Colin Montgomerie praised his Britain and Ireland team-mates tonight after they turned a 4-1 first-day deficit into a one-point lead - 9 1/2-8 1/2 – going into the 10 concluding singles of the Seve Trophy at The Wynyard.
And special praise was reserved for Montgomerie's foursomes partner Nick Dougherty.
The 23-year-old baby of the side sank a birdie putt of nearly 30 feet on the short 17th and then kept his nerve on the last for a vital victory over Maarten Lafeber and the previously unbeaten Thomas Bjorn.
“There's more pressure when you're hitting the ball knowing that a seven-time Order of Merit has got to hit it next,” said Dougherty. “It was nice to nick one there because I think we've had a few nicked off us this week.”
But the day's play was not without its controversy - and again Ian Poulter was involved.
In trouble with Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington on the opening day for practising while the Dubliner's match was reaching its climax, Poulter let his feelings be known when asked to hole a short putt by opponents Niclas Fasth and Henrik Stenson at the 16th.
In a gesture which brought criticism for Phil Mickelson back in his amateur days Poulter, after making it, laid down his putter with the head in the hole to indicate the length of the putt.
At the 17th he then indicated to partner Bradley Dredge not to offer any concession when both teams were barely two feet from the cup and at the last Fasth was asked to putt from 10 feet when the Swedes had two putts for victory.
Afterwards Poulter was asked whether he was unhappy with what happened.
“No, I was happy,” he insisted before adding: “I don't like to lose any game I play, whether it be Seve Trophy, Ryder Cup, match play, anything.
Earlier Harrington suffered last-green disappointment for the second time in three days.
Harrington sank a 28-foot putt on the short 17th to give himself and Paul McGinley the lead against Jean-Francois Remesy and Thomas Levet.
But the game was halved when Remesy chipped in from 25 feet and Harrington then missed a seven-foot putt.
In the opening fourballs on Thursday the same four players met and the French pair won when Remesy made a closing 10-footer and Harrington failed from inside eight feet.
“I hit a pretty decent putt. What can I say?” commented Harrington, while McGinley added: “We played the hole perfectly, but those guys raise their games against us.
“We know we have a reputation and they are up to beat us.”
Then, however, David Howell and Paul Casey came from two down to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez and Emanuele Canonica two and one, Howell finishing things off with a 20-footer curler.
Montgomerie believes his decision to sit out the morning greensomes – and opposite number Jose Maria Olazabal's decision to play in the session - may well have paid dividends for the home side.
Britain and Ireland won it 3-1 to level things up at 7-7.
“From what I saw Olly did not play as well as we all know he can and I know from experience it's not easy when you're also trying to follow what's happening elsewhere,” stated Montgomerie.
“You've got one eye on what you're doing and one on the other games. You've got the afternoon pairings to sort out and that's on your mind.
“It may explain why my Seve Trophy record is nowhere near as good as my Ryder Cup record.”
Whereas Montgomerie has lost only two of his last 18 games against the Americans the Continental players have beaten him in eight of 18 contests.
Two of those were, against all the odds, to Seve Ballesteros in the singles, but this time, with Ballesteros having stepped down as captain, Montgomerie will face Olazabal for the first time since he was beaten by him in the final of the 1984 British amateur championship.
In the greensomes Olazabal and Harrington faced each other for the first time since their controversial halved game in Valencia two years ago, when the Dubliner objected to the twice Masters champion repairing marks on a green.
Then Olazabal, feeling his integrity had been questioned, conceded the hole and at the end the pair had a lengthy conversation and did not part on the best of terms. This time, however, there were smiles when, on the 16th green, Harrington asked his opponents if he could repair something in front of his putt.
He and McGinley, never behind from the moment they birdied the fourth, won three and two and when Casey and Howell added a last-green victory over Fasth and Hanson a clean sweep of the session was still on the cards.
But Graeme McDowell missed a five-footer on the 18th to give himself and Stephen Dodd only a half with Jimenez and Canonica, while Bjorn and Stenson, two down with three to play, eagled the 16th, birdied the 17th and scrambled the half they needed on the last to keep the teams level.
