Colchester Golf Club bowed out of the county's premier team competition, the Thornton Challenge Cup, after a narrow second-round defeat by a strong Orsett side.

With high hopes of causing an upset on home soil Colchester lost narrowly, with only one match splitting the two sides.

With Orsett, one of the strongest teams in the county, fielding two ex-professionals, several plus and scratch handicap golfers, this was always going to be a tough ask for a young and relatively inexperienced Colchester side.

However, team captain Tony Rand was rightly proud of the way the Colchester team had performed against such strong opposition.

"I thought everyone in the Colchester team gave everything they had on the day," said Rand.

"The quality of golf from our players was astonishing at times.

"Orsett were always going to be very tough to beat, with so many great players in their ranks.."

For more, see today's Gazette.