It's a repeat of the golf final

An 8-4 victory at West Hove took Worthing through while Copthorne won a thriller at home to The Dyke, reports John Vinicombe.

Worthing were without Peter Tarver-Jones and Jack Bartlett,who were playing in the West of England Open at Saunton and West Hove's Tom Coulson embarked on a similar mission.

"After the foursomes we thought we were home and dry," said Scott Williams, Worthing's team captain. "Then West Hove came out with all guns blazing. Apart from one practice round on the Wednesday, none of us had played the course and local knowledge came into it in the singles. Clubbing was very difficult. When we played the practice round there was no wind, it was different in the match, and fortunately for us none of the singles went to the very long 18th."

Unusually for Worthing they had four singles losers, Nigel Harrington, Scott Williams, Alan Laverty and Scott Nightingale. In tying the singles 4-4, David Fluke, Arwel Roberts, Joe Doherty and Keith Hale came up with the precious points.

"After losing the foursomes it was a big ask for us," said Neville Hudson, West Hove's team captain.

(Get the Herald for David Bennett's live match report from West Hove)

The Copthorne-Dyke clash at Copthorne turned on Doug Arnold's 6 & 5 victory over Jim Leese. All the other matches were close so that the 6-6 tie went to a countback and Copthorne's advantage of five holes saved the day.

With Rob Granger, Adam Patterson, Harry Ruffels, Gary Wright and Ed Fairbrother all unavailable, Copthorne's team manager Richard Hewitt called-up Neil Smith, a four handicapper, for his second match while Paul Mercer returned to the squad.

The Dyke were without David Travis, due to sickness, and as the battle waged Copthorne needed half a point from the last two singles since Arnold's big win ensured survival on countback.

However, from all square going up 18, Neil Smith hit his second out of bounds. This left Mark Logan needed a half. One up going into 16, Logan was on the green 30 feet away in three with Lee Baker 10 feet from the pin. Both holed for unlikely pars. The 17th yielded two pars and, up 18, Logan looked favourite after the drives. But, from rough, he went out of bounds to lose the hole and to deadlock the overall scores.

"The Dyke were unlucky not to win," said Hewitt. "The match was a real wake-up call for us if we are to proceeded any further."

3rd round: Haywards Heath beat Ham Manor 9-3;

West Hove lost to Worthing 8-4;

Piltdown lost to Seaford 9-3;

Willingdon beat East Brighton 8-4;

Slinfold Park beat Sedlescombe 11-1;

Crowborough Beacon beat Chichester 8-4;

Pyecombe beat Brighton & Hove 7.5-4.5;

Copthorne beat The Dyke by five holes on countback after tying 6-6.

Quarter-finals: Willingdon v Slinfold Park;

Copthorne v Worthing;

Seaford v Haywards Heath;

Crowborough Beacon v Pyecombe.