Stowmarket’s Owen Clouting and Ross Harvey were the stars of the two-hole home victory over Diss in the first round of the Hambro Cup, writes Tony Garnett.
Their five-hole win over Josh Driver and Paul Elliston in the morning put Stowmarket in the driving seat.
Diss reshuffled their pack so that the match took a dramatic turn in the afternoon.
The experienced Archie Moore took over from Driver. He and George Osborn beat James O’Doherty and Keiran Issitt one up in the top match.
Then Chris Bartrum and Elliston ended five up against Mark Jones and Scot Bennett.
Charlie Taylor and Mark Duszynski beat Matt Lockwood and Andrew Forgan by four so everything rested on Clouting and Harvey who met Darren Maskell and Michael Closs.
The Stowmarket pair won by seven leaving the home team winners by two holes overall, a relief for team captain Henry Cutting and something of an escape.
Ufford Park trailed by three holes at home to Haverhill at lunch. The home side won all four games in the afternoon to record a 10-hole success.
Chris Vince, back with Haverhill after a spell at Gog Magog, and Jack Bligh beat George Fricker and Mike Virley by three holes in the morning. Honours ended even when the Ufford pair won by three in the afternoon.
Aldeburgh were always in command against Rookery Park to win by 17, the same margin as Felixstowe Ferry’s victory over Newton Green.
The second round in cold, wet and windy conditions at Gorleston took four and a half hours. Southwold went down by only four holes with team captain John Meikle and Russell Palmer seven up on the day.
Holders Bury St Edmunds coasted through against Flempton by 22 holes. Bury team captain Phil Smailes has a large squad so team selection will never be easy.
Hambro Cup first round
Bury St Edmunds beat Flempton by 22 holes.
Morning scores: (Bury names first): Stephen Lankester and Stephen Duffety 1 Alfie Halil and Dan Wilson 0, Andy Cunningham and Mike Greener 0 Mark Rea and James Hurst 2, Craig Nurse and Ben Aves 1 Andrew Mangeot and Angus Rust 0, Ben Coleman and Roger Nicholson 9 Colin Marchbanks and Rupert McCullen 0.
Afternoon: Lankester and Duffety 2 Halil and Wilson 0, Nurse and Aves 1, Rea and Hurst 0, Cunningham and Greener 8 Marchbanks and McCullen 0, Coleman and Nicholson 2 Mangeot and Rust 0.
Aldeburgh beat Rookery Park by 17 holes.
Morning scores: (Aldeburgh names first): Mike Jones and Logan Mair 0 David Porter and Rob Dawson 2, Tim Hedin and Mike Olding 6 Andy Coleman and Dwayne Barber 0, Robert Palmer and James Barham 6 John Fisher and Mike Sharp 0, James Ollington and Jim Harrison 3 Ben Newman and Conal Downing 0.
Afternoon: Jones and Mair 2 Porter and Dawson 0, Hedin and Olding 2 Coleman and Barber 0, Palmer and Barham 0 Sharp and Craig Bloodworth 1, Ollington and Harrison 1 Newman and Downing 0.
Felixstowe Ferry beat Newton Green by 17 holes.
Morning scores (Felixstowe Ferry names first): Adam Sheldrake and Ben Sayers 1 Russell Oakey and Scott Nayler 0, Jimmy Price and Mel Pipe 3 James Cooper and Simon Bearman 0, Billy McLeod and Greg Hills 1 Ian Woodhead and Harvey Watts 0, Rhodri Harston and Steve Sayers 2 Jed Seeley and Adam Foster 0.
Afternoon: Sheldrake and B Sayers 1 Oakey and Nayler 0, Price and Pipe halved with Cooper and Bearman, McLeod and Hills 7 Woodhead and Watts 0, Harston and S Sayers 2 Seeley and Oli Page 0.
Stowmarket beat Diss by two holes.
Morning scores (Stowmarket names first): James O’Doherty and Kieran Issitt 1 Chris Bartrum and George Osborn 0, Mark Jones and Scot Bennett 0 Charlie Taylor and Mark Duszynski 1, Owen Clouting and Ross Harvey 5 Josh Driver and Paul Elliston 0, Matt Lockwood and Andrew Forgan halved with Darren Maskell and Michael Closs.
Afternoon: O’Doherty and Issitt 0 Archie Moore and Osborn 1, Jones and Bennett 0 Bartrum and Elliston 5, Lockwood and Forgan 0 Taylor and Duszynski 4, Clouting and Harvey 7 Maskell and Closs 0.
Ufford Park beat Haverhill by 10 holes.
Morning scores. (Ufford Park names first): Josh Robertson and Tom Wake 0 Andrew Fish and Jim Darby 3, Luke Cleland and Terry Noble halved with David Spittle and Andy Underwood, James Keeble and Simon Severwright 3 Jack Warwick and Harvey Bavester 0, George Fricker and Mike Virley 0 Chris Vince and Jack Bligh 3.
Afternoon: Robertson and Wake 5 Fish and Darby 0, Cleland and Noble 2 Spittle and Underwood 0, Keeble and Severwright 3 Warwick and Bavester 0, Fricker and Virley 3 Vince and Bligh 0.
Gorleston beat Southwold by four holes.
Morning scores (Gorleston names first): Chris Duffy and Matthew Alp 1 Paul Booth and David Burrows 0, Brendan Gough and Ray Thompson 3 Mark Langley and Jeremy Turner 0, Steve Crosby and Tommy Hunt 0 Russell Palmer and John Meikle 2, Josh Manser and Jack Butcher 4 Joe Ford and Guy Maynard 0.
Afternoon: Duffy and Alp 0 Booth and Burrows 2, Gough and Thompson 4 Langley and Turner 0, Danny Perring and Hunt 0 Palmer and Meikle 5, Manser and Butcher 1 Ford and Maynard 0.
Second round (to be played on June 17): Thorpeness v Bungay, The Suffolk v Ipswich, Stowmarket v Hintlesham, Felixstowe Ferry v Woodbridge, Aldeburgh v Ufford Park, Bury St Edmunds v Seckford, Fynn Valley v Rushmere, Halesworth v Gorleston
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