Hallamshire are 20222/23 Yorkshire Premier League champions after Nick Matthew sealed a nail-biting victory at cross-town rivals Abbeydale on the final day of the season.

Heading into Wednesday night’s 18th and final round, the Sheffield club led second-placed Doncaster by 12 points, with York side Dunnington just behind them in third and mathematically still in with a shout. 

As it turned out, all three clubs won 3-2, so Hallamshire’s 12-point lead remained unaltered by the end of a dramatic evening, and their celebrations could begin. 

Any Hallamshire pre-match nerves were not helped by the absence of their injured No.1 Nick Wall – and an early straight-games defeat for No.5 Fergus Hunt to Abbeydale’s Hayden Tetley was not the start they were looking for. 

Ollie Turner won a cracking five-setter with Ryan Spencer to level matters and veteran Nick Wall Snr outgunned Josh Payne to put the visitors ahead. 

However, Jordan Hardwick’s gutsy four-set win over Adam Turner (just his fourth defeat in 18 in the YPL this campaign) set up a top-string decider. 

Hallamshire’s talisman Nick Matthew, the three-time world and Commonwealth Games champion, saw them home with a four-game victory over Wales’ world No.127 Elliot Morris Devred, to the delight of the travelling support. 

Although historical records are elusive, it's believed it is Hallamshire’s first ever Yorkshire Premier League title.

As it turned out, Hallamshire would have won it even without those five bonus points, as runners-up Doncaster won only narrowly, 15-8 at home to Harrogate. 

Again the result went down to a top-string decider after Dominic Bailey and Stuart MacGregor claimed wins for Harrogate at five and two, but Lewis Doughty and Brett Schille won very briskly for Donny at three and four (for Schille it was his ninth straight-games victory in a row in the YPL). 

That left an all-Kiwi tussle at No.1 between Joel Arscott and Temwa Chileshe which went right down to a fifth before Chileshe succumbed. 

Dunnington’s slender title hopes were soon snuffed out when their No.5 Matt Hatcher lost in straight games to Chapel Allerton’s Rahul Bansal at fifth string. 

Taminder Gata Aura, who lost just once all season, levelled matters with a tough three-setter against Tim Watkins, then lengthy wins for Chapel A’s Isaac Green and the home side’s Seif Heikal set up another match-decider for the No.1s. 

It was Michael Andrews, elevated up the Dunnington order in the absence of Chris Simpson, who took the win in straight games against Conor Sheen. Chapel Allerton’s fate was sealed several weeks ago, but that 16-8 defeat means they finished bottom by 24 points. 

They will be replaced next season by Hull & East Riding and Ferriby, who blitzed to the Division One title without losing a match! 

Elsewhere in the Premier League’s final night, Pontefract 1 earned bragging rights over their stablemates Pontefract 2 by finishing two places above them in fifth. The firsts whitewashed ninth-placed Woodfield 20-0 with James Wilkinson, Carlton Oldham, Mason Smales and a big-name top two of James Willstrop and Patrick Rooney all winning in straight games. 

Last season’s champions Queens cemented a fourth-place finish with an 18-6 victory over Pontefract 2. The two lower-order matches were shared but Queens’ formidable top three of British Junior Open champion Finnlay Withington, James Earles and Josh Taylor were all victorious for the Halifax club.