As was the case last year, Halifax GC's Ogden course was the venue, and once again it proved to be a seesaw encounter with the visitors snatching victory at the very end.

But disappointed non-playing captain Chris Mear could not hide his frustration and said his team were always struggling after letting slip good positions in a series of matches.

"It went to the very last match with Ryan Greenwood being edged out on the final green when we could have snatched a draw, but in truth we were playing catch up after losing matches we should have won," he said.

"We were still in it after the foursomes, but three out of our first four in the singles were in good positions and ended up letting it slip.

"They are experienced players and it wasn't what I was expecting and certainly wasn't what I was looking for."

Mear pointed out that with the wind unusually coming from the east, therefore making the moorland course play a lot differently from what his players are used to.

And he said there were some bright spots, most notably in the performances of West End youngster Sam Bridges who won both his foursome and singles matches, and that of fellow youngster Matthew Colcombe of Longley Park.

"Sam played excellently and Matthew just gets better and better," said Mear, who said he was also delighted with the performance of the experienced Frank Greaves on the anchor leg.

And though he was left deflated after the defeat, he is still optimistic for the remainder of the season and is already turning his thoughts to the next fixture, away to the Leeds Union at Howley Hall on Sunday, June 8.

"They don't come much tougher than that but if we can put up a good performance there, it could set us up nicely because the fixtures get easier for the rest of the season," he said.

Full results

Foursomes: R Broadley (Huddersfield) & A Shaw (Bradley Hall) lost to L O'Neil (Bingley St Ives) & J Firth ( Baildon) 2&1; I Powell (Hebden Bridge) & S Bridges (West End) beat T Usher (Baildon) & M Weighman (The Manor) 2&1; J Fairhurst (Bradley Hall) & G McLean (Meltham) beat D Rowley (Shipley) & I Kelly (Skipton) 3&2; B Crowther (Dewsbury) & J Ellison (Huddersfield) lost to D Bairstow (West Bradford) & N Colbeck (Cleckheaton) 1 hole; F Greaves (West End) & R Greenwood (West End) beat K Curran (South Bradford) & A Utley (Keighley) 1 hole; M Birkett (Halifax) & M Colcombe (Longley Park) lost to D Wallis (Hollins Hall) & T Robertshaw (Cleckheaton) 2&1.

Singles: Broadley lost to O'Neill 1 hole; Shaw lost to Usher 6&5; Powell lost to Rowley 3&2; Fairhurst beat Firth 1 hole; Crowther beat Weighman 2&1; McLean lost to Bairstow 1 hole; Bridges beat Kelly 1 hole; Ellison lost to Colbeck 5&4; Birkett halved with Robertshaw; Greenwood lost to Curran 1 hole; Colcombe beat Wallis 3&2; Greaves beat Utley 4&2.

Final score: Halifax/Huddersfield 17, Bradford 19.