Hendon’s James Taverner narrowly missed out on victory at the PGA East Region Championship after losing out to Stuart Brown in a thrilling contest.

The duo, playing together in the final group, fought out a titanic battle which went right to the wire over Essendon’s New Course.

Brown finally triumphed by two shots, signing for scores of 69 and 68 that left him at seven-under-par.

The pair had been level at six-under after both picked up a stroke against the card at the par-five 16th.

But Brown made a pressure-packed putt from eight feet for birdie at the 17th to edge ahead – and then Taverner pulled his tee shot into a hazard at the last.

That allowed Brown to enjoy his walk up the 18th fairway before he closed out with a good ‘up and down’ from behind the green for a closing par.

Taverner had the lead for much of the final round but he lost his ball off the tee at the 14th and recorded a double bogey to hand the initiative to Brown.

But the Middlesex golfer dug in and bounced back with successive birdies. He hung tough with a great scrambled ‘save’ at the 17th but his race was run once he was forced to take a drop under penalty on the final hole.

Taverner said: "Overall, I am fairly content. I enjoyed being in the hunt, coming down the stretch...that was great. There are just three shots I’d like to have again. But it was a big improvement on recent performances."