John Hicks was allowed to take control of the Seniors again this week, and they made their way to Downes Crediton confident of enjoying the day if not the result, writes Terry Carter.

John Hicks was allowed to take control of the Seniors again this week, and they made their way to Downes Crediton confident of enjoying the day if not the result, writes Terry Carter. First off was John partnered by Barry Pettitt, who for some inexplicable reason had recently been thinking of leaving his house bordering Sidmouth's 13th fairway for a flat in town. Some of us wondered why the Seniors' vice captain could choose someone with such poor judgement as a partner, but John said that Dieter alone picks all the teams. A close game throughout was finally won 2 and 1 by the Crediton pair but, when I asked John Hicks what went wrong, he said his game had been affected because he had felt nervous as he approached the par 3 15th with the ex-duck pond (see last week's Herald). He was apparently terrified of losing his electric trolley and clubs in the pond like last year's Seniors' Captain in the 2007 match, which had made headlines in the Exeter area (the club got a diver to go in and try and retrieve Bob Cook's trolley). Mike Humberstone and I were next off and, despite going two up after two holes arrived on the 18th green after a tough contest needing a par to halve the match. I had a 15 foot putt to secure it, but the ball went in, had a look around the inside edge and decided to come back up for air. Definitely a faulty hole! Janet had told Mike not to shout at me, so he just said it was a shame. Terry Bradley and Barry Jones had another close game and, when we looked back down the par five 14th, we feared the worst. We could just make out one navy blue Sidmouth jumper walking along the out of bounds on the right, and another along the left by the ditch. Meanwhile two light blue Crediton shirts were walking nonchalantly down the middle of the fairway, but when our pair arrived in the clubhouse T Bradley told me he had won the 14th with an eight, and their three and one win had given Sidmouth their first point. Brian LeMasurier and Peter Spooner were next off but, with Peter giving five and 11 shots to the home pair, things were going to be difficult, and they lost five and four.Colin Burford and Tony Ralls lost their match three and two, and were pleased to be so close to a good pair, but the final match did give Sidmouth something to celebrate. John Bainbridge and Derek Geear may have lost on the last, but Derek won a bottle of wine for nearest the pin on the 15th. He also had the longest drive on the 14th, when his second shot cleared the bushes on the right and landed on a gravel truck on a goods train going from Exeter to Barnstaple. No wine for that, but he will dine out on it for years.Result: Crediton 5 Sidmouth 1