Hampshire captain Toby Burden praised his players after mounting a smash-and-grab raid over the Sussex border to snatch a valuable win to go top of the South Division.

The Hayling member saw his pre-match plans ripped apart by the freak injury at work to Darren Walkley, who came very close to losing part of his index finger, which was trapped by a heavy concrete plinth after he and a workmate lost hold of the heavy object.

With Basingstoke’s Walker Cup prospect Charlie Forster heading to Sweden to play in this week’s European Amateur Championship, Burden was relieved to have former England U16 cap George Saunders back in the fold, having missed last month’s draw against Kent, which clashed with the Brabazon Trophy.

The Liphook man, who won the prestigious Hampshire Salver at Blackmoor, back in April, had also played in the St Andrews Links Trophy, which meant he missed the 120th Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Championship at Shanklin & Sandown, when Walkley claimed the Pechell Salver for the best 36-hole qualifying score, only to get knocked out in the first round of the matchplay.

Saunders was paired with newly-crowned Sloane-Stanley Challenge Cup winner Joe Buenfeld, from Stoneham, in the morning foursomes, having reached the first round of matchplay in the Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s last Wednesday, only to lose to Finland’s Sakke Siltala by two holes.

Hampshire’s top pair were heading for a full point first out, having won the first and then the eighth to edge in front.

Even when Sussex’s George Mills and Josh Hayes pegged them back at the short 11th with a par, there was sufficient blue below them on the leaderboard to suggest the big win Burden knew his team needed to keep any chance of winning a third South East League title in a row alive, was still within their grasp.

But Sussex’s top pairing won both the 15th and then birdied the par-three 17th to turn the tables on Saunders and Buenfeld, leaving them one-down with one to play. A par on the home hole, with a steep cambered and dog-legged fairway was enough for a half as the visitors saw Sandford Springs’ James Knight – who made his England debut alongside Luke Donald 30 years ago – making a winning return in his third spell in the Hampshire first-team at the ripe old age of 50.

With a one-point lead at lunch, Burden’s men went into overdrive as the wind whipping around the rolling Midhurst countryside strengthened, seemingly playing into Hampshire’s hands.

Buenfeld and Saunders quickly got a stranglehold on the top two matches – Saunders beat Mills 3&2 and Test Valley’s Stuart Archibald – who won the English Mid-Amateur (Over-35s) title at Liphook three years ago – raced into an seven-hole lead by the turn against Bognor’s hapless Harry Malin. With three points in the bag, Hampshire’s title hopes required a five-point winning margin to match Kent’s earlier victory over Sussex, but Knight was four-down after ten and Hockley’s Luke Hodgetts, who won the Selborne Salver at Blackmoor in 2022, was two-down at the turn to the vastly experienced Lewis Gurr, who went on to make it through Regional Open Qualifying 24 hours later.

Burden was comfortable in the anchor role against former Blackmoor member Steve Mitchell, a former Hampshire Junior winner, while Knight showed the pedigree that made him a team-mate of Justin Rose when Hampshire won their first English County Championship in 1996, to earn a half against Tim Hollis.

Veteran Martin Young, still playing impeccable golf at 55, and Archibald, who won 5&4, bagged their points to guarantee Hampshire the win.

When last year’s Order of Merit winner Robert Wheeler, from North Hants, beat Sussex stalwart Steve Watts 3&1, Burden saw his birdie putt lip out on 17, only for Mitchell to miss his par save.

A relieved Burden said: “I have to thank my team for the way they responded to some of the drama of the past week or so.

“The effort and skill they displayed was second to none. We have a strong squad and we needed it for this match. It was easy to pair George and Joe together, and after losing Darren, we put Luke and Stuart together as they have been a strong foursomes pairing in the past.

“James Knight is just an awesome player. Despite all he has achieved in the game, I am not sure he realises how good he is and his game complemented Martin’s and with all that experience, it made sense.

“Rob Wheeler and I get on well, so we were comfortable playing together – getting the foursomes pairings right is crucial in getting the win, let alone when you need to pick up eight or nine points.

“I was very proud of Rob wanting to pull on the Hampshire shirt when he was playing in Open Qualifying at his home course at North Hants the next day. I was so pleased he got through after picking up maximum points for us.”

Hampshire’s hopes of becoming the first team to win the Daily Telegraph Salver three times in a row since they last achieved the feat in 2002, now rest on beating Surrey at Hayling in August, and picking more points than Kent manage against the same opponents two weeks later.

By Andrew Griffin