SENIORS NOTCH ANOTHER VICTORY

By Richard Hodgkinson

Sheffield emerged windswept and a little bruised from North Yorkshire on Sunday as gales swept across Thirsk and Northallerton - but in possession of two priceless points following the narrowest possible victory over their hosts, Harrogate.

A comfortable morning foursomes series, which left Sheffield 8-4 ahead, gave little indication of the tense afternoon that was to follow. Indeed, when Ben Brewster took the top singles game by 9&7 it seemed a question of not if, but by how much Sheffield would win. Further down the order, however, the hosts were coping much better with the difficult conditions. It took some gutsy battling from the Rotherham trio of Matt Evans, Jamie Harrison and Dominic Moon - the latter coming from behind to add a half to his club mates' victories - to put Sheffield in with a chance of maintaining their position at the top of the league.

Behind them, Wheatley's Joel Cartlidge added another win, but with Harrogate taking four of the last five games it was Scott Clegg's 4&2 victory that took Sheffield over the line, with the final score being 19-17 in their favour. "Just," said Captain Neil Stones, pictured below. "But just will do for me. What a great fight Harrogate put up. I had said to my wife last night, if we're going to come unstuck, I thought it would be this game. But somehow we've scraped through and I couldn't be happier."

Complacency is unlikely to creep in, though, with two difficult games standing between Sheffield and a successful title defence. The first of these is at Bondhay on Sunday 21st August, against Halifax-Huddersfield. "If we have such a thing as a bogey team, it's definitely them," admitted Stones. "They've already beaten York this year, and we know all about their abilities. But we've got every incentive to bring our best and make it difficult for them on our President's home course."

Full score sheet, below

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