Once again, the players throw away the script

Robson, that silky-voiced, silver-haired starter who seems to have been warbling "on the tee" since Old Tom Morris was playing in the St Andrews Boys' Open, got himself in a mild fankle as the first match battered away and erroneously announced Webb Simpson as Bubba Watson. Amid the muddle of mistaken identity, it was perhaps not surprising that Simpson skied his opening clatter down the first.

Not long after that, a startled deer appeared in front of the tee. Ivor probably would have announced it as a pheasant. It was an eventful start to an eventful day. It was a long one, too. Some of the matches - particularly the ones involving the creeping Keegan Bradley - seemed to take longer than the media shuttle bus in the rush hour.

By the end of this Friday of fluctuating fourballs and foursomes, Europe had inched into a 5-3 lead thanks to a barnstorming afternoon assault. Justin Rose, stung on the thumb by a wasp, and Henrik Stenson were the buzzing Euro stars, forging a union that spawned two points out of two. The talisman, Ian Poulter, was pulverised in partnership with home hope Stephen Gallacher, but Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, toiling and wayward during the morning and for much of the second session, came good when it mattered and conjured a rousing late show in the fading light to steal a hard-earned half point against Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.

In the big moments, the big players tend to produce. And this was big. The hosts, trailing 2½-1½ after the fourballs, seized the moment and the momentum with a sizzling surge that reaped a rich harvest of 3½ points from a possible four. The egg and chips for tea in the Gleneagles Hotel would've been that bit tastier last night.

"We have all seen in Ryder Cups how momentum can be a huge factor," said European captain Paul McGinley. "For our guys to react the way they did showed the resilience and the strength of character."

It was an inspired finish from McIlroy and Garcia on an inspired afternoon for Europe. The half-point plundered in the last knockings must have felt like a win. Two down with three to play, McIlroy sparked the super salvage operation with a raking putt of 40 feet for a birdie on the 17th to reduce the leeway.

The adrenaline was pumping and the 25-year-old's drive on the par-5 18th plunged into the right hand rough but came to rest in a half-decent lie. Garcia must have initially thought "thank you partner" but, having assessed the situation, the Spaniard pulled an absolute corker out of the bag and smote a 5-wood to the back of the green to set up an eagle opportunity for McIlroy.

The Americans, meanwhile, had found the greenside trap and Walker could only howk it out on to the lower tier of the putting surface. McIlory's curling putt for a 3 dribbled up to within gimme distance and when Fowler missed his birdie putt to halve the hole and win the match, the Europeans were euphoric.

At the end of the day, the star trio of McIlroy, Garcia and Poulter had contributed just a half-point, but it could be worth far more in the final analysis. "We needed that, we really did," said McIlroy, as he confirmed the importance of the rally. "We were three under for the last three and we just wanted to ask them questions. Sergio had the shot of the day at the last. It was big, and at least we get something out of the day. It was like a mini-victory."

There were big victories taking place all around, of course. Lee Westwood moved to within three points of Nick Faldo's European record haul of 25 points as he dovetailed delightfully with Welsh rookie Jamie Donaldson to beat Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar by two holes. The Rose and Stenson axis continued to prosper by overcoming Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson by 2 and 1 while Graeme McDowell, in the company of the impressive debutant Victor Dubuisson, rubberstamped a 3 and 2 defeat of a tired looking Mickelson and Bradley with a 20-footer for birdie on the 16th.

A few hours earlier, morning had broken at Gleneagles and the dawn chorus in the amphitheatre that horseshoes itself around the first tee roared these golfing gladiators into the arena. The dominant bellow was a throaty "Yooo-rup". Come lunchtime, the American players had essentially told them to "shut up". Rose and Stenson made the scoreboard blue as they swept to a 5 and 4 win over the out of sorts Watson and Simpson in the top tie, but the air would turn blue as Europe cursed an American counter.

The youthful rookie pairing of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed may have been looked upon as lambs to the slaughter by some cynics but there would be no silence of these lambs. Their purposeful 5 and 4 win over Gallacher and Poulter - they were five under in the better-ball format - ended Poulter's seven-match winning run and gave Gallacher a harsh introduction to Ryder Cup golf. The Texan twosome were buoyant but when Tom Watson, the US captain, left them out of the afternoon session they looked as down as a couple of kids who had been sent to bed with no supper.

The boys from the Lone Star state had momentum, that key factor in these contests, and Watson probably regretted not capitalising on this winning exuberance as the afternoon unravelled.

The morning, meanwhile, had swayed the way of the Americans. Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer, three up after four against Walker and Fowler, were hit by a Walker triple-whammy as he chipped in twice and then birdied the last to plunder a valuable half point. As Bradley and Mickelson altered the course of their match with McIlroy and Garcia, thanks to a late eagle, birdie push, to pinch a one-hole win on the last, the opening session had ebbed and flowed in the USA's favour. The afternoon signalled a major turning of the tide, however.

What did we say about that Ryder Cup script?