Rochford Hundred cadets have emulated their Thornton Cup and over-55s teams in winning a place in a top Essex competition quarter-final - the Youth Shield.
The youngsters finished top of their group after a nailbiting 3-2 win over fierce local rivals Thorpe Hall on Saturday and now go into a draw with other zonal winners for matches on neutral courses.
Having already beaten Ballards Gore, Hanover, The Essex Golf Complex (Garon Park) and Three Rivers, Rochford's glory bid hinged on their clash with a strong and also previously unbeaten Thorpe outfit.
Rhys Piper got them off to the best possible start with a 6 and 5 win over David Tintori, but Thorpe hit back with Patrick Bridge just edging out John Pleasant on the 20th hole.
The next two games were evenly split with Ashley Foreman easing out Patrick Griffiths 3 and 1 only for Thorpe's Mark Talbott to bring the match all square with a 2 and 1 success against Liam Gray.
But Rochford's Joe Galbraith ensured the win by just getting the better of Matt Southgate 2 and 1 after a real see-saw battle.
Published Thursday July 8, 2004
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