Women's golf: Curtis Cup golfer Tricia Mangan won a desperately close battle with Welsh champion Stephanie Evans at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire yesterday evening to secure a share of the spoils for Ireland.

Now a halved match with Scotland today will save them from the dreaded wooden spoon.

Mangan's success came towards the end of a tense session. She was neck and neck most of the way with Evans but won the 17th to edge in front and held on at the last. Claire Coughlan, Maura Morrin and Niamh Kitching had all lost and it looked very dicey but Mangan came to the rescue.

Earlier Ireland were quick to banish the disappointment of Wednesday when they squandered a strong position against England to succumb tamely by coming out of the blocks at pace to produced a magnificent foursomes display to lead by two matches to one with one halved at the lunch interval.