Sidmouth seniors went away to Axe Cliff with the weather remaining good despite the forecast, writes Chris Grubb.

The opening pair of Tony Stoyle and Roy Smith got things off to a winning start after a hard fought match. During the round Roy encountered an adder in the rough adjacent to the second fairway. The snake took one look at Roy and disappeared rapidly after thinking it was probably safe in the rough!

The next two pairings consisting of Brian Cole and Dave Stone and Les Pratt and Ken Price, both winning their matches by two holes, which meant that both pairs won the notoriously difficult par three 18th , which is no mean feat for visiting players.

The next pair of John Bainbridge and

Nigel Sharp lost by a large margin of five-and-four due mainly to their Axe Cliff opponents sinking some long putts.

Colin Mitchell and Colin Padden lost four-and-two after a very tight match generally, but not necessarily, as the final score line suggests. Unusually, there was no mention of Colin Padden’s putting! The final pairing of Glyn Hewitt and Paul Blay were left to try and get a win, but ending with a credible half to make the final score three-and-a-half to two-and-a-half in favour of the home side.