STOKE by Nayland Golf Club’s men have won the Essex Golf Union Norman Plum Trophy for a second consecutive year.

They faced Theydon Bois in the final at the neutral venue Bentley Golf Club on a perfect early autumn day.

First to tee off for Stoke were Dean Brace and Shaun Underwood who were two up after four holes but they were pegged back at the halfway stage.

Ian Benson and Trevor Brace were proving to be too strong for their Theydon Bois opponents and were three holes up at the turn.

The same was true of the third pair out, Chris Williamson and Byron Long, who were also three up and it was looking good for Stoke with Gary Thompson and Luke Bennett also leading.

But Theydon Bois had a foothold in the fifth match and were four holes ahead of Dan Goddard and Steve Evans and there was a close match at the end of the field where Trevor Warren and Alan White were all square at the ninth hole.

Captain John Sandford was looking less relaxed at the 16th hole when his number one pair went one down, but he brightened when groups two and three both won and put Stoke two points ahead.

Although Goddard and Evans fought back, they were beaten on the 16th hole as Stoke's lead was halved.

There was then good news filtering back from the 18th hole, though, as Brace and Underwood had won the hole to finish the match with a vital half point.

But it was still with some relief that the Stoke supporters saw Warren and White walking down the 16th fairway with a four and three victory under their belts, having put together a four-hole winning streak to make the match theirs.

It meant Stoke had retained the Norman Plum Trophy and the icing on the cake was a half point from group four to leave the final score 4-2.