East Riding's Men's Team kept up the pressure on Halifax & Huddersfield at the top of the YIDU standings with a hard fought win against Leeds Union at Wike Ridge.
The 24-12 victory was set up by a dominant morning foursomes display, but with half of the singles matches going to the last green, East Riding didn't have it all their own way in the afternoon.
First to finish were regular partners Jacob Hodgson and Ryan Gray (pictured above left to right) in match 3. They whizzed around Wike Ridge and were done by the 12th, running out 8&6 winners.
With Jack Northgraves unavailable, Steve Uzzell had led the team off with new partner Matty Raybould. They were taken all the way, but hung on to win 1up.
Match 2 paired the in form powerhouses of Jack Maxey and Aaron Brettell. They were in control throughout and triumphed 3&2, quickly followed by a win for Jonnie Fisher and Phil Wright who won 2&1.
East Riding were eight points to the good already, but Leeds Union's first win came by the way of a 3&1 win over the Ganton Duo of Tom Brown and Ewan Mackenzie who was making his Men's Team debut. The morning smiles returned when Leigh Gawley and Paul Harper won the bottom match 3&2 to give East Riding a 10-2 lead at lunch.
Leeds showed their intent to get back into the fixture when Oli Cage got the better of Jack Maxey 2&1 in the top singles, but Steve Uzzell soon regained the East Riding advantage with his 1up win at the last. Another maximum return on the day for the former Brabazon Trophy winner who retains his four point lead at the top of the Player of the Year standings.
Maximum points were also registered by Aaron Brettell [pictured below] and Ryan Gray who won 4&3 and 2up respectively. Matty Raybould ran into talented youngster Tai Naylor and lost 2&1, but Hull's Jacob Hodgson took East Riding to 18 points with a last green victory. That left Jonnie Fisher to confirm the match victory with his 4&2 triumph.
Leigh Gawley remains just four points behind Uzzy in the POTY standings with a win at the home hole, which proved to be East Riding's last victory of the day. Phil Wright and Tom Brown had to settle for halfs, whilst Ewan Mackenzie and Paul Harper fell to defeats.
So a 24-12 win in the end at Wike Ridge, whose staff on and off the course looked after ERUGC players and officials royally throughout the day. The penultimate fixture of the YIDU title defence is against York Union at Scarborough North Cliff on Sunday 18 August.
Howard Palmer and Jonathan Clark
ERUGC Team Support
