YORKSHIREMEN COMPLETE ENGLISH COUNTY
TITLE HAT-TRICK AT CLEVELAND

Yorkshire completed their third successive English County Championship men's 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.
Click here to go to the English Golf Union website for the final results, news and photos, www.englishgolfunion.org.