Golf/ Seve Trophy: As it turned out, Nick Faldo didn't need any Irish meat in the stew; nor did he need any rub of the green.

Yesterday, as the crowds finally discovered what was happening in their backyard and turned up in decent numbers at The Heritage at Killenard, Britain and Ireland decimated the continental Europeans in the singles to make it a fourth straight win in the Seve Trophy. To be sure, it was all too easy.

Having gone into the final day adrift by one point (8½ to 9½), the scene was set for a potentially dramatic ending.

Instead, B and I took the 10 singles by the scruff of the neck and, when the dust finally settled, the trophy remained in the same hands that have been custodians in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

This time, the margin - 16½ to 11½ - equalled the record-sized win established at the Wynyard in England two years ago.

The reason for the turnaround in B and I's favour simply confirmed the fickleness of golf, as the trend for the landslide win was started by the holders taking the top three singles to create a momentum that carried right through the team.

Yet, those three winners of the top matches - Colin Montgomerie, Paul Casey and Marc Warren - had endured dreadful times in fourballs and foursomes and gone into the singles lacking in confidence.

So, what was the catalyst for the transformation in the singles? According to Casey, some television punditry that predicted B and I would lose the top three matches had something to do with motivating them.

But, also, he attributed the team's determination to win to the spirit in the team room created by Faldo.

"Nick didn't want to be a losing captain. He's very much a player who has been put into a leadership role. He didn't want to lose, neither did we," said Casey.

Casey's game, in fact, had been so poor on Thursday's opening day of fourballs - he had been in the water three times in the first six holes - that Faldo had felt the need to approach the Englishman and point out a few home truths.

"I'm normally the first to run away from someone (who wants to give advice)," admitted Casey, but he listened to his captain and then made contact with his coach Peter Kostis in America to make adjustments that simply entailed him moving closer to the ball so that he wasn't "hunched over."

The top three men delivered the goods for the B and I team. In the top singles, Montgomerie - who had gone into the singles winless from three appearances in fourballs and foursomes - beat Robert Karlsson by one hole; Casey accounted for Raphael Jacquelin by 3 and 2, and Marc Warren defeated Gregory Havret by one hole.

Like Casey, Warren had been motivated by the television analysis.

"It was on my shoulders to go out and prove a point. I watched Golf Night (on Sky) and I was raging. They said the first three was a definite no-no for B and I. To say Monty and Paul Casey had no chance (in singles) was nonsense. It was the spark we needed on the range."

Pointedly, they didn't leave their games on the range and the quality of golf was exemplified by Montgomerie's decision to hit a driver off the deck for his approach on the fifth, which put him three-up on Karlsson and, even more pointedly, by Casey's display which saw him produce seven birdies in the first 11 holes on the way to his comprehensive win over Jacquelin.

Indeed, the scoreboards dotted around the course were a sea of red to show B and I's superiority. And while Nick Doughtery, in the fourth singles, could only manage a halved match with Soren Hansen, the theme of the day was soon continued by Graeme Storm who had a 6 and 5 win over the out-of-sorts Thomas Bjorn, while Simon Dyson accounted for Mikko Ilonen by 2 and 1.

Then, it was up to Phillip Archer to take B and I over the finishing line, securing the half-point required when he halved with Markus Brier - winning the 18th with a bogey to a double-bogey - that B and I to the magical 14½ points mark. For good measure, Bradley Dredge and Justin Rose picked up further wins over Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Miguel Angel Jimenez respectively, while continental Europe's lone singles win came courtesy of Peter Hanson who beat Oliver Wilson by one hole.

"It was a privilege to do something like this," said Archer, who emerged unbeaten from his debut appearance in the match. What's more, Faldo, who had never even met the Englishman prior to the Seve Trophy, now has his number.

The countdown to the Ryder Cup has started.

Seve Trophy Details

SINGLES

Britain and Ireland 8, Continental Europe 2

(B and I names first)

C Montgomerie bt R Karlsson 1hole; P Casey bt R Jacquelin 3 and 2; M Warren bt G Havret 1 hole; N Dougherty halved with S Hansen ; G Storm bt T Bjorn 6 and 5; S Dyson bt M Ilonen 3 and 2; P Archer halved with M Brier; B Dredge bt G Fernandez-Castano 2 and 1; O Wilson lost to P Hanson 1 hole; J Rose bt MA Jimenez 2 and 1.

Day One: Fourballs: B and Ire 2, Continental Europe 3.

Day Two: Fourballs: B and Ire 3, Continental Europe 2.

Day Three: Greensomes: B and Ire ½, Continental Europe 3 ½: Justin Rose and Paul Casey lost to Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Robert Karlsson 3 and 1; Nick Dougherty and Graeme Storm lost to Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret 2 and 1; Oliver Wilson and Simon Dyson lost to Peter Hanson and Soren Hansen 1 hole; Bradley Dredge and Phillip Archer halved with Markus Brier and Mikko Ilonen

Day Three: Foursomes: B and Ire 3, Continental Europe 1: Rose and Dougherty bt Jacquelin and Havret 2 and 1; Colin Montgomerie and Storm lost to Fernandez-Castano and Karlsson 3 and 2; Dyson and Wilson bt Hanson and Hansen 3 and 2; Archer and Dredge bt Brier and Miguel Angel Jimenez 2 holes.

Day Four: Singles: B and Ire 8, Continental Europe 2.

Overall: B and Ire 16 ½, Continental Europe 11 ½.