YORKSHIRE CLAIM THIRD SUCCESSIVE COUNTY TITLE
 Yorkshire
(pictured left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward) completed their
third successive English County Championship title and their
20th overall when they beat Leicestershire & Rutland 5½-3½
on the final day of the championship at Cleveland.
In the other match to decide third place, Hampshire, Isle
of Wight and Channel Islands overwhelmed Wiltshire 8½-½
to leave the South West Champions with the wooden spoon.
It was a winning farewell for Yorkshire skipper Iain Mackenzie,
in charge for the final time after five Years at the helm.
“I’m delighted,” he said. “I won
three times as a player and now to win three times as captain
is special. I always think that if you win the foursomes you’ve
got a big advantage. But we were on the back foot after trailing
2-1. And even at half way in the singles the situation looked
dodgy.
“But Steve Uzzell pulled out a vital win in his match
and with Adam Best winning on the final green in front of
his home crowd you couldn’t have written the script
any better. It’s been a fantastic five years and I’ve
loved every minute of it. This is a great way to end my time
in charge and to win on home territory is the icing on the
cake.”
Not that Yorkshire had it all their own way. The foursomes
proved a gripping battle which Leicestershire won 2-1.
The key pairing of David Gibson and Sam Mayfield were 2-down
to Steven Uzzell and Matthew Evans after five holes but the
Midlanders battled back to level after ten but it was a burst
of three successive birdies from the 12th that saw the Midlanders
take a decisive grip to run out 3 and 2 winners.
The middle match went comfortably to Yorkshire through John
Parry and Adam Hodkinson by 4 and 3 over Liam Plant and Jason
Palmer but Martin Anderson and Jake Amos were always ahead
in the bottom match against Gareth Evans and Adam Best, and
ran out 3 and 1 winners.
For much of the afternoon it was difficult to predict the
final outcome. Leicestershire were making a fine fight of
it which put a few frowns on Yorkshire faces.
But once John Parry had won four holes in a row from the
11th to close out his match 6 and 4 against Martin Anderson
and Adam Hodkinson gradually turned the screw on Sam Mayfield,
it seemed to throw a shadow over Leicester’s hopes.
The latter contest was a gem with 13 birdies being produced
in 16 holes, eight by the Yorkshire lad who won 4 and 2.
The Midlanders had great hopes of David Gibson producing
a point in the top match against Steven Uzzell and it proved
a great contest. Gibson led by two holes through 12 but lost
the next two and when Uzzell got his nose in front for the
first time at the 16th, it proved vital, Uzzell increasing
his advantage on the final green.
The other three matches were close calls but with Matthew
Evans claiming the 18th hole having not been in the lead at
any time, and Adam Best gaining a half against Jason Palmer,
Yorkshire were over the line.
In the other match, Hampshire dominated the foursomes, taking
all three by wide margins. Sam Hutsby gained his first win
of the week in tandem with Matt Allen with a 4 and 3 win over
Ben Loughrey and Richard Scarrott while Martin Young and Mark
Thistleton won by the same margin over Miles Mackman and Sam
Matton.
The biggest victory was claimed by Gavin O’Neill and
Stuart Archibald who never looked back after winning the first
hole and racing away to a 6 and 5 success over Ali James and
Tom Burley.
Wiltshire faced an uphill task in the singles but once Mark
Thistleton crushed Sam Matton 7 and 6, there was no way back.
Only Ali James salvaged a consolation with a half against
Stuart Archibald, otherwise Hampshire were in total charge.
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