Werneth miss out on title

GOLF: WERNETH suffered last-green heartbreak in their bid to land the Oldham and District ‘A’ League title.

They went down 5-3 to North Manchester in the play-off final played at Dukinfield, and it all came down to the last hole in the last match to decide the spoils.

Both teams had claimed an early 3 and 2 success with Paul Wrigley and Gavin Sutcliffe notching two points for North over Jack Suttie and James Buckley, while Chris Cordwell and Liam Dwayre were successful for Werneth against Neil McGrath and Dave Mellor.

Things looked to be slipping away for Werneth captain Mark Abbott when he and Jonathan Wilde were two down with three to play, but a fine birdie-par-birdie run-in saw them grab a half against Aiden Hoosen and Chris Dempsey, and the match was delicately balanced at 3-3 with the last match on the 18th tee in the fading light.

North’s pairing of Paul Keogh and Chris Smith held a slender one-hole lead over Adam Rowbotham and Andy Hildrup, and when Keogh chipped dead Werneth could not find the birdie to force a sudden-death play-off.

North captain Terry Modlinsky was delighted with his team’s success in only their second season in the league.

“We are over the moon — the blue moon,” joked the City fan.

“This has been a great season for us and the league’s two-division format has been a tremendous success and a real boost to the local golf scene.”

Werneth were bidding to land the title for only the second time in the league’s 33-year history —they won it back in 1984.

And they will now be looking to bounce back to claim the Knock-out Cup when they meet holders Crompton and Royton, in a repeat of last year’s final, at Saddleworth on Saturday, September 17 (2.30pm).

The league end-of-season tournament and presentation will be held at North Manchester on Sunday, October 2.


A NEW date is being sought for the ‘B’ League final between Denton and Blackley after their match at Werneth was washed out following last Wednesday’s deluge.