Dukinfield grow late lead

DUKINFIELD have opened up a seven-points gap at the top of the Oldham Golf League’s ‘A’ Division with only two matches remaining.

They gained a 4-4 draw at Stamford thanks to wins for Martin Schofield and captain Darren Whiteley, and Graeme Barrett and Gaz Beresford.

Then they were boosted by news that nearest rivals Denton had been hammered 7-1 at Saddleworth with home points coming from Nigel Cooper and Andy Dunster (2&1), Mark Orme and Dean Jagger (3&2) and Chris Lakner and Tad Knebel (2&1). John Lacey and Colin Wood halved their match.

Werneth are off the bottom after beating Oldham 7-1 thanks to Steve McNamara and team captain Duncan Hough (7&6), James Buckley and Adam Rowbotham (4&3), Jonathan Wilde and Laurence Dawson (3&2) and a half for Jonathan Dooley and club captain David Whaley, who came back from two down with three to play against Paul Pattinson and Barry Lewis.

Brookdale’s 6-2 win over Ashton came via wins for Brad Keeling and Russell Wood (3&2), Gary Smith and Pete Buckley (1 hole) and John Hughes and Mark Riley (4&3) – Hughes’ point putting him in the mix for the individual top-points scorer.

Brookdale’s ‘B’ team look to be on the verge of retaining their title after an 8-0 win over Ashton thanks to wins by Keith Loftus and Trevor Horton (3&2), Gary and Graham Whittaker (5&3), Dave Harrison and Arthur Tattersall (2&1) and team captain Chris Gleave and John Strachan (4&3).

And there was a win at last for Oldham ‘B’ who leapfrogged Werneth thanks to an 8-0 whitewash achieved by Owen Williams and Paul Donlan (3&2), Mike Jones and Stan Ganley (4&3), team captain Martin Lewis and Vic Brown (4&3), and Stuart Hanson and Alex Simmons (3&2).

‘A’ Division: Stamford 4, Dukinfield 4; Saddleworth 7, Denton 1; Ashton 2, Brookdale 6; Werneth 7, Oldham 1.

‘B’ Division: Dukinfield 2, Stamford 6; Denton 8, Saddleworth 0; Brookdale 8, Ashton 0; Oldham 8, Werneth 0.