With the return of golf, clubs in Essex had only a few days to prepare for the first rounds of three of the Essex Inter-Club Cups.

The first round of the Thornton Cup - the premier competition for the best players in each club - was played and Ilford hosted Orsett, traditionally one of the leading clubs in Essex.

It was a tense affair, with Ilford taking an early lead but Orsett staging a comeback and the final match went right down to the last putt before Ilford secured victory by 5.5 points to 4.5 points.

It was a great team result and all the more so as eight of Ilford's 10 players have been members of the club since their teenage years and many now have their own children playing at the club.

Results (Ilford names first): Danny Antick v Shawn Mills lost 6&5, James Landerkin v Jamie Benton won 5&4, George Durrant v Harry Wood won 4&3, Jeff Ball v Peter Knight lost 3&1, Tony Davis v Ross Dee won 4&2, Jack Bulley v Mark Whitten won 2&1, William Sheen v Joe Green lost 5&4, Jeff Geddes v Neil Gale halved, Mark Durrant v Grant Allan won 1up, Pat Byrne v Alfie Buttle lost 1 down.

Elsewhere, the Jubilee Cup team for mid-handicap players travelled to The Rayleigh Club for the first fixture of four in a league format.

Traditionally Ilford have not done well away from home in this competition but they came home on this occasion with a resounding 7-2 victory.

Also, Ilford have tended to be weak in the fourballs but on this occasion secured two points out of three and only lost the third match on the last hole.

With potential countback scenarios if league positions are tied it is important that losses are kept to a minimum and wins are maximised.

Results (Ilford names first): Jim Gallagher v Gary Munday won 4&3, Chris Dietz v Andy Peek won 3&2, Jason Cepeda v Michael Foster lost 3&1, Nas Sharif v Tiny Perkins won 1up, Andrew Buntin v Simon Ruben won 3&2, Ibrahim Aziz v Sean Bath won 8&6, Ben Deane/John Mullan v Gary Marshall/John Bolton lost 1down, Faheem Aziz/Nabeel Aziz v Tony Hever/James Harris won 5&3, Ben Corless/Ron Fardell v Rob Halpin/Martin Hodson won 1up.

The Norman Plum team - a mid-handicap fourball competition - should have played Rivenhall Oaks but the opposition were unable to raise a team so Ilford have received a bye into the second round.