Bradford's impressive crop of youngsters played a vital part in the sensational comeback of the Inter-Union team against East Riding at Keighley.

And team captain Tim Wade admitted: "I have no worries at all about the future of this team. We have some excellent young players, who show tremendous confidence and ability when brought into the side."

Yet Wade must have been concerned at the midway stage of the match when his team trailed 9-3 after the morning foursomes and then mid-afternoon when the first two singles matches completed saw defeats for his top two - Bradford Open champion Paul Thomas and Baildon's Division One team championship-winning team member Ian Martin as the gap stretched to 13-3.

That produced a superb display of character by the team, who included debut-making Richard Wheatley from Bingley St Ives and James Firth from Shipley - as they won nine straight singles matches to complete a 21-15 winning scoreline.

It meant the match was already won before Andy Utley showed the character of the side by holding on to a one hole advantage for the last three holes to equal the team's best ever comeback with a victory on his home course.

"I have to admit I was disappointed, to say the least, at lunch to have lost four straight foursomes matches," said Wade. "But we have completed a tremendous win and showed a lot of character."

Eighteen-year-olds Firth, who beat Hull's Martin Lill 2 and 1, and Wheatley, 4 and 3 conqueror of Richard Mills (Ganstead Park), showed great composure after suffering defeat when paired in the morning foursomes.

Another of the younger recruits to the team this season, South Bradford's Gareth Evans made it four straight wins and is hot on the trail of Chris Hargreaves' record run of ten wins on the trot.

Northcliffe's Kevin Curran scored a crushing 8 and 7 win over Hornsea's Chris Waite on his return to the side and Cleckheaton's Dave Woodcock fought back for a tremendous one hole win over Richard Webster (Bridlington) despite having to play with borrowed clubs after his own set was stolen.

Sheffield clinched the title despite the fact that their clash with Leeds at Low Laithes was washed out by the rain. It meant the teams shared an 18-18 draw, so Bradford can finish runners-up to Sheffield if they beat Teesside at Northcliffe in their final fixture on Sunday, September 6.

Scores - Foursomes: P Thomas (West Bradford), I Martin (Baildon) halved with N Robinson, P Blanchard (Hessle); DJ Berry, M Evans (West Bradford) bt C Waite (Hornsea), R Mills (Ganstead Park); G Evans (South Bradford), D Woodcock (Cleckheaton) lost to S Pybus (Scarborough North Cliff), R Webster (Bridlington); C Goodison (Bradford), K Curran (Northcliffe) lost to M Lill, B Ellison (Hull) one down; A Riley (Ghyll), A Utley (Keighley) lost to S Brattan (Driffield), R Johnson (Bridlington) 5 and 4; J Firth (Shipley), R Wheatley (Bingley St Ives) lost to R Coulson, D Tarbotton (Hull) 4 and 3. Singles: Thomas lost to Brattan one down, Martin lost to Robinson 5 and 3, Berry bt Blanchard 5 and 4, M Evans bt Ellison one up, G Evans bt Coulson 3 and 2, Woodcock bt Webster one up, Goodison bt Johnson 2 and 1, Curran bt Waite 8 and 7, Firth bt Lill 2 and 1, Utley bt Tarbotton one up, Wheatley bt Mills 4 and 3, Riley lost to Pybus 6 and 4.

lSteve Murray held off the challenge of Andy Utley to win Keighley's Scratch Cup by one stroke at the weekend. His rounds of 72 and 73 kept him ahead of Utley, who shot two 73s. Early leader Ian Houldsworth slipped back to third place.

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