CUMBRIA’s Andrew Atkinson helped the England Senior Men’s golf team become European Team champions after a nail biting 3-2 win over France in the final.

England were 4-1 up over the French after six holes at Royal Golf Club Mariánské Lázně in the Czech Republic but the game swung quickly in what was a gripping final.

Ian Ashenden and Richard Jones managed to win one-up while Trevor Foster romped home 6&5.

However, Adrian Firman lost 2&1 to Christophe Muniesa and Edward Richardson was defeated 4&3 by Albert Galloy. That left Stephen Creed needing to win the final match for glory.

Despite falling ill during the contest, Creed managed to sink a 38-footer for birdie on the 18th hole to win the match 3-2 after the French missed their putt from 15 feet following an approach shot which hit a tree and ricocheted onto the green.

Andrew Atkinson, England Senior Men’s Captain from Windermere, said: “From pillar to post the guys have all just played amazing golf this week. It was a fantastic week where everything just fitted into place.

“Without our wives and caddies, we wouldn’t have got past the first round. They make such a difference. The support these guys get is incredible.

“We were the envy of the rest of Europe through our team spirit and camaraderie and I’m so proud of the whole team.”

Earlier in the week, there were two days of stroke play before three days of match play which started on September 5.

Creed and Richardson led the way for England on day one with rounds of 67 and 68 respectively, and eventually finished third after Creed’s level-par round which saw him top the overall individual stroke play leaderboard on -4.

The third-place finish meant a re-match with Sweden in the quarterfinals who they had beaten in last year’s final, and in a tightly contested affair, Ashenden and Jones held their nerve to win the match in a play-off.

The standout win in the 3-2 semi-final win against Ireland came from Adrian Firman, who beat the runner up at the US Senior Amateur Final, Jody Fanagan.

In the same match, Richardson also holed a noticeable 20-footer for birdie on the last hole to win two-up, while Trevor Foster birdied the last two holes to win one-up.