Sidmouth seniors went down 4-2 in their visit to Libbaton, writes Chris Grubb.

The match was played in steady rain from early on in the game making life difficult for all the players, but fortunately the match was not struck by the thunderstorms that had been predicted.

Starting for Sidmouth were the pairing of Hugh Dorliac and Roger Bawden, hoping to set a good example to the rest of the team, but the Libbaton captain, Kevin Stride, had other ideas, as he stroked home winning putt after winning putt, belying his 23-handicap and winning the game six-and-five.

Second Sidmouth pairing Colin Paddon and David Roberts went four holes behind in their match before clawing their way back magnificently, winning two-and-one.

Ray Gunston and Vernon Ruffle were involved in a very tight match all the way round only to lose on the last hole!

Brian Cole and Bruce Harcourt normally a reliable pairing soon found themselves four down, but rallied well in the second half, only being unable to turn the scores around, eventually losing two-and-one.

Ken Rothwell and Terry Blackler chose the easy life, using a golf buggy to get around the 6,273yard course, but it proved to be the only thing they drove well!

Proceeding quickly to join their captain Dorliac in losing heavily, six-and-five.

The final pairing of Chris Grubb and David Stone, with Grubb being a self-confessed poor golfer in rainy conditions, confounded expectations and played well throughout winning three-and-one, with Grubb also winning the nearest pin prize on the 13th.