Gloucestershire finished runners-up to Yorkshire in the EGU county finals at Prince's in Kent thanks to an outstanding return from Nigel Thompson, the only player from the north of the county in the team.

Some may have questioned captain Tim Clink's decision to draft in the Brickhampton Court greenkeeper as one of his seven players, but the Lilley Brook man was proved right.

Thompson picked up three points from four outings for the team's best scoring ratio. He linked up with Knowle's David Lake in the foursomes and they started with a win on the final green against Surrey in the opening match.

But the other two matches were lost and Surrey pressed home their advantage by winning three and halving one singles.

On the second day Gloucestershire faced the daunting prospect of taming holders Yorkshire who were seeking their seventh title in ten years.

But the Tykes, on the back of a 7-2 opening win over Warwickshire, won the three foursomes and eventually claimed three and halved another of the singles for a 6.5-2.5 success. Thompson and Lake suffered their only reverse together by 3 and 2 against international John Parry and Nick McCarthy.

Thompson came into his own on the final day as Warwickshire were crushed 6.5-2.5. He and Lake won 4 and 3 in the morning before Thompson was chosen for his only singles outing.

He repaid Clink handsomely with a devastating 6 and 5 success over Paul Randle in his customary anchor role and the 6.5-2.5 triumph meant Gloucestershire sneaked into second place on points' difference.

Yorkshire won all three matches and the other counties won once. Games won: Gloucestershire 12.5, Surrey 12, Warwickshire 9.5.

Individual points: Chris Wood (Long Ashton) 3 from 6, Shane Winstone (Knowle) 1.5 (6), Ed Butler (Lansdown) 3 (6), Nick Scholey (Henbury) 2 (5), Nigel Thompson 3 (4), David Lake (Knowle) 3 (6), Nick Day (Henbury) 1 (3).