MALTON & Norton Golf Club's David Hague was part of the England line-up which netted silver at the European amateur team championship for the second year in a row.

The 21-year-old has become a mainstay of the men's team, who were aiming for a record 12th title but missed out on the gold medal when they lost 5-2 to Finland in the final in Germany.

England were put on the back foot when they lost both morning foursomes, but the eventual scoreline disguises an intensely close battle in the singles.

Gian-Marco Petrozzi was ahead throughout his game, but the others were all tight, and pegged at all square for much of the afternoon. However, the Finnish team – playing in their first-ever final – finished strongly and captured the points they needed.

England had qualified for the match play in second place, losing out on the top spot on countback to Sweden. In the quarter finals, the team trounced France 6-1, but then had to pull out all the stops to defeat Denmark 4-3. Mitch Waite took them through to the final when he won his singles on the 19th.

Elsewhere, the England women’s team lost the European crown they had held for the last two years. They were knocked out of the medal race in the quarter finals in Austria, losing 4.5-2.5 to Denmark.

The team picked themselves up to beat Ireland 3.5-1.5 in their next match, but lost their final match against Germany 3.5-1.5. The title went to Sweden.

The girls’ and boys’ teams were also knocked out of the medals in their quarter finals. The girls, playing in Sweden, were beaten 4-3 by Spain, but went on to win their remaining matches, beating Demark 3.5-1.5 and Germany 4-1. The championship was won by Italy.

The boys, playing in the Czech Republic, lost to Switzerland 4-3 in the quarters, but also went on to win their remaining matches. They defeated Ireland 4.5-0.5 and the Czech Republic 3.5-1.5. Spain won the championship.