Yorkshire golf: White Rose Boys go close in bid for England County Finals victory

Hosts and defending champions Wiltshire triumphed overall after closing with a 5.5-3.5 victory over Northamptonshire. Yorkshire defeated Hertfordshire 6.5-2.5 to match Wiltshire’s record of two wins and a loss from the round robin event. And, having beaten Wiltshire when they went head to head on Tuesday, county junior organiser Phil Woodcock’s team would have hoisted the crown had they managed to squeeze a half a point more from yesterday’s performance. But it was not to be and the six-player squad, all of whom contributed points, were forced to be content with second place. Hallamshire’s Barclay Brown and Fulford’s Charlie Thornton took particular credit away from the competition having won all the matches in which they featured. They won three times together as a foursomes partnership and each complemented those successes with a hat-trick of singles wins. Howley Hall’s Tom North won two of his three singles, including the match which got them over the winning line in the opening game with Wiltshire. Hallowes’ Sam Bairstow and Bridlington’s Matty Raybould chipped in with both a singles and foursomes win apiece, while Rotherham’s Charlie Daughtrey won two of his three foursomes and returned a singles half in the defeat of Hertfordshire. Yorkshire's team coach Steve Robinson said: “I’m really proud of the way they performed and of their fighting spirit. "None of the lads gave in and they believed they could do it and they have fallen just a half point short. "But congratulations to Wiltshire, they are deserving winners.” Teesside won the Yorkshire Inter-District Union Junior Team Championship at Hessle with a 911 aggregate, 11 shots clear of Sheffield. They had led by five at the halfway point before drawing away in the afternoon. East Riding placed third on 943, with Harrogate fourth 20 shots further back. William Hopkins, of Belton Park, leads the North of England Under-16 open amateur stroke play boys’ championship by two shots at Pannal at the halfway stage after scores of 69 70.Delamere Forest’s Oscar Doran is out in front in the Under-14 boys’ section (71 74). Royal Cromer’s Amelia Williamson (72 68) tops the leader board in the girls’ under-16 section while Lily May Humphreys, from Essex club Channels, is 14 shots out in front in the Under-14 girls’ championship having opened with superb scores of 70 67.