Aine Donegan made a dramatic eagle at the last to help Great Britain and Ireland win the Vagliano Trophy for the first time since 2005.

The Continent of Europe went into the final day at Royal Hague with a two-point lead, looking to extend that advantage in the morning foursomes.

Instead, it was the Great Britain and Ireland that made the early headway.

The opening foursomes featuring Donegan and Beth Coulter ended in a half with Spaniards Paula Martin Sampedro and Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio.

But Patience Rhodes and Sophia Fullbrook put a full point on the board for the visitors.

Sara Brentcheneff and Camille Min-Gaultier hit back for Europe but the final match went the way of GB&I as world number one Lottie Woad and her partner Nellie Ong secured a 2&1 victory to close the gap to just one point going into the deciding singles.

The afternoon provided a dramatic finish as the eight singles matches were evenly split for large periods of the session.

It was Europe who put the first points on the board to stretch their lead to three.

Paula Martin Sampedro had an impressive 2&1 victory over Woad and Carolina Lopez Chacarra Coto beat Beth Coulter 4&3 to put the home side within two points of victory.

GB&I reduced the deficit though as Nellie Ong earned a dominating 6&5 win over Valentine Delon and Isla Macdonald-O’Brien beat Min-Gaultier 2&1.

They were level when Patience Rhodes won the final three holes to beat Brentcheneff.

A dramatic finish ensued as Lahinch member Donegan holed an eagle putt on the final hole to put the visitors in front for the first time on the final day, beating Fernandez Garcia-Poggio by one hole before Fullbrook held on for victory against Sophia Dalgaard Bunch and celebrations could begin.

It was Great Britain & Ireland's first triumph in the match for 20 years, dating back to their win at Golf de Chantilly in 2005.

“It’s been an unbelievable day,” said Skerries’ Maria Dunne, the GB&I captain.

“I said to the team early this morning that I had a really good feeling about today. They did the job in the foursomes, momentum went our way and they just fought.

“I told them last night ‘just keep fighting, keep fighting for every single point or half point’ and that’s exactly what they did.

“We came so close at Royal Dornoch in 2023 (lost by three points) and we knew we hadn’t won this event since 2005 so it feels amazing to do it.

“Patience had an incredible finish to win her singles match, before Aine rolled in that eagle on the 18^th.

“I feel so privileged to be Captain. For GB&I to now hold both the Curtis Cup and the Vagliano Trophy is fantastic.

“I think the success in winning the Curtis Cup last year helped the team this week. I reminded them in our team meetings that we had that momentum and belief.

“My three rookies have also been unbelievable and done the job for me every time I’ve asked them. For the three who weren’t involved in the Curtis Cup, they could see the belief and they built on that too.”

Continent of Europe regains Junior Vagliano Trophy

A dominant morning in the Netherlands for the Continent of Europe side gave them a heavy advantage heading into the singles.

A narrow one point lead after day one soon became a commanding four points as the home side took a clean sweep of the foursomes.

On the greens the European side had everything going their way as putts dropped in from all distances, while the visitors had very little go their way.

The European side took all three matches by a score of 3&2 to lead 8-4, needing just one and a half points from six singles matches.

In the afternoon Europe continued their good form and led the early exchanges. Louise Langraf secured the first point, beating Hannah Lee McNamara at the 17th, putting the home side on the brink of victory.

They almost had it moments later as Liz Hao Zhang was all square heading down the final hole, but Annabel Peaford was able to take the point. Ellie Lichtenhein picked up another win for the visitors shortly after to keep Great Britain & Ireland alive.

Alicia Kelly and Carly Macdonald fought back in the bottom two matches to keep up hopes of an unlikely comeback.

But the win was secured when Adriana Garcia Terol got the crucial half point the Europeans needed to regain the trophy, winning 11.5 to 6.5.