Singles woe as Shaw’s men let lead slip
Halifax-Huddersfield suffered a third successive Yorkshire Inter-District League defeat when they were beaten 22-14 by Bradford at Woodsome Hall on Sunday. Last year’s runners-up have slipped to fifth out of eight teams in the table with just a trip to Burstwick GC to take on East Riding on Sunday, September 7 to come.
Andy Shaw’s side were not helped by having to make a couple of late changes.
Andy Wilford was ruled out with a back injury and Matt Colcombe with work commitments, but Shaw was able to draw on the experience of Frank Greaves and Clive Crawshaw.
Blustery conditions made it a tough test for both teams and Halifax-Huddersfield unusually did well in the foursomes, taking a 7-5 lead.
Shaw was the only one of the top six to lose in the singles but Bradford’s strength in depth told and they won the bottom six matches to run out comfortable winners.
It was the visitors’ first suc- cess of the season, although they had halved two of their previous contests.
Shaw said there had been no lack of effort on his players’ part.
“Unfortunately in the singles we struggled. The top of the order got some good results but further down we were on the wrong end of some close matches.
“There was a great team spirit again and nobody gave up. This was summed up by Jake Hamilton, who took his match to the last hole after being five down at one stage.”
York clinched the title when they beat reigning champions Sheffield 21-15 at Fulford. Fixby’s Aaron Schnacke, Richard Broadley and Brad Tupman finished fifth out of 18 teams in Wednesday’s Yorkshire Team Championship at Hallamshire GC. Scores: 1, Cookridge Hall 443; 2, Pike Hills 447; 3, Rotherham 450; 4, Wike Ridge 450; 5, Huddersfield 453 (R Broadley 74-72, B Tupman 8375, A Schnacke 74-72); 6, Bingley St Ives 454; 7, Malton & Norton 455; 8, Ilkley 456; 9, Wakefield 457; 10, Fulford457; 11, Hessle 459; 12, Moor Alleron 459; 13, Renishaw Park 462; 14, Phoenix 466; 15, Wath 468; 16, Harrogate 477; 17, Baildon 490; 18, Rudding Park NR. West End’s Zoe Hartley and Charlotte Heath have qualified for the National PING Women’s Fourball Betterball Grand Plate finals at Gainsborough GC on September 8 and 9. WEST END Ladies results - Stableford: 1, Anita Diamond 35 pts; 2, Judith Abernethy 34 pts. Captain’s 18 hole Competition: 1, Trudie Akroyd 101-36=65; 2, Bryony Brazier 85-16=69. Medal Final: 1,Michaela McMahon 86-11=75; 2, Charlotte Heath 89-13=76. Stableford: 1, Christine Stansfield 34 points; 2, Rachel Gledhill 32 points. QUEENSBURY President’s Day, Division One: 1, G.Ralph 41 pts; 2, D.Rhodes 40 pts; 3, B.Farrar 38 pts. Division Two: 1, I.Ambler 40 pts; 2, D.Allen 38 pts; 3, D.Gudgeon 38 pts. Ladies: 1, P.Wallace 37 pts; 2, E.Henderson 34 pts; 3, J.Hitchcock 32 pts. RYBURN Extra Medal, Division One: 1, R Emmett 74-7267 (on back 9); 2, M Fenna 79-12-67. Division Two: 1, M Lawrence 79-16-63; 2, D Palmer 8617-69. Division Three: 1, D Turnbull 89-23-66; 2, D Wilkinson 92-23-69 John Hefferman 4 BBB: 1, M Ellis & S Bottomley 57; 2, K Hardy & C Gradon 60; 3, J Jackson & D Brady 61. Lady Vice-Captain’s Day, Stableford: 1, F Ives 36 pts; 2, D Elliott 34 pts; 3, E Haigh 33 pts; 4, V