Ireland staged an amazing recovery at murky Royal County Down yesterday to beat Wales on the opening day of the Men's Home Internationals. carving out an overall eight matches to six result.

After losing the morning foursomes 3-2 things look bad for Ireland in the singles when they were down in seven matches after nine holes, but the Irish spirit shone through the gloom as they finally worked their way into a winning position.

Irish champion Ciaran McMonagle was never in the hunt in the top match against Welsh champion Matthew Griffiths and it looked as if Paddy Gribben, after losing four holes in a row from the ninth to go two down, would also lose.

However, the former European champion proved his fighting qualities by making birdies from three and six feet on the last two greens to win by one hole. Noel Fox and Gary Cullen both birdied the 17th to win on the 18th and when Andrew McCormick handed in a 2 and 1 win and Eddie Power beat Ian Campbell 4 and 3, Ireland were ahead of the Welsh for the first time.

Michael Hoey then cemented victory for the host team with a two holes win. Gary Cullen and Adrian Morrow were the only foursomes winners for Ireland when they beat Richard Brookman and David Price on the home green where Morrow holed from 20 feet for a birdie. Four of the five matches went to the home green with Garth McGimpsey and Noel Fox scratching out a half in the top match while Ciaran McMonagle and Michael Sinclair got the same result, coming from two down with three holes to play. Paddy Gribben and Andrew McCormick lost three holes in a row from the 11th to be two down, won the 15th but lost the 18th.

Today, Ireland play Scotland and England face Wales.