AARON Schnacke triumphed in a titanic battle of youngsters in the final of the BM Howarth-sponsored Halifax, Huddersfield Union match-play championship at Meltham, edging Jamie Bower on the 35th green.

Bower, 16, was the pre-final favourite in an event which marked the memory of the late John Crawshaw, a past champion and Union president, after he knocked out Richard Broadley, the champion for the previous two years, at the quarter-final stage.

But the Meltham teenager was unable to turn home course advantage his way against Fixby’s Schnacke who has come good in late season to make his first big impact at Union level.

Schnacke, 20, has not even played for the Union juniors, let alone the first team, but he can expect to be one of the first on the team sheet next season after his solid run in this championship saw him emerge a worthy winner.

An indifferent first round ended all square then in the afternoon Bower tended to make some out of character errors which benefited Schnacke.

The Fixby player forged two ahead early on, county boys player Bower pulling one back at the seventh only to go two down again at the next, missing the green on the wrong side from some 120 yards out. Schnacke tangled with the trees but smartly recovered to make a winning par. In a nip and tuck it was anybody’s match before the 17th proved the decider.

One up, Schnacke kept his cool to make two putts, winning the hole and ensuring that the championship stayed at Fixby after Bower bunkered his approach then missed his putt.

Ben Adamson, from Crow Nest Park, saw a three-up lead on Hebden Bridge’s Adam Cryer at the halfway stage slip away as Cryer staged a strong second round recovery to win 2&1 in the 36-hole Junior match-play final sponsored by Cartridge World (Halifax)

Adamson’s consolation was that he has pipped Cryer for the Junior Order of Merit title, sponsored by Selbie Opticians, of Milnsbridge.

He received his award at Meltham from Steven Selbie.

His consistent form brought him 34 points in the six Yorkshire Junior Inter-Union League matches to finish three points ahead of Adam Cryer.

He lost only one singles match, against Sheffield, while scoring maximum points against East Riding and Teesside.

Woodsome Hall’s John Eyre led the winning team in the PGA North Region pro-am at Fixby, an event which raised funds for Help the Heroes, the charity that supports wounded and injured service personnel.

He partnered Woodsome members Chris Hillerby (16), Martin Jenkinson (13) and Mike Coupland (21) to a 131 total, 11 under par.

William Barnes, who has made a big impact on his move to the PGA North Region from the Midlands, shot a four under par 70 to lead the field.

Professional scores: 70–W Barnes (Garstang); 71–J Cheetham (Gatley); 72–N Sargent (Eastham Lodge), C Maroney (unna); 74–P Carman (Huddersfield), D Clark (Morpeth), M Kanski (Hesketh), S Doherty (Bury); 75–J Eyre (Woodsome Hall), A Barnett (North Wales GR), R Bean Aldersley Green), D Smith (Swinton Park), C Crowder (Lee Park), D Mansell (Wakefield); 76–A Keighley (Huddersfield); 77–S Owen (Bolton Old Links); 78–S Barber (Waterton Park), T Maxwell (Knutsford); 79–D Astin (Woodsome Hall), K Gaskell (Beacon Park), M Hancock (Stand), D Green (Dukinfield); 80–P Reilly (Bradley Park), G Brown (Ganton).