I knew that Essex were going to turn up with a strong team, as they informed us last year after beating us 7-3, that they had four new members who would qualify for this years match, with the highest handicap being 3! We were also in a strong position, with 2 players making their league débuts, both having low handicaps – Phil Sutton from Dunstable Downs and Colin Moody from The Bedford.

Phil led us off on a Carthagena course in superb condition. He was up against the Essex top man – Mark Stones who plays off +1. A solid performance on his début saw Phil win 3&2. Things were looking good with 4 points from the first 5 games, with good wins from Ian Glantz, and Peter Dobson. These were supported by 2 fighting halves from JOG player Phil White, and Houdini John Haines, who holed a monster 30ft putt on 17^th to go from 2 down to 1 down, and then won 18^th to earn a hard fought half!

Special mention for Colin Moody, another débutante, who had a great win 6&5, being level par gross when he closed out the game. Things didn't go Pete Jones' way and he had a hard match losing but remaining confident. I couldn't have scripted it more perfectly, with the Captain all square coming down 18^th not knowing until I got to the green, that a half would win it for us. A putt to 18 inches and a conceded par gave me a 1 up victory, celebrated by the team waiting round the edge of the green. Both matches 9 and 10 were extremely close, with Rob up against ex England player Geoff King. Geoff admitted one or two shots went his way and he came out on top 2&1. Tim's opponent Mark Lazarus, holed an 8 footer on the last to stay one up and edge Tim out.

Our next match is away to Middlesex, and with confidence high, we go into it looking for a positive result. My thanks to all the guys for a fantastic all round performance, our first victory over Essex in 5 years, and a win to start off our season. Great stuff!

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