THE Halifax-Huddersfield Union team made it three wins in a row when they beat Sheffield last Sunday to stay top of the Inter District league.
They pulled off a narrow 20-16 victory in a hard fought battle against then men from South Yorkshire, much to the delight of team captain Chris Mear, who said: “We are at the top of the league and, more importantly, in the winning habit.
“The team spirit and fight that we show week in, week out is a fantastic testimony to all my team, they were brilliant.”
Aaron Schnacke and Jamie Smith led out the Halifax-Huddersfield team and closed out their match 5&4.
Mathew Colcombe and Dave Stafford battled hard, but couldn’t break down the Sheffield pairing and eventually lost on the 18th.
Graham McLean and Frank Greaves had a ding-dong battle which finished honours even, while Mark Birkett and Chris Lander started solidly and went on to win 4&3.
James Ward and Michael Murray started slowly and were three down at the turn, but slowly pulled it back and won by two holes.
Andy Wilford and Clive Crawshaw had a tough time against the experienced Sheffield pairing and lost 4&3.
The Halifax-Huddersfield led 7–5 after the morning foursomes.
The afternoon singles was a tense affair; Schnacke had a game of two halves, romping into a three up lead after nine, only to be whittled back to level, before a solid par four on the 18th gave Halifax/Huddersfield their first point of the afternoon.
Smith showed what a class golfer he is turning out to be, with his never say die attitude, and took the match on the last hole.
Colcombe came up against probably Sheffield’s best player, and although he performed well, he could not match the big-hitting Sheffield star, losing out 4&2.
By this time McLean was walking in after he had destroyed his opponent winning by 7&6. Birkett had a close game, was one up after 10, but had a couple of bad holes on the back nine, losing 2&1.
Greaves, returning to the team after a couple of seasons out, proved he is still an excellent matchplay player, being two down after nine, he turned his match around to win 3&2.
Stafford won on the 18th, debutant Ward battled hard but lost on the 17th, but this young player will be a fine addition to the team. Lander had a fierce battle, eventually winning on the 18th, while Crawshaw lost 2&1 and Murray battled hard against a wily old campaigner, only to lose on the last hole.
When anchorman Wilford fist pumped the air on the 17th, and went on to par the last and win the match, it was all over.
Halifax/Huddersfield had beaten beat Sheffield for the first time since 2009, bringing Sheffield’s winning run of two-and-a-half years to an end and leaving our team the only unbeaten one left.
