EUROPEAN AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

SCOTLAND'S golfers defied the wind and rain at Portmarnock yesterday to move into a challenging position after the first qualifying round in the European Amateur Team championship, writes Scott Crockett.

The defending champions ended the day in second place, five strokes behind leaders Ireland, and barring disasters are well on course to complete the first objective of the week, namely qualifying for the matchplay top flight of eight.

Leading performer of the Scottish six was Inverallochy's Steven Young, whose two-over-par 74 was the second best score of the day in the dismal conditions, four shots behind Irishman Keith Nolan's excellent 70.

''I was really pleased with the way I played and to be honest it would not have unreasonable for me to have shot 70 or 71 if I'd had more luck on the greens,'' said Young.

Ralston's Alastair Forsyth was next best with a 75, despite looking in danger of undoing his good early work when he dropped shots at the fourteenth and fifteenth holes. But birdies at the sixteenth and eighteenth restored the balance.

''It was one of these days when you had to accept you were going to drop shots. You just have to try and limit them to only one a hole and pick up as many birdies as you can,'' he said.

Other Scots scores to count came from Amateur champion Craig Watson (76), Barclay Howard (77), and Michael Brooks (78), with Graham Rankin's 80 discarded.

Leaders Ireland had American college student Keith Nolan to thank for their lofty position, the 24-year-old carding the best round of the day with a two-under-par 70. Immaculate on the greens, Nolan needed only 29 putts in his round.

While Scotland and Ireland prospered in the wind, the same could not be said for England who struggled, with a number of top players failing to live up to their billing.

Included in that list was St Andrews Links Trophy winnner Justin Rose, who could do no better than 81, while Gary Wolstenholme, the 1991 Amateur champion and Walker Cup player, was relieved to see his disastrous 84 eventually discarded.

Tournament debutants Slovakia returned a 106, a 111 and a 125 among their six returns. First qualifying round scores:

375 - Ireland (70 K Nolan, 75 P Lawrie, 76 R Coughlan, N Fox, 78 G McGimpsey. Discounted: 85 J Fannigan).

380 - Scotland (74 S Young, 75 A Forsyth, 76 C Watson, 77 B Howard, 78 M Brooks. Discounted: 80 J Ranking).

385 - Germany. 387 - Sweden, Spain. 391 - Denmark. 392 - France. 393 - Finland. 395 - Italy. 396 - Iceland.

397 - England (78 S Webster, 78 R Wiggins, 79 M Carver, 81 M Blackey, 81 J Rose. Discounted: 84 G Wolstenholme).

398 - Netherlands.

400 - Wales (78 N Edwards, 79 J Donaldson, D Park, 80 M Pilkington, 84 M Smith. Discounted: Y Taylor).

401 - Belgium. 402 - Norway. 407 - Austria. 414 - Switzerland. 421 - Portugal. 441 - Czech. 465 - Estonia. 490 - Croatia. 516 - Slovakia.

q DUNBARTONSHIRE & Argyll, runners-up to East Lothian in last year's Scottish Women's County championship, will again represent the West Division in this season's finals, to be played at Hilton Park from September 23 to 25. They retained the West title at Hamiton yesterday with three wins out of three, completing their programme with a 6-3 victory over Renfrewshire. Details:

Foursomes - V Melvin and K Burns beat H Anderson and J Jenkins, 2 and 1; C Hargan and C Divers beat D Jackson and L Brabender, 2 and 1; A Laing and A Davies lost to K Fitzgerald and L. Robertson, 1 hole.

Singles - Burns beat Robertson, 4 and 3; Laing beat Jackson, 5 and 4; Melvin beat Jenkins, 2 and 1; Hargan beat Brabender, 4 and 3; Davies lost to P Orr, 1 hole; Divers lost to Fitzgerald, 1 hole .

Ayrshire 4, Lanarkshire 5. Foursomes - C Malcolm and L Moffat beat L Lloyd and T Stoddart, 1 hole; C Tayor and F Prior lost to A Hendry and F McKay, 4 and 3; K Paterson and M McQueen beat M Hughes and A Young, 3 and 2.

Singles - Malcolm beat Lloyd, 3 and 2; Moffat lost to Stoddart, 3 and 2; Paterson lost to A Walker, 2 and 1; Taylor lost to Hendry, 3 and 2; S Laing lost to Young, 2 holes; Prior beat McKay, 1 hole.