CHESHIRE'S new captain Ray Hughes endured a baptism of fire as his charges were blitzed 11-7 at Birchwood by a powerful Cumbria side.

Bramhall's Gareth Bradley gave them a flying start to the singles with an impressive three and two win over England player Gary Lockerbie but then Cheshire, 4-2 down from the foursomes, picked up only four more points. One of those was produced by Shrigley Hall's James Murphy, fresh from his victory in the Manchester Alliance Matchplay Championship, who despatched Carl Gordon four and three.

But it was an inept performance by Cheshire with not one of their seven singles defeats going to the final green.

• Defending champions Yorkshire crushed Durham 12-6 at Moortown. where Steve East celebrated his record 215 appearances for the Tykes with presentation which included a letter from Sir Alex Ferguson.