith & C Mills 4 & 3
G Lockerbie & D Skinns lost to A Smith & R Davies 1 hole
G Clark & R Walker bt L Harpin & L Matthews 5 & 4
C Edwards & J Kemp lost to J Williams & T Dykes 4 & 3