Yorkshire golf: Darryl Berry's champions can retain Northern Counties title with victory in Roses encounter at Lindrick

Cheshire, who have inflicted the only loss of the season so far on Darryl Berry's men, swung the door firmly open for a repeat success by tieing with Lancashire at Clitheroe.

It means that Yorkshire, who edged Durham 10-8 at The Oaks, will retain the crown if they beat Lancashire at Lindrick on September 3.

Yorkshire battled to claim a one-point lead from the morning's foursomes against Durham, wins coming from the pairings of Howley Hall's Ben Hutchinson and Wheatley's Kealan Lowe,

Lindrick's Bailey Gill and Ben Brewster, also Wheatley, and Pike Hill's Martin Brown and Moortown's David Houlding.

Malton & Norton's David Hague and James Cass (Fulford) halved to give Berry's team an edge going into the singles.

Four men - Hutchinson, Lowe, Brown and Houlding - would finish the day with 100 per cent records as Yorkshire also won the singles session by a point.

Rotherham's Jamie Harrison and Ilkley's Jack Lampkin were Yorkshire's other singles winners while Fulford's Craig Smith halved.

It proved a great end to a fantastic win for Yorkshire, which saw Masham's Dan Brown keep the English men's amateur title in White Rose hands for a third year before the county won the Northern Counties six-man team championship at Delamere Forest.

Brown was one of several top players missing from Berry's line-up due to participation in the European amateur championship in Estonia, where he shot a final-round 68 to place 17th having earlier scores of 67 76 70.

The Oaks' James Walker (69 73 72 73) tied for 50th place.