KELLY Tidy, whose swing was described by Ernie Els as "perfect" when he met her after she had won the M.E.N. Manchester Junior Open three years ago, continued to live up to her potential in the English Girls' Under-13 Championship at Harrogate.

The 12-year-old pupil at Bolton's Canon Slade School, beat Hayling's Raphaela Dyer three and one, going one better than her Hopwood clubmate Rachel Connor who lost to Yeovil's Henrietta Brockway in last year's final.

Kelly was ousted in the first round then but there was no danger of a repeat as she swept to glory after leading the qualifiers to put herself in great shape for the Northern Girls' Championship, which starts at Pannal on Friday.

The seven handicapper was one down after three holes before forging ahead by the turn and was never headed again.

"It was a great feeling. I had set this as my target for the year," said Kelly, who one day hopes to turn professional.