Sidmouth seniors travelled to fortress Taunton and Pickeridge to try and get a result to take back home for the second leg later in the month.

Captain Hugh Dorliac and partner Bob Johnston came up against two men on top of their game and went down heavily six-and-four.

Normally effective players Vernon Ruffle and Paul Blay did their best, but fell at the last losing on the 18th. New partnership Ken Rothwell and Alan Billinghurst also went down three-and-two, despite some solid play.

A glimmer of hope came from pairing John Billingsley and Brian Margison who adapted well to the terrain winning three-and-two despite giving 12 shots and whilst David Ash and Phil Spencer missed out on a close game eventually losing two-and-ine, the last pairing of Tony Crow and John Serle romped home with an unlikely if welcome win, beating their opponents by four holes.

Overall result of four-games-to-two gives Sidmouth seniors a fighting chance at home in the return leg on May 19.