Durham and Yorkshire’s men’s teams picked up victories in the second round of Northern Counties Men’s League matches, while Lancashire beat Northumberland at Seahouses.
Durham followed up their opening draw away at Lancashire with a 10.5-7.5 win over Cumbria at Durham City. The home team made a strong start with a 4.5-1.5 lead after the morning foursomes. In the afternoon, singles wins for Jack Richardson, Wayne Melles, Michael Henson, Kevin Suggett and Lewis Rowley – who earned his county colours – as well as half points for Jamie Birkbeck and Chris Brown saw the session halved 6-6 as Durham won the tie.
Yorkshire followed up their opening draw with Cumbria with an incredibly narrow victory over Cheshire at Bromborough. Twelve of the 18 matches went to the 18th, and Cheshire led 3.5-2.5 after the morning foursomes. In the afternoon singles, victories for Habib Khan, Jack Northgraves, Ollie Smith, Josh Bailes, Matt Dolling and Dan Norman – who holed the winning putt on the 18th after being 4dn after 11 holes – plus half points for Lewis Harrison and Lewis Hollingworth saw Yorkshire win the session 7-5 and win the tie 9.5-8.5.
Meanwhile, Lancashire came out on top as they headed north to Seahouses to take on Northumberland. With Lancashire leading 4-2 after the morning foursomes, Northumberland’s Mark Wharton, James Cram and Cameron Thoburn picked up singles wins as Angus Buchanan, Dan Bullen, Rob Henderson and Andrew Griffith earned halves – giving Lancashire a 7-5 win in the session and an 11-7 victory in the match.
After two rounds of matches, three teams – Durham, Yorkshire and Lancashire – are tied at the top of the table with one win and one draw each.
The third round of matches in this year’s Northern Counties Men’s League will take place on July 4 with Northumberland hosting Yorkshire at Arcot Hall, Cumbria welcoming Lancashire to Seascale, and Durham hosting Cheshire at Brancepeth Castle.
For full results from each match, click here.
