Sidmouth see off Ilfracombe in first round of Emerton Court meeting

The competition is played over two legs and it is important to get a really good home win in the first leg and try and pinch something in the away leg.

The first part was achieved by Bob Webber’s boys - unusual as he was a non-playing captain on the day.

There was an early change at the start as the playing order is determined by the combined handicap of the two players.

Graham Rogers’ early season form meant that playing with Tony Stoyle, they jumped ahead and were first off. A convincing 3 and 1 victory set the team off well.

Second up were David Cowler and Doug Goodall. For such a quality player, David’s record in this competition isn’t great, so he was delighted to get a hard-fought win under his belt. They won by one.

Lester Willmington and Nick Bater have a fine record, unbeaten as a partnership in this competition. This was maintained but now without difficulty and they ended up halving with a strong Ilfracombe pairing.

From thereon, Sidmouth had solid victories, Pat McCormack and Phil Spencer won by one and, saving the best to last, Trevor Kerridge and Colin Macklin won by four and three.

So, a four-and-a-half to a half victory to take to Ilfracombe on May 23. An excellent result and somehow, they need two halved matches or one win to progress to the next round.