Dorset won the South East Counties southern section for the first time in ten years after a stunning 8-4 victory over Sussex at Royal Ashdown Forest in their final match.

They won all four matches this summer, beating Kent and Hampshire at home and Surrey away.

County captain Steve Roberts (Came Down) said: "It was a fantastic win. We led by a point after the foursomes and Martin Cummins (county coach) and I talked tactics at lunchtime.

"We decided to put our three most experienced players out first in the singles and they produced great performances to take us to victory."

Giles Legg (Broadstone) beat England squad player Ben Evans 3 and 1. Then Tony Lawrence (Sherborne) annihilated ex-pro Mark Hilton 5 and 4, being eight under par at the close.

Parkstone's David Cook beat Tom Coulston by a similar score. When Adrian Harris (Broadstone) halved and Matt Walker (Came Down) beat Wayne Hawes 4 and 3 victory was assured.

Tim Adams (Parkstone) lost 6 and 4 on his debut and Ferndown's Andrew Windsor lost 4 and 3 before the dependable Tom Leech (Ferndown) rounded the day off with a 2 and 1 success.

Restaurant manager Leech, who first played for the county in 2001, has been the star of the season. He was unbeaten in all eight South East matches this season.

Roberts said: "I've nothing but admiration for the players - even at South West week when we were spanked by quality golfers. We now have at least 14 players for eight places and that has never happened before. This reflects on our junior coaching."