GOLF: Ipswich made the most of a home draw to reach the semi-finals of the Hambro Cup with a six hole victory over Felixstowe Ferry at Purdis Heath yesterday.

IPSWICH made the most of a home draw to reach the semi-finals of the Hambro Cup with a six hole victory over Felixstowe Ferry at Purdis Heath yesterday, writes Tony Garnett.

Now Ipswich meet the holders, Stoke-by-Nayland, in the semi-final to be played on a neutral venue on June 30.

Ipswich were eight holes ahead at lunch. Non-playing captain David Bryett changed the order of play and in the end was grateful to his third pairing of Paul Elliston and Tom Clougherty who were four up against Chris Schwer and Nigel Fosker when the other three Felixstowe pairs all recorded two-hole victories.

Skipper Bryett, whose son Daniel played in the Ipswich team, said: "We had just enough in hand thanks to our third pair so we were able to hang on."

Stoke-by-Nayland enjoyed conditions at The Suffolk Golf and Country Club which looked a picture in the sunshine. Stoke's non-playing captain Alex Giddens had not played there since he was a member of Lark Valley as it used to be called. He was amazed and impressed by the improvements over the years.

Stoke go into all their matches with a justified confidence these days and have excellent back-up available even when players like Kieran Browne and Jamie Moul are unavailable.

Terry Moreton and Steve Lankester did well to hold Anthony Kirwan and Greg Hills to a level match but the Stoke players had the edge in the other matches.

Rushmere, needing some silverware in the clubhouse after a comparative lean spell by their standards, won by 11 holes at Flempton thanks to an overwhelming 10 hole overall victory by Will Wright and Ashley Durrant. Kevin Eagle and Shaun Jennings was the only Rushmere pairing to taste defeat.

Now Rushmere will play Diss who overcame Gorleston by seven holes in a match that saw one game have an astonishing turnaround. Doug Trudgill and Ed Doe were coasting at three up against Kevin Sommerville and Luke Knights at lunch. It was totally different in the afternoon with the Gorleston pair winning by seven.

Mark Farrow, just 16, made a winning debut for Diss with the experienced David Bailey. Diss were 15 holes ahead at lunch but won by only seven.

The Tolly-Cobbold semi-finals, also on neutral venues, will see Rookery Park face Haverhill and Rushmere take on Gorleston.

Rookery Park won by four holes at Stoke-by-Nayland, a notable result against the holders on the Gainsborough course. It all hinged on a massive 12-hole success by Mark Saunders and Craig Russell, the latter in his first Tolly campaign.

This was almost balanced out by Philip and Robert Woolston's 10-hole win over Rookery rookies Scott Coleman and Paul Cook.

Rushmere's Buster Knock and Robbie Adams transformed a two hole lunch advantage into an 11-hole victory over Andy and Eddie Dixon as Fynn Valley went out despite a good win by their top pair of Dominic Etheridge and Philip Yule.

St Clements were leading Gorleston at lunch but John Hopwood and Andy Elliott were too strong on the day Michael Hedges and David Benneworth, Andy Patrick and Robert Cooper of Gorleston were six down at lunch against Derek Mehmed and Paul Fulcher but managed to turn things round to such an extent that they won by three overall.

Haverhill took advantage of a home draw to beat Ipswich by 10 holes but there was only a single hole between the sides at lunch.

Semi-final (to be played on Sunday, June 30 on neutral venues): Hambro: Diss v Rushmere, Ipswich v Stoke-by-Nayland. Tolly Cobbold: Rookery Park v Haverhill, Rushmere v Gorleston.

Results:

Hambro Cup

Quarter-finals

FLEMPTON 0 RUSHMERE 11

Flempton names first. Morning scores in brackets

E McMahon and G Solley (2) 0 J Wright and M Buck (0) 2, J Nunn and M Alderton (level) 3 K Eagle and S Jennings (level) 0, R Evans and C Hawes (0) 0 W Wright and A Durrant (7) 10, D Coulthart and A Michell (1) 0 D Barton and A Robinson (0) 2.

DISS 7 GORLESTON 0

Diss names first.

Ryan Pudney and Dave Maskell (4) 4 Miles Holman and Ray Thompson (0) 0, David Bailey and Mark Farrow (3) 4 Gary Kellett and Patrick Greaney (0) 0, Archie Moore and Shaun Bartrum (5) 3 Alex Holmes and Paul Platten (0) 0, Doug Trudgill and Ed Doe (3) 0 Kevin Sommerville and Luke Knights (0) 4.

THE SUFFOLK GOLF & CC 0

STOKE-BY-NAYLAND 12

The Suffolk names first.

Nick Beer and Jason Bartup (0) 0 Kieran Canham and Tim Dainty (3) 5, Mike Greener and Barry Scarfe (0) 0 Andrew Tokley and Nathan Howe (3) 5, Terry Moreton and Steve Lankester (0) level Anthony Kirwan and Greg Hills (1) level, Matthew Warren and Trevor Titcombe (0) 0 Ian Younger and Simon Dainty (2) 2.

IPSWICH 6 FELIXSTOWE FERRY 0

Ipswich names first. Morning scores:

Ian Brown and Alan Scruby 3 Graham Wardley and Jamie Burrows 0, Paul Elliston and Tom Clougherty 2 Chris Bone and Adrian Hine 0, Richard Davies and Jeff Hosking 0 Chris Schwer and Nigel Fosker 1, Daniel Bryett and Mark Daly 4 Neil Meadows and Mel Pipe 0. Afternoon: Brown and Scruby 0 Wardley and Burrows 2, Davies and Hosking 0 Bone and Hine 2, Elliston and Clougherty 4 Schwer and Fosker 0, Bryett and Daly 0 Meadows and Pipe 2.

Tolly Cobbold Cup

Quarter-finals

RUSHMERE 17 FYNN VALLEY 0

Rushmere names first.

Ray Smith and Mike O'Neil (0) 0 Dominic Etheridge and Phil Yule (1) 4, Mark Airey and Paul Lewis (0) 4 Dave Fairs and Henry Hambling (1) 0, Jeff Brock and Tom Howard (4) 6 Al Farnish and Roy van den Budgen (0) 0, Buster Knock and Robbie Adams (2) 11 Andy Dixon and Eddie Dixon (0) 0.

STOKE-BY-NAYLAND 0 ROOKERY PARK 4

Stoke-by-Nayland names first.

John Redden and Billy Thompson (level) 2 Dave Porter and Brian Nicholls (level) 0, Kevin Brett and Howard Foster (0) 0 Mark Saunders and Craig Russell (9) 12, Graham Head and James Head (0) 0 Peter Weston and Gary Flatt (5) 4, Philip Woolston and Robert Woolston (5) 10 Scott Coleman and Paul Cook (0) 0.

GORLESTON 18 ST CLEMENTS 0

John Hopwood and Andy Elliott (6) 14 Michael Hedges and David Benneworth (0) 0, Harry Aitchison and Jim Robinson (level) 6 Les Howard and Warren Richards (level) 0, Rick Atkinson and John Downes (0) 0 Jim Fuller and Trevor Hammond (2) 5, Andy Patrick and Robert Cooper (0) 3 Derek Mehmed and Paul Fulcher (6) 0.

HAVERHILL 10 IPSWICH 0

Eric Kiddle and Ryan Wingate (level) 5 Ray East and Matt Godbold (level) 0, Graham Kennedy and David Spittle (1) 2 Robert Sweeney and Terry Clark (0) 0, John Kennedy and David Pipe (3) 5 Peter Archer and David Murgatroyd (0) 0, Bob Spittle and David Whiting (0) 0 Peter Shepherd and John Little (3) 2.