Paul Jones might have finished on Seaford's beaten side in the Davies and Tate Trophy opener against Worthing, but the pint-sized 15-year-old is anything but a loser.

Five weeks ago Paul broke his right arm when falling off his bike. The cast came off a week before the big match and, with all the confidence of a dyed-in-the-wool competitor, young Paul declared himself fit.

Team captain Andy Richardson was pleased to hear the good news from the Sussex Boys' under-18 representative who plays off two and didn't let a busted arm put him off his game.

With Martin King, Paul figured in a two-hole defeat of Scott Williams and Arwell Roberts. Then, in a head-to-head, Paul left Ross Gilbert on the wrong end of a 4 and 2 beating. Worthing won by 6-5, but Paul was the toast of Seaford on a day when the Sussex Inter-Club Matchplay knockout ushered in the new season.

Already Paul has had three years EGU coaching, not bad for a lad who learned the game from dad Huw and mum Pam who play at Seaford head off 13 and 24 respectively.

"I used to play football until I was 12 and then gave it up for golf," said Paul, who attends Seaford Head Community College. "I'm quite small and probably my strength is my short game although I can drive 250 yards. The break didn't make much difference, in fact I didn't even think about it."

Shock of the first round matches was Royal Ashdown Forest who lost by the imposing margin of 7-4 at West Chiltington. Only two years ago, Ashdown were losing finalists while West Chiltington's record is modest.

Holders East Brighton eased through by 9-2 at West Hove where team captain Gary Brayshaw's youth policy continued to pay off. He praised Russell Cronin as the man-of-the-match.

Fancied Copthorne were without flu victim Doug Arnold. But Alan Sadler came in for the new team captain and won his foursomes with Mark Logan.

It looked like a whitewash for Beauport Park, but James Tollutt birdied the last to pip Kerry Scott and Eric Watkins followed his example to leave Sadler one down. Copthorne's 10-2 victory is a warning that they are again virtually unbeatable at home.

Biggest winners were Willingdon who trampled all over Selsey by 11- while Cottesmore took Wellshurst out 10-2 and East Sussex National brushed Tilgate Forest aside 10-1. Jack Budgen, 15, was twice on the winning side for ESN and made a formidable pairing with Craig McCollum, another county junior. Luke Grantham posted the only win for the Crawley club.

The Hepburn brothers of Royal Eastbourne, Matt and Jack, helped check a surge by Pyecombe. Trevor Greenfield and Nick Green headed Pyecombe's challenge but couldn't stave off a 8-3 exit.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.