Union golfers begin title defence with convincing victory

All but one of team manager Frank Greaves's line-up put at least two points on the scoresheet as they opened their 2025 campaign against the side who had threatened to deny them the championship in a nerve-wracking 18-18 tie at Pontefract last September.

A handful – Halifax Bradley Hall's Sam Bridges, Tom Wiliams, of Lightcliffe, James Skirrow (Huddersfield) plus George Hanson and debutant Joel Rushworth (both Crosland Heath) – won in both the foursomes and singles while Huddersfield's England international Dylan Shaw-Radford added a solo half to his morning triumph with clubmate Josh Morton.

The hosts lunched 8-4 ahead, suggesting a much closer overall outcome than had their halfway 11-1 advantage against the same opposition almost nine months ago. But whereas Leeds launched an astonishing fightback on that day, this time Halifax-Huddersfield, after dining, showed an undeniable appetite for a quick conclusion.

Six victories and the aforementioned half in the first seven singles gave them an unassailable lead, the scoreline then padded by Rushworth getting emphatically over the line 6&4 and Williams almost as overwhelmingly, 5&4 his margin.

Early indications are that Halifax-Huddersfield may be set for another summer's battle with East Riding, who sit top of the table after seeing off Teesside 27-9 at Scarborough South Cliff.

Having had to wait almost two years to defend their 2019 championship as a result of the global pandemic, Halifax-Huddersfield would eventually be usurped in the September of 2021 due to an inferior match points difference, both East Riding and themselves having finished with five wins, a draw and a loss.

Sheffield stopped the squabbling by sweeping to the 2022 title with a perfect seven out of seven record, but East Riding and Halifax-Huddersfield were back at it in 2023, when the former came out on top, and last year, with the latter reigning after going through the campaign unbeaten.

The other first-round match-ups of 2025 saw Sheffield held to an 18-18 draw by Bradford at Bradford while York came away from Bedale with a 22-14 downing of Harrogate.

Bradford are Halifax-Huddersfield's next opponents, at Meltham on June 8, and a fortnight later they will travel to face East Riding at Driffield for an encounter that already looks to have the potential to carry championship significance.

After that Greaves's men are home to Harrogate (July 13 at Halifax Bradley Hall), away to York (August 3 at Pike Hills), home to Teesside (August 17 at Halifax), and away to Sheffield (September 7 at Dore & Totley).