HALIFAX, Huddersfield hit back to end the foursomes all square, but then suffered in the singles and went down 23-13 to Leeds in their opening Yorkshire Inter Union League match at Wetherby.

The venue has recently undergone numerous course alterations, including three new greens and the lengthening of others, stretching the course alongside the River Wharfe to an impressive test of over 6,500 yards.

The first hole, in particular, once a par three, now measures 468 yards and with it playing into the wind, only a handful of players were able to reach the green in two shots. The foursomes started badly, with Richard Broadley and Andy Shaw, Jim Fairhurst and Iain Powell, and Sam Bridges and Steve Martin all going behind in their matches early on.

Bridges and Martin rallied but eventually lost on the 17th, while Broadley and Shaw went down 4&3 and Fairhurst and Powell by 5&4, making it an inauspicious start to the season.

But Graham McLean and Chris Ingham turned their match around with birdies on the 16th and 17th to win by one hole.

Frank Greaves and debutant Brad Tupman recovered from three down after three to win on the last, and with Ben Crowther and Danny Stocchero gaining control of their match around the turn after losing the first two holes, the foursomes were shared at six points each.

Leeds put their top trio out first in the singles, and former Yorkshire champion David Appleyard beat Broadley 5&4 in a one-sided contest, while current Yorkshire champion Richard Law was given a tougher time by Shaw but won on the 17th.

Leeds supporters were rightly worried at one stage as Chris Mear’s men were up in the matches of Bridges, Powell, Martin, Crowther and Stocchero, while Fairhurst was level and Greaves only one down.

Fairhurst lost on the 17th and McLean, Ingham, Greaves and Tupman all fell well behind.

Martin secured another two points when he closed out Andy Wiltshire 2&1.

McLean, who has been playing well, was out of sorts with his game and eventually lost 5&4, as did Ingham, while Greaves, who battled as he always does, went down 3&2 and Tupman lost out 4&2.

Crowther battled away and got into a winning position at three-up with four to play, but a bogey on the par five 15th and a visit to water on the last, which also resulted in a bogey, meant he had to settle for a halved match.

Stocchero, meanwhile, was two down with four to play and fought to the end only to make the same error as Crowther on the last by visiting the water to eventually lose two down.

Foursomes: D Appleyard (South Leeds) & S Coumbe (Pontefract) bt R Broadley (Huddersfield) & A Shaw (Huddersfield) 4&3; A Wiltshire (Pontefract) & R Law (Low Laithes) bt I Powell (Hebden Bridge) & J Fairhurst (Huddersfield) 6&4; A Smith (Garforth) & A Webster (Moor Allerton) bt S Bridges (Halifax West End) & S Martin (Halifax West End) 3&2; L Maguire (Howley Hall) & G Johnson (Howley Hall) lost to G McLean (Meltham & C Ingham (Halifax West End) 1hole; S Cain (Scarcroft) & L Morrisroe (Howley Hall) lost to F Greaves (Halifax West End) & B Tupman (Huddersfield) 1 hole; D Walton (Wakefield) & CK Mufaya (Pontefract) lost to B Crowther (Dewsbury) & D Stocchero (Huddersfield) 2&1.

Singles: Appleyard bt Broadley 5&4; Law bt Shaw 2&1; Coumbe lost to Powell 2&1; Smith lost to Bridges 3&2; Webster bt Fairhurst 2&1; Wiltshire lost to Martin 2&1; Maguire bt McLean 5&4; Johnson bt Ingham 5&4; Morrisroe bt Greaves 3&2; Cain bt Tupman 4&2; Mufaya halved with Crowther; Walton bt Stocchero 2 holes.