On Tuesday 20th we welcomed through gritted teeth our arch rivals from North of the river who racked up full of the joys of Autumn 3 holes up from the home leg back in May. Although we suffered 5 out of 6 losses on that eventful day the 4 of them were by just one hole which was erased by the partnership of Josh Manser and Matt Bowman who won 4 up, one of our pairings suffered a 3 down loss that day to an ex-Gorleston member and his partner but karma was yet to strike. A late call off from El President on Monday opened the door for a return to the team for Ray Pope who gladly stepped in after his recent surgery and was partnered with Jeff Helmore. What a partnership this turned out to be as Jeff finally served revenge on Caister’s Howlett Smith captain Blaire Ainsile after a couple of defeats in previous matches. With the overall score now sitting at Caister 2 up the next two Gorleston pairings were not so lucky and with our 3rd pairing of Cliffy and Gibbo witnessing Terry Norman finishing the final 3 holes Par, Birdie, Par a close match turned in to a 3 down loss leaving Gorleston 7 holes down with three matches to come in and the rain and wind had arrived in abundance. Match 4 included Gorleston’s cheerful Charlies, Bill Ball and Alex Reid who it seems carefully dismantled their opposition, taught them how to play in wind at altitude rather than sea level and returned a 6 up win, Caister sitting 1 up overall. Match 5 saw Matty Gee and Stu Pearce conveniently paired against Fritz Fryer and Michael Flemming, Mike stupidly birdied the 1st hole which just wound the Gorleston boys up and they dovetailed quite well to finish 2 up after 9 holes. The following 9 holes Gorleston turned the screw and walked off 5 up, with the last match to come in Gorleston were ahead for the first time, a healthy 4up but the last pairing who were also dragged in a week ago to replace the injured Josh Manser and Jim Robinson, we’ll refer to them as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum for now. Match 6, two Howlett Smith virgins out against ex Gorleston man Stokesie and Simon Peck who were the 3 up victors at Caister, A new nickname for Kevin Lee and David Ellis emerged as Smokie and The Bandit came in 1 up and I’m still not sure if it was tears or rain drops crawling down the cheeks of the Caister boys. This resulted in a 5 up win for Gorleston and the Howlett Smith trophy was claimed back from Caister. The evening shenanigans began with 23 of the 24 sitting down for what was an excellent 2 course meal cooked by Simon and his team which was enjoyed by all. A big thank you to Simon and his staff and of course the bartenders of the day Tina and Chris. There was joy and laughter all around and it was very kind of Blaire, in the sorrows of defeat to announce that this fixture has been well and truly revived for the good of both clubs to which all agreed. Stuart Pearce Chairman of Competitions