Sidmouth senior’s team travelled again when they journeyed to Somerset for a match against Taunton and Pickeridge.

The weather was a little cooler than in Sidmouth, but it was dry.

The team was led by Bruce Harcourt with partner John Bainbridge and they were up against two low handicap players who were in form.

Three down after the first three holes, they managed to steady the rout with a win on the fourth and the match remained closer for the rest of the round, but the home side triumphed at the 16th to secure a four-and-two success.

Colin Mitchell and Ray Gunston put up a creditable fight for the second pairing from Sidmouth and there were never more than two holes in it. The Sidmouth pair enjoyed a win on the 17th to level things up and it all went down to the final putts on the 18th.

Unfortunately for the visitors, luck was with the home side and the result was a loss by a single shot.

The third Sidmouth pair, Chris Grubb and John Sanders, battled well and, on the front nine, John played particularly well, keeping the opposition back, but unfortunately local knowledge won the day and they Chris and John went down to a four-and-two defeat.

Mike Davis and Charles Brown were the fourth team out and put on a display of excellent golf.

It was all square at the turn, but a with the next two holes going to Sidmouth and two halved holes then two more wins Davis and Brown sealed the biggest win of the day with a four-and-three success at the 15th.

Although a valiant fight was put up by Brian Cole and Brian LeMasurier they went down three-and-two.

The final pair out for Sidmouth were Ken Rothwell and Ken Price. Despite Ken Price’s very spirited front nine, the home advantage started to tell on the back nine and they finally lost four-and-two.

That all added up to a 5-1 overall reversal for Sidmouth, though, in truth, the contest was a lot closer than that score line suggests.

The return match is at Sidmouth in a fortnight when a reverse of fortune is anticipated!