Nick Faldo was able to smile last night as his Britain and Ireland side levelled the Seve Trophy at 5-5, while stitched-up Scot Marc Warren was still around to play a part over the weekend.

When Faldo handed Warren a wildcard into the match against Continental Europe at The Heritage west of Dublin, he had no idea of just how literally the 26-year-old would take the tag.

After an opening day defeat, Warren went to his hotel room and in front of a mirror decided to have a look at his swing, not noticing that right above his head was an expensive chandelier.

Taking his five-iron, last season's Rookie of the Year shattered the glass and suffered cuts to his head, arms and a particularly nasty one to his stomach.

''It was about a centimetre wide and looked about a centimetre deep,'' said Warren. ''I looked in the mirror and I was covered in blood. It was a bit of a shock.

''I had to sit down and calm myself down. I was a bit worried - I'd never done anything like that before, only hit a ceiling.

''I was only wearing a towel and I was swinging admiring my physique. I won't be doing that again.''

He added jokingly: ''I was using a five-iron - it should have been a six because I would have missed it.''

A doctor was called, Warren was taken away to have stitches and to his relief he felt well enough to play with Colin Montgomerie again in the second series of fourballs.

Warren even birdied the first two holes, but Frenchmen Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret came storming back to win five and three.

For the second day running, Montgomerie and Warren were on the receiving end of the best scoring of the day. After Swedes Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson had been 11 under, Jacquelin and Havret were 10 under.

By then, however, Welshman Bradley Dredge and England's Phillip Archer had already had their second victory together, this time defeating Hanson and Karlsson five and four.

York's Simon Dyson and Oliver Wilson then beat Danes Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen three and two, but Finn Mikko Ilonen and Austrian Markus Brier withstood a fightback from Nick Dougherty and Hartlepool's Graeme Storm to win on the last.

That left only one game out on the course in the rain and Faldo's two top-ranked players Justin Rose and Paul Casey, three up with six to play, hung on to beat Spaniards Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano by one hole when Casey made a closing five-footer.

''That's two days in a row we've come up against a team holing putts from everywhere,'' added Warren, now on the receiving end of jokes about what was one of the biggest shocks of his life.

''I've taken a bit of stick, but that's only to be expected when you do something as stupid as that.''

Dredge and Archer are 17 under par for their two games and it was Dredge who did most of the damage yesterday with seven birdies.

Dyson, Faldo's other wildcard pick, lost with Casey the first day while Wilson lost with Rose. Faldo decided to switch the quartet and it worked out exactly as he hoped.

Wilson and Dyson were nine under and did not lose a hole, while Rose and Casey went to the turn in 31 and looked to be cruising until their opponents won the 13th and 15th.

It could easily have gone level on the short 17th, but Fernandez-Castano missed from nine feet and Jimenez from eight.

The latter then almost chipped in on the last, but Casey, bunkered in two, got up and down for the point that squared things up overall.

The match continues with four greensomes and four foursomes today followed by ten singles tomorrow. Like the Ryder Cup, 28 points are up for grabs.

Yesterday's matches (GB&I names first):

GB&Ire 5 Continental Europe 5

Bradley Dredge and Phillip Archer bt Peter Hanson and Robert Karlsson 5 and 4

Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren lost to Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret 5 and 3

Oliver Wilson and Simon Dyson bt Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen 3 and 2

Nick Dougherty and Graeme Storm lost to Mikko Ilonen and Markus Brier 1 hole

Justin Rose and Paul Casey bt Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano 1 hole