Sheffield hammer York to be crowned Yorkshire Inter-District Union League champions

It means after six successive wins, even in the extremely unlikely event of them suffering the same fate in their final contest of the season, at home to second-placed Leeds, they would still be crowned champions on a better match points difference.

The countdown to the crushing of York began in the first match of the day, the opening foursomes, as recent English amateur runner-up George Ash – playing on his home track – teamed with Sickleholme’s Ollie Smith for a maximum 10&8 win.

Former Yorkshire champion Charlie Daughtrey (Rotherham) and Tom Osborne, of Lindrick, were taken only one hole further by their opponents as the hosts went on to lead 12-0 at lunch, York’s reigning union champion Nathan Wilkinson (Sandburn Hall) and last year’s junior champion Tom Pyman (The Oaks) putting up the most resistance, only succumbing to Tom Brind (Abbeydale) and Neil Stones (Wheatley) on the 18th green.

Brind was making his 50th appearance for Sheffield and his afternoon singles triumph means his record in five matches this season stands at eight wins and two halves.

Leeds had hoped to keep alive their hopes of a final-day showdown with Sheffield at the start of next month.

But despite defeating Teesside 19-17 at Sand Moor it eliminated any slim chance they had with Sheffield’s match points difference now standing at 100 to their 26.

The 2019 champions and early-season front-runners Halifax-Huddersfield ended a run of three straight defeats with a 23-13 win over Bradford at West Bradford, where team manager Frank Greaves had a rare outing and won twice. Outgoing title holders East Riding, meanwhile, thumped Harrogate 28-8 by taking 11 of the 12 afternoon singles.