East Riding u18s soared to the top of the YIDU league standings with an emphatic victory over Halifax & Huddersfield at Skidby Lakes. Their 33-3 triumph has them tied at the top with Sheffield, but ERUGC are 18 to the good on 'hole difference' with just two fixtures remaining.
Team Manager Sunil Mukerjea rang the changes due to holidays and wanting to tap into the large amount of players in his squad who have come through the Cottingham / Skidby programme. One such player, Callum Burns, partnered team captain Luke Thornton in the top foursomes match and they were made to work hard for their victory on the tough par 3 last.
Yorkshire Boys regular Ewan Mackenzie partnered Luke Townhill in match 2 and were a little out of sorts and went down 3&2 to a strong Halifax & Huddersfield pairing. So honours even and seemingly a challenging day ahead. Pair three, George Coope and Warren Burns, used their course knowledge to the full and followed up their excellent debuts for the Men's Team last month with a 3&2 victory to put the home team ahead. It was then the strength of the ER side started to bear fruit as the new pairings of Bobby Beasley and Erjan Kuzu and the Hornsea duo of Seth Topham and Alfred Anderson returned healthy victories in the middkle order. Their wins, by 6&5 and 8&7 respectively, pulled East Riding clear at lunchtime and the final match was conceded 10&8 as one of the H&H youngsters was unable to get home from his Mediterranean holiday due to the cyber issues!
So 10-2 at lunchtime, but Sunil was keen to impress on his troops that, whilst the overall victory looked likely, it was an opportunity to catch or pass Sheffield Union at the top of the table on 'goal difference'.
The boys responded in emphatic style.
Ewan Mackenzie and Luke Thornton looked in no mood to hang around and raced round to 5&4 and 4&3 victories respectively. Luke Townhill was down at the turn in match 3, but took on board some wise words from the manager to stay patient and work his way back into his match. Luke responded and won a thriller on the last green.
Warren Burns showed his intent with a booming drive at the par 4 first to just off the left side of the green which he got up and down for birdie. He never looked back and brought home his point 5&3. Seth Topham was playing in the top half of the order for the first time having recently reduced his handicap to 3.0, but took maximum points for the day with a 3&2 win. George Coope followed with a consumate 9&8 victory over his young oppoenent, which was followed by two further resounding wins from Callum Burns and Bobby Beasley.
Alfred Anderson [pictured winning his match on the 18th] had a much tougher test against a talented opponent who is certainly one to watch for the future. He was pushed all the way, but a superb 3 wood at the last to the apron and a sensible decision to putt up the severe step in the green got Alfred home by one hole. He treated players, parents and officials to a virtuoso performance on the piano in the clubhouse afterwards to celebrate - what a legend.
Erjan Kuzu was playing his last match for the under 18 side and finished his junior career for the Union in style with a 5&3 win. With Harry Mukerjea being the unfortunate '12th man' who had no opponent, that left Tom Adcock as the last man on the course. He came to the last at 1up, but his tee shot exited stage left and was found on the edge of the car park with team officials working out whether it was in bounds or not. A sensible decision was made and despite a wonderful lob wedge over tress to just through the green, Tom had to settle for a four and then watched as his opponent made a gutsy up and down to share the points.
East Riding's 33-3 victory was made even more satisfying when news came through that Sheffield had been pushed by Bradford and had 'only' won by 20-16. So East Riding hop above Sheffield at the top of the standings on hole difference, with both teams having played five matches. Harrogate could certainly make it a three way race for the title as they have only lost the one match.
See the updated results and table here.
Not much change at the top of the Player of the Year standings, as most of the side took a maximum 6 points on the day. Howerver, Tom Adcock's half in his singles means that his lead has been cut to one with the Burns boys putting on the heat in second and third!
Thanks to Skidby Lakes for presenting the course in wonderful condition and looking after us in the clubhouse. ERUGC starter Andy Pittaway had to be on his guard given the number of players going for the first green with driver, but an excellent job was done as always. The match was played in a great spirit and there was fantastic support as always from the 'regulars' - your continued commitment to this team is so valuable and Sunil and the boys really appreciate it.
The penultimate fixture of the camapaign is at the beautiful Ilkley Golf Club on 1 August when Harrogate Union will be the opposition. A vital clash for both teams which will go a long way to seeing which side will be Sheffield's nearest challenger for the final few fixtures of the season.
Jonathan Clark
ERUGC Junior League Secretary
