The Longman Cup - Poetic Justice by Alice Fleck
Abdul was our driving force in the Longman Croquet game.
He drove us there; he drove us back in persistent heavy rain.
We played in rain on Saturday; on Sunday thunder came.
Who was it that asked me, to play this croquet game?
Late on our first night we looked for the club, but I led the boys astray.
A waiting taxi driver said, “I'll show you the way,
Get in it will cost you nothing”. Then he got lost as well.
And it took him half an hour to get back to our hotel.
In my first game of singles, I wish not to be told.
I lost by one with a struggle to a budding twelve year old.
My second game with a bandit, who came from Parsons Green.
He played like a one and easily won with a handicap of eighteen.
In my doubles match with Robin, just when time was called.
Our opponents they were leading; had pegged out one of their balls.
So it was all up to Robin, to give everything he'd got.
He carefully lined up both our balls and pegged out with a single shot.
When Robin played his singles game, the whole show he was stealing.
With some brilliant hit-ins and his persistent peeling.
But sometimes his attention was distracted by the charms,
Of the tall elegant lady with magnificent long arms.
In a double banking game when you feel you're in a crisis.
I would say to Andrew, ‘Do you know what my advice is?
When you play first colours and your balls are black and blue.
Playing to green and brown is not the proper thing to do.'
Robin's keys were Abduls problem; he kept mislaying them.
Then just as we were about to leave, Robin lost them once again.
They searched in bags and pockets, and looked behind the bar.
Then they could see them clearly, they were locked in Robins car!
The hotel was very basic; it cost an arm and leg.
And all we got for breakfast was some toast and scrambled egg.
I think that the proprietor was Basil Faulty's son.
But I am not complaining ‘cause we had a lot of fun.
So now we've all come home and we've been and gone and done it.
It was certainly a great team and I'm glad that we have won it.
At the Surbiton Croquet Club, we were right in the heart of it.
It was a great privilege for me, to be picked as part of it. |
Return to top
Pendle win Longman Cup - 2/10/06 - by Barbara Dutton
Pendle & Craven were victorious in Surbiton and are now the holders of the beautiful silver Longman Cup. This trophy was founded in 1928. The weather was showery and the lawns were frequently flooded, but drained well and played very level. On Saturday in the semi final v Blewbury, Oxon, Pendle & Craven won 4 -3. This put them in the final on Sunday v Parsons Green of London where once again the score was 4 -3 to Pendle. The victorious team for this competition was Robin Delves, Abdul Ahamd, Andrew Webb and Alice Fleck.
Pendle & Craven beat Parsons Green 4-3 to win the Longman Cup - by Nick Parish
Pendle won the Longman Cup, beating Parsons Green 4-3 in the final. On a rain-soaked day at Surbiton Pendle & Craven had a long battle before finally overcoming Parsons Green by the narrowest margin to win the Longman Cup by 4 matches to 3, for the first time since 1991.
There was an unfortunate incident in the morning games, when a clock was set wrongly resulting in one game being declared finished 55 minutes earlier than the 3.5 hour time limit. To make matters worse the game double-banked on the same lawn did not have its own clock (for reasons that aren't clear - although there is a rumour that somebody sat on the clock and reset it!) and on the basis that it had started at the same time, also finished at that point. The truth was eventually discovered but at that point in both games, both participants were ruled to have quit the court in agreement as to the game being over. |
Left to right: Abdul Ahmad, Alice Fleck, David Mooney (Manager), Stephen Mulliner presenting the Cup to the winning Captain Robin Delves and Andrew Webb. (Photo by Nigel Graves)
Return to top
|
The CA beat the SCA 5.5 to 3 - 02/10/2006 Crake Valley - by Bob Burnett
English names first:
Bob Burnett & Ray Lowe beat Bruce Rannie & David Appleton -14, +14, +6TP (Burnett)
Peter McDermott & Klim Seabright lost to David Magee & Alan Wilson -5, -11,
Peter Wardle & Keith Roberts v Brian Murdoch & Fergus McInnes; match drawn (-3, +19)
Burnett beat Magee +20, +16
Wardle lost to Rannie -10, -11
McDermott beat Murdoch +1, -15, +11t
Lowe beat McInnes +1t, +9t
Seabright lost to Appleton +6, -20, -3
Roberts beat Wilson +10t, +2t
Return to top
|
| Mary Rose (26/9/06) - Colchester beat Pendle 5-2 by Jonathan Hills
Jonathan Hills (1) & Steve Woolnough (1) beat Roger Scofield (2.5) & Norman Hicks (3) +7;
Colin Hemming (3½) beat Peter Wilson (3) +6;
George Woolhouse (3½) lost to Liz Wilson (4) -9;
Steve Woolnough (1) beat Roger Scofield (2.5) +18;
Jonathan Hills (1) beat Norman Hicks (3) +4;
Colin Hemming (3½) lost to Liz Wilson (4) -13;
George Woolhouse (3½) beat Peter Wilson (4) +7.
A neutral venue was preferred due to the distances required to travel. Nottingham helpfully provided personnel to open up. Play commenced on lawns 2 and 3 but had to be delayed when it was noticed that William Gee was playing on lawn 1. Under the revised Nottingham protocol, a risk assessment was undertaken and play was transferred to lawns 4 and 5 to avoid injury. The only other notable event in the morning's play was that the doubles finished before the singles.
The afternoon was a tense affair with only Woolnough showing some solid play to leave Colchester 3-1 up. However, the other 3 matches could have gone either way and it was with some relief that Woolhouse held his nerve to seal the match.
Liz Wilson was pleased to achieve her lowest handicap yet, being reduced from 4 to 3½, although she seemed uncertain on whether she could reduce it further and anyway, "B level is the far most interesting form of the game as you get more chances."
Thanks again to the Nottingham contingent for hosting us.
Return to top
|
| Justin Brightmore wins Handicap Heaton Park Challenge (24 September 2006)
 ayed as 18 point games in beautiful weather except for a brief period of heavy rain, which affected one round of play. Flexible Swiss format. Winning 5 games out of 5 gave Justin Brightmore (Bury), the winnewrs trophy. His handicap was reduced from 18 to 12. Runner-up was Abdul Ahmad (Pendle & Craven) with 4 wins out of 5.
Return to top |
| Ian Lines wins Advanced Heaton Park Challenge (23 Sept 06)
 This one day Advanced event was played in beautiful summery sunshine, XYZ format, Ian Lines (Bowdon) dissecting all opponents with his usual surgical precision, winning the tournament by completing a triple peel in winning each of his 4 games, with Dave Nick runner-up.
Handicap changes P McDermott 1.5 to1, R Lowe 2.5 to 2, P Rigge 1.5 to 1
Return to top
|
Ian Lines wins Southport Advanced Weekend (17/9/06) by Ian Lines
The Southport September Advanced tournament this year was run as a flexible Swiss, leading to a final. The Southport lawns were in good condition, but very green and easy paced. The hoops were well set at a 1/16", but with the soft ground were also relatively easy.
On Saturday, the main excitement was two notable firsts: Dave Nick completed his first tournament sextuple against Tom Griffith, and Michael Sandler completed his first tournament triple (after 33 years playing!). Dave's (not quite ladies') sextuple started 6th turn with a 1-foot rush-peel through 1-back, 2 back after 1, 3-back before 5, 4-back jawsed before 6 and rush peeled after 1-back, penult before 3-back and rover straight from 6-inches to win +26sxp - all looking pretty well controlled - which can't be said about Dave after the peg out!
Ian Lines established a good lead on Saturday in the Swiss with 4 tps, and assured himself a place in the final with 2 further wins on Sunday morning. The other place in the final looked like it would go to Dave Nick, but he then lost to Bob Burnett and Paul Rigge, leaving the way clear for Bob Burnett. However, Bob lost unexpectedly to Peter Wardle, who was then in with a chance, but David Barrett then won a long 3 ball game against Michael Sandler to secure his place in the final.
In the final, Ian Lines missed a double near the peg 4th turn, David Barrett went quickly to 4-back, Ian missed again, David failed to get going, Ian hit in and did a tidy tpo and won +15tpo, just as the sun was setting, to retain the Sandiford Salver for the 3rd year in succession.
As always, the tournament catering was excellent and thanks must be recorded to Southport club for their superb hospitality.
Dean Bennison
and Barbara Haslam both earned handicap reductions from 2.5 to 2.
Return to top
|
North-West All-England Area Final (17/9/06) by David Cotton
On September 2nd, 12 hopefuls from the North West's croquet clubs arrived at Pendle & Craven Club for the first day of the qualifying finals for the All England Handicap competition. Bowdon fielded 5 players, Bury 2, Ashby 1, Huddersfield 1, Pendle & Craven 2 and Fylde 1. The competition was a 5 round Swiss event, full bisque, base 10. 3 people were to qualify for the finals in Nailsea on 16th and 17th September.
From the outset, the lowest handicappers in the competition - Liz Wilson (4) and Abdul Ahmad (4.5) - played with great gusto and a cheerful, if philosophical, approach which belied their feelings that in this competition the handicap odds may be stacked high against them!
As the first round started the rain became heavier and heavier and, after 2 hours of play, even the strongest players struggled to roll a ball the width of a lawn. Water began to collect in deep puddles and the now horizontal rain began to impede vision. Apparently waterproof trousers became saturated and see-through, to the chagrin of their wearers. And yet…the 12 players struggled on against all odds to complete their games. At the end of round 1, it became obvious that play could not continue. Players enjoyed a wonderful lunch, whilst clothes steamed and the rain became more torrential. We renamed the game "Soaket."By mutual agreement, play stopped for the day. To ensure the completion of 5 rounds, it was agreed to play 4 x 14 point rounds on the following day.
Sunday saw slightly brighter skies and a renewed high spirit. Leonard Ainsworth (Fylde) and David Cotton (Bowdon) had each won all their games in the first three rounds. Robin Delves (Pendle & Craven) had proved master of the Rover peel and spirits remained high. By round 4, Leonard was beginning to prove invincible. His methodical, steady approach and good use of bisques robbed David off his 4th game. Meanwhile, Paul Kenworthy of Bury beat Jenny Dennis of Bowdon to take his 3rd game of the competition and Liz Wilson (Pendle & Craven) joined Abdul Ahmad (Bowdon) and Malcolm Daines (Huddersfield) in winning her 2nd game.
By now, Leonard seemed to have it in the bag. Steadily working his way round he took the 5th round from Paul to win all 5 of his games and 1st place in the competition. Robin Delves won his 4th game to take 2nd place and no less than 5 people tied for 3rd place.
The 5 way tie for third was resolved by a shootout at the peg as advertised before the start. The first 2 tiebreaker clauses had failed to produce a result. However, 3 of the 5 people tying for third place were unable to go to Nailsea, so time was saved by only having the 2 who were able to go take part in the shoot out.
In a nail biting finish, Paul Kenworthy took 3rd place and Malcolm Daines was nominated as first reserve.
Many thanks to Peter Wilson for his great organisation of the competition and to Pendle & Craven for their splendid hospitality.
Return to top |
| A Tribute to John Beech (Died 10 September 2006) by Kathryn and Roger Schofield
|
John Beech, the man, where do you start to do justice to a man who was so much to so many people?
First and foremost John was a Christian and a family man. His faith shone through in all parts of his life, and he loved to go anywhere and everywhere to preach the gospel of Christ as a Methodist local preacher for over 40 years. He leaves a devoted wife, Kathleen, four grown up sons, Simon, Paul, David and James, daughters-in-law and two grandchildren, Charlotte and Jonathan.
After these came the other great loves of his life Stoke City Football Club and croquet. You would be amazed how often Stoke City and some aspect of croquet appeared as illustrations in his sermons! He was also a member of the Gideons.
John was an outgoing, friendly kind of chap, who could talk to anyone and usually did. He worked in education during his working life and finished his career with Bury Education Authority. He went to agricultural college which enabled him to write his book “Lawn Management”. |
John went on a course through work where there was a croquet lawn and came back home full of enthusiasm for this wonderful sport. At a similar time his friend and neighbour, Norman Hicks, was also introduced to croquet at a different venue. They got their heads together and played on John's back lawn. As John often said they thought they knew how to play but later they discovered they were not necessarily obeying all the rules! As John was a Methodist and Norman was a Baptist they each went to their different churches on a recruitment drive, and a few of us who liked playing bat and ball went to a meeting at John's house and formed Croquet in Pendle and John started his own little business, Woodland Mallets. We played on the back lawn for a bit, but as you know nothing was impossible to John. It wasn't long before we were playing on the front lawns at Nelson and Colne College, then we added three more lawns round the back, then we had to move these back three lawns on to a different part of the playing fields. Then we eventually moved to Earby after several abortive attempts at other sites in the Pendle area. Throughout all this development John worked tirelessly at any and every job at the croquet club. If no one else would do it, John would take it on, as well as the hundreds of jobs he was already doing.
John was well known throughout the croquet world and has been a past chairman of the North West Federation of Croquet Clubs and also for quite a number of years Development Officer and a member of the C.A. Council. Many clubs including Bury, Llanfairfechan and Culcheth are grateful for the many hours he put in helping them get established. He did a great deal to help the development of croquet in the north. When our club wanted to honour him in some way at the newly developed club in Earby all he wanted was a CA Diploma. He achieved this when at our opening ceremony in July 2005 the Chairman of the CA, Ian Vincent, presented him with this award. Sadly he was not able to play much croquet at the new grounds, having suffered a stroke just a few months after we started playing there. But what a legacy he has left to the croquet world and especially to us at Pendle & Craven Croquet Club. We give grateful thanks for having known John and urge you all to play more and more croquet and to enjoy your croquet because that is what John would have wanted most. He will be sadly missed.
Return to top |
Three go Forward for the North - report by Barbara Dutton (3/9/06)
The All England Northern Area Finals were held at Earby on Sat/Sun 2/3 September 2006. Competitors travelled from Bury, Bowdon, Fylde, Ashby-de-la-Zouche, Huddersfield and, of course, Pendle. The weather played a great part in this tournament which drew 12 finalists from the North to compete for places in the All England Finals in Nailsea, Somerset. Play had to be postponed on the Saturday following a biblical deluge which rendered all 5 lawns unplayable. The Sunday morning inspection found all lawns playable and the contest continued on a 14 point basis (a shorter game).
Len Ainsworth from Fylde was the winner with Robin Delves from Pendle in second place. There was tie for third place between 5 players, and a ‘penalty shoot out' took place with shots from the boundary to the centre pin to determine the winner, who was Paul Kenworthy from Bury. These three go forward to represent the North in the Finals which take place in two weeks time.
|
Keith Aiton wins Northern Championship (29/8/05) - report by Ian Lines
Keith Aiton won the 2006 Championship of the North of England at Bowdon, beating James Death +13tp, +16tp, +18tp, to win the Faulkner Cup for his first time. The games in the final were almost error free, with supershot openings and James getting the first ball round on each occasion. However, Keith was hitting lifts, popping and doing tight hoop leaves, so in the 3rd game James tried for a sextuple, but came to grief very early by taking off from 2 into the back of hoop 1.
The Consolation Event (The Tollemache Plate) was run as an 8 player knockout for those with the best percentage wins after the first 3 days. There was a 3 way tie for the last 2 places between Marcus, Richard and David Harrison-Wood, and although David got the unlucky bye, he and Richard both qualified by beating Marcus. In the final of the Plate, Sam Tudor played Ian Lines. Sam put out a supershot near the peg, Ian went to maximum length on east boundary, Sam missed into corner 4, Ian missed partner from A baulk, Sam missed from corner 4, Ian went to 4 back with a diagonal spread. Sam then hit the long lift and went to 4-back with a B spread, Ian missed the long lift and Sam finished with a very tidy delayed triple to win +17tp.
The presentations were made by Bowdon President Sheila Black, who thanked all those involved in setting out the lawns and hoops, particularly Colin Irwin for his tireless efforts in setting hoops and mowing the lawns during the event, and also all the various Bowdon members who laid on truly excellent lunches and teas. The Bowdon lawns were described by Keith as currently the best in England, although due to recent rain they were fairly easy paced. Andrew Davies earned a handicap reduction to -1, and Sam Tudor went to -2 - a notable achievement.
Return to top
|
(Photo: John Wastell)
|
PENDLE AUGUST HANDICAP TOURNAMENT 26/27/28 August 2006 by Barbara Dutton
Short showers over the three day period didn't mar play. The lawns had improved immensely since the Easter Tournament. Fourteen competitors battled it out for the honours, travelling from Horsham, Shrewsbury, Wrest Bank and more locally the Fylde and of course Pendle.
The Overall Winner was Peter Dowdall, the Pendle & Craven Club Treasurer. Alice Fleck won the prize for the fastest game and also took part in the longest at 5hr30mins. Alice had such a good time she has decided to join Pendle & Craven as a Far Country member for the 2007 season. David Gillett from Horsham took the Low Handicap prize for the second year running and Robin Delves from Pendle the High Handicap cup. Robert Dodds from Shrewsbury played the most games (10). Handicap changes were: Peter Dowdall 11 to 10; Andrew Webb (Fylde) 8 to 7; Robin Delves 12 to 11.
The Manager Peter Wilson was thanked for his splendid efforts at keeping the game flowing, the caterers as ever were thanked for their best attempts at sending players home heavier than they came and also thanks to all those who made the lawns a pleasure to play on.
Return to top
|
Overall Winner - Peter Dowdall
|
Fastest Game Winner - Alice Fleck |
High Handicap Cup Winner - Robin Delves
|
Return to top
BOB BURNETT WINS CRAKE ADVANCED (13/8/06)
Great weekend, as ever, at Crake. There were 16 players in four blocks of four with handicaps ranging from -2 to 3. Block winners and runners-up to go into knockout. Three block games on Saturday and quarters, semis and final on Sunday. Burnett played Nick (again) in quarters winning +15. Burnett played Lines in semi winning +26TP. Burnett played Rigge in final winning +20 so regaining the Rock Clock Trophy (with instructions to get it engraved as he forgot last year!). Burnett handicap reduction from -1 to -1.5, just passing the 2400 trigger point due to the 17 points won from Ian Lines (-2)
Return to top |
PENNINE CUP REGAINED BY NORTH WEST 7-2 (13/8/06) by Charles Waterfield
The annual cross-Pennine challenge cup, contested by a team drawn from the North West against a team from the Croquet North & Yorkshire Federations, took place this year at Pendle & Craven on Sun 13th Aug in cold blustery conditions. Usually played at Heaton Park, this was a new venue and it is encouraging to report that the lawns are showing significant improvement, compared to earlier this season. Both the clubroom facilities and catering were first class. The match format is a mix of advanced doubles and singles, with some handicap singles.
The results (NW names first) were:
Level Play:
John Haslam & Andrew Winn beat Charles Waterfield & Mike Evans +12; James Hawkins & Tony Thomas lost to Peter McDermott & Alice Fleck -10; Rob Essler & Barbara Haslam beat Phil Errington & John Kennedy +8; John Haslam (-½) lost to Charles Waterfield (0) -8; James Hawkins (0) beat Peter McDermott (1½) +23; Barbara Haslam (2½) beat Phil Errington (3) +23.
Handicap Singles:
Rob Essler (2½) beat John Kennedy (6) +8; Tony Thomas (8) beat Alice Fleck (9) +14; Andrew Winn (8) beat Mike Evans (10) +6t.
The Pennine Cup players from left to right - Tony Thomas, Andrew Webb, James Hawkins, John Kennedy, Charles Waterfield, Mike Evans, John Haslam, Alice Fleck, Barbara Haslam, Peter McDermott, Phil Errington, Rob Essler, (photo - Charles Waterfield). |
Return to top
BOWDON PLAYERS SELECTED FOR THE EIGHTS (10/8/06)
Four Bowdon members have been selected to play in one of the 'Eights' tournaments. Keith Aiton and David Maugham have been invited to take part in the premier event, the President's Cup, in Jersey in October. Keith won the event last year and David did so in 2004. Ian Lines will take part in the Chairman's Salver at Hunstanton, an event he finished fifth in last year after winning it in 2004. Steve Lewis will be travelling to Nailsea to play in the Spencer Ell competition. (Courtesy Bowdon website) |
Return to top
CLEAN SWEEP FOR BOWDON AT SOUTHPORT (6/8/06)
(Report & Photographs, courtesy of www.bowdoncroquet.co.uk)
Players from Bowdon finished in first place and runner-up in both the main event and in the plate event at the 'B' Level Advanced Weekend at Southport on 5/6 August. John Wastell beat Richard Griffiths +14 in the final of the main event whilst Dennis Graham beat Andrew Winn +2t (25-23) in the plate. Richard's handicap reduces to 1 and John's goes down to 2.5.
Bowdon fielded ten participants in the 20 strong entry field. |
Tournament manager John Haslam presents the 'B' Level Advanced Trophy to John Wastell
|
Dennis Graham receives the plate award from John Haslam
Return to top
|
A GOOD DAY AT BURY (30/7/06) by Geoff Young
Bury Croquet Club held its annual Fun Day on Sunday 30 July. Besides many Bury mambers there were fourteen visitors form Culcheth, Bowdon and Syngenta/Huddersfield. Each participant had a go at Flamingos, a variant in which a 'Chance' card is drawn after each hoop. Some are profitable, some not - including bonus chances for playing on one leg. Winners were David Dean annd Barbara Young. The main thread was a variant entitled 10-minute croquet in which a doubles pair get as many hoops as possible in proper sequence, less discount for the number of turns started. The winner was Jane Wilkinson with five wins in six games, with four others on four victories. The weather was very friendly and the catering superb so a good day was had by all. |
Return to top
MIDWEEK 50+ HANDICAP EVENT AT PENDLE, 18-21 July 2006 by Barbara Dutton and John Filsak
Competitors came from all over the country to take part and enjoyed the weather and the catering, although the lawns proved a challenge having dried out considerably making conditions tricky. The normally reliable Pennine overhead sprinkler system functioned only briefly on Thursday morning. The lawns were hard, bumpy in places and rather two-paced; an inadvertant jump shot over the object ball in a dolly rush was achieved on numerous occasions. Nevertheless it was possible to play some good croquet; Andrew Webb (Pendle and Fylde) achieved his silver merit award, and Janet Davies (Chester) won the prize for the fastest pegged-out game with one hour and seven minutes.
Player of the week was Roger Staples (Middlesbrough). He topped the Egyptian leaderboard by a good margin, won the "B" class trophy after a three-way play-off, and received the prize for the most games played (12). Andrew Webb from Fylde was Overall runner up. Neil Kellett (Cheltenham) won his first ever tournament trophy with a clean sweep in the "C" class. Bryan Saddington (Hunstanton) won the "A" class, beating lower handicapped players on the way. John Filsak (Pendle, managing for the first time) and Andrew Webb retained their handicap doubles title.
Jim Penny from Shrewsbury had his 84th birthday on the Wednesday, the celebrations for which may have accounted for him winning the wooden spoon. The tournament catering was very much worth turning up for, and was done largely by some of Pendle's golf croquet playing members.
Handicap changes - Roger Staples 11 to 10; Andrew Webb 10 to 9; Mike Bowser 4.5 to 5; Robin Delves 14 to 12.
Chairman Geoff Whittaker presents trophies to winning Over 50 tournament players (July 06): [photographs by Barbara Dutton] : |
Roger Staples
|
 Neil Kellett
|
John Filsak & Andrew Webb
|
Janet Davies
|
Jim Penny |
Return to top
SOUTHPORT WIN NW FED CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP (3/7/06)
Under glorious blue skies and scorching heat, the NW fed organised a very successful club championship at Southport on 1st and 2nd July. Eight clubs competed in the two day tournament, comprising Golf, Short, Handicap and Advanced competitions. The South Lawns played well despite the substantial treatments they are currently receiving, whilst the infamous North Lawns presented a challenging test on their spongy surface. This annual tournament requires substantial logistics with fourteen lawns to be set out daily and about 70 meals to be catered for on each day. The tournament was managed by Barry Keen, assisted by Simon Wolf (Short) and Val Bailey (Golf). The Golf event involved five clubs playing 89 games resulting in Culcheth beating all other clubs to take the Golf Shield. Four clubs contested the Short event, playing 30 games with Southport eventually winning the Shield. The Handicap event was very closely contested by four clubs with three clubs being equal leaders after the first day, however, Southport won the knock-out event on the Sunday. Six teams played in the Advanced event with Bury remaining undefeated throughout the weekend to take the Advanced Shield. The overall club championship is decided by allocating one point for each match victory and three clubs were very closely positioned with Fylde in third place, Bury in second place with Southport winning the overall event by one point.
| |
Golf |
Short |
H'cap |
Adv |
Pts |
| Southport |
3 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
13 |
| Bury |
1 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
12 |
| Fylde |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
10 |
| Culcheth |
5 |
|
|
|
5 |
| Chester |
4 |
|
|
|
4 |
| Pendle |
|
1 |
|
2 |
3 |
| Bowdon |
|
|
|
2 |
2 |
| Crake |
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
Return to top |
Culcheth Golf Team
Southport Short Team
Southport Handicap Team
Bury Advanced Team
|
Ian Lines Wins Pendle Advanced Weekend (10/11 June)
Report by Fergus McInnes (courtesy of www.croquet.org.uk)
The entry of 10 players for this year's level play Pendle and Craven Advanced Weekend showed approximations to symmetry in both latitude and handicap. Two came from Scotland, two from the South of England, and the other six from nearer at hand in the northern counties of England. (The lawns are in Lancashire, but less than half a mile from the boundary with Yorkshire - a circumstance which caused one visiting player some discomfiture in the bar on Friday night when he rashly assumed that the inn where he was staying was in Lancashire too.) Ian Lines had handicap -2, Martin Stephenson was a 5, and the rest ranged from David Barrett at 0 to Robert Essler and Fergus McInnes at 3.
The lawns, levelled and seeded in early 2005, were much improved from their "sand pit" condition of Easter 2006, but still bumpy, and, with two-hour time limits in most rounds, 77% of the games went to time. In four of the eight completed games it was Ian Lines who pegged out, and his +26TP in 62 minutes against Paul Rigge - the only triple of the tournament - easily won him the Chris Hudson Trophy for the fastest game. Peter McDermott was the only other player to win more than one game with a peg-out, while Martin Stephenson had the most peg-outs completed against him: one each by Peter, Paul and Robert.
The format was draw and process, with extra games for those knocked out of either or both - choreographed by manager Abdul Ahmad with an impressive system of colour-coded cards. Abdul was not playing, but did a good deal of refereeing as well as management, alongside the joint Tournament Referees Ian Lines and Fergus McInnes. (One interesting refereeing incident involved all three of them - Ian playing, Abdul refereeing, and Fergus shooting the video with his new digital camera. Ian played hard through hoop 3 to get close to a distant reception ball, and Abdul called a fault. Unfortunately the video was taken from too far away to yield conclusive evidence about the correctness of the decision, even when viewed in slow motion.)
Both draw and process could be completed in seven rounds if the same player won both, but otherwise an extra game would be needed. In fact Ian Lines won all his games in the Draw, and got into the final of the Process against Ian Parkinson, which he narrowly won (+2 on time) to clinch the victory without the need for a playoff. Ian Parkinson won the B-class trophy, awarded on games won and Egyptian points, and he beat Roger Schofield 1-0 in a peg shoot-out to determine the runner-up in the main event. Completing the inventory of trophies was a magnificent wooden spoon, obtained by Fergus McInnes with six losses and only one win. This too was decided by a narrow margin, as one of Fergus's losses was a -1 in extra time against Martin Stephenson - in a game where Fergus had been 17-4 up when time was called, with Martin needing a break from hoop 2, a peel at hoop 4 and a one-ball peg-out to equalise. Had that game gone the other way, the spoon would have gone to Graham Brightwell.
It only remains to mention the weather (hot), the club's facilities (very nice apart from the bumpy lawns - which should improve in time) and the catering (provided in excellent quality and overwhelming quantity by Barbara and Julie on Saturday and by Kathryn and Charlotte on Sunday apparently competing in a vain attempt to fatten up the Tournament Referees). Altogether it was a most enjoyable weekend, and I certainly intend to take part again in 2007, though on the principle of playing to win I must reluctantly abjure the defence of my wooden spoon.
Return to top
|
| David Maugham wins Bowdon June Advanced Weekend (4/6/06) by Ian Lines
The Bowdon June Advanced Weekend was won by David Maugham who beat Ian Lines in the final (+14otp, -19, -26tp, +14tp, +15tp), finishing at 7.15pm in glorious evening sunshine. The consolation Egyptian Event was won by Brian Storey, who only lost two games (to David Maugham in the semi-finals). All the main event games went according to seeding (8 seeds), except Ian Lines beating Colin Irwin in the semi-finals. Ian won the first game +1 after Colin did all three peels of a triple and pegged out one of his own and Ian's peg ball. Ian hit the 14 yard lift from A baulk and 2 balled out from 4 back.
In the final, Ian went first every game, going 8 yards north of corner 4, David to corner 2 every game, Ian hit partner from A baulk every game! In the first game, Ian went off in corner 2 (lawns just on the fast side of medium), David to 4-back, but broke down (hampered) after hoop 1 with his second ball. Ian did the TPO leaving balls in corner 1 and 10 yards north of corner 4. David split from east boundary to corner 1, rolled off hoop 2 !, +14otp to David. In the next 4 games Ian had various rough dream leaves 3rd turn, and went round to 4-back 5th turn with diagonal spreads. In game 2 David started a TPO but broke down at 2-back after doing a death roll penult peel, leaving Ian a 7-yarder for an easy finish. In game 3, Ian had a 7th turn TP. In games 4 and 5 Ian broke down after a few hoops with the second ball, and David finished with tidy TPs, Ian missing the lifts by next to nothing.
The Bowdon lawns were excellent, with hoops set firmly to 1/32nd. Various photos can be found on the Bowdon web site at http://www.bowdoncroquet.co.uk/ .
The Peterson Trophy was presented to David by club president Sheila Black, and thanks were recorded to John Saxby and his team for the magnificent catering, and to all those involved in preparing and setting the lawns.
Return to top
|
Longman Cup - Nottingham beat Bowdon 5-2 (22/5/06) by Michael Finnigan
There was no over-confidence amongst the Nottingham team when, after a morning's rain sodden play at Bowdon, three close games resulted in Nottingham leading three-nil. Been there before, and learned the hard way that this does not guarantee an overall win! The lead had fluctuated in all three of the games, but eventually William Gee, in an immaculate Longman debut, pegged out his opponent's forward ball and managed to stay clear to win +3. The Nottingham pair wrapped up the doubles soon afterwards, but Michael Finnigan kept everyone waiting for lunch until a lucky hit in after time led to his winning on the "golden hoop".
In the afternoon William demonstrated the ability of youth to adapt quickly to the fast lawns of Bowdon (at least, Nottingham thought they were fast, but the home team assured us they were the slowest they had been all season) by beating Lorna Frost with considerable panache, thus securing the overall result in Nottingham's favour. Just as well, as Barry Keene found his form to beat Martin Beacon, and Michael Finnigan was overwhelmed by Janice Moir. However, Nigel Hames-Keward added to the Nottingham total by wining another hard fought game against Steve Reynolds.
|
Return to top
Inter-club - Bristol beat Bowdon 4-3 (20/5/06) - by Ian Lines.
Bristol beat Bowdon 4-3 in a closely contested Inter-Club match at Bowdon today (20/5/06). The lawns were pretty easy, and the promised downpour never got much worse than a gentle drizzle. Steve and Ed both shot well in the singles and doubles, Ed only just missing his lift in the singles, and David was unlucky to Irish peel rover off the lawn, handing Ian an easy standard TP. |
Return to top
David Maugham Wins Southport Advanced Fifth Time (23/4/06)
In glorious Spring weather with lawns looking their best for years, a successful Jubilee Advanced Tournament attracted 18 competitors for the 22/23 April event. For the fifth year in succession David Maugham (Bowdon), ranked number one in the world, beat Ian Lines (Bowdon) in a thrilling final (-8tp, +5tp, +5).
Photograph shows club President Alan Pidcock presenting the Advanced Jubilee Tankard to David Maugham (photo by Terry Foster).
Return to top |
|
| Poetic results at the Pendle & Craven Easter Tournament (17/4/06) by Alice Fleck |
"It doesn't seem right without John Beech"
Peter Wilson said, stepping into the breach.
His comments were echoed by all of us there.
"Best wishes to you John" We would all like to share.
John Beech is Pendle and always has been,
Ever since he came on the "Croquet Scene"
John's not the type for resting or napping,
If one played a good shot, John was laughing and clapping.
The tournament started after lunch on Friday,
And soon we were all out there ready to play,
From the Edinburgh club Martin and James did arrive,
Bringing the average age down to just thirty-five.
We all arrived feeling fit and on form,
Some of us had to play David Maugham.
Each in turn with our fence of bisques,
We tried to outsmart him and took great risks.
The first ball went round with some gay abandon,
But with David there, we had no leg to stand on.
Some of us took our first ball to rover.
When David hit in, the game was all over.
Andrew Web came closest to being the winner,
Only two years ago, he was just a beginner.
With one ball pegged out, the other on stick.
He thought to himself, " I will finish this game quick"
His half a bisque left, he used to hit-in.
Just a short take off and then hit the pin.
A deathly hush-------then we heard David shout,
" You can't use half a bisque to peg out"
Most of the weekend, David sat in his chair,
Pulling out bisques for everyone there.
At the end of the tournament all of them gone.
They all added up making one three one (131)
The games were un-timed which we found was not taxing
And when we were playing, it was much more relaxing.
When our games were finished and the bell rang for tea.
Some stayed to build Sand Castles, out on lawn three.
It wouldn't be Pendle without the great food.
Left nothing on my plate, didn't like to be rude.
For the lunches and teas, I never was late.
So now I've come home a stone overweight.
The weekend was fun from beginning to end,
With a Sunday night dinner to round off the weekend.
The food was delicious; the wine was divine.
The "Old Stone Trough" is a great place to dine.
Each of us had a story to be told.
Some of us told jokes a hundred years old.
The Tournament Managers could not have been sweeter
Thank you so much Liz Wilson and Peter!
|
Results:
Overall Winner - David Maugham;
Low Handicap Winner (<10) - David Turner (Tyneside);
High Handicap Winner (>=10) - Andrew Webb (Fylde);
Fastest Game - David Maugham;
Most Games Played - David Maugham;
Most Trophies - David Maugham;
Bronze Medal Award - Andrew Webb.
Handicap changes:
David Turner (Tyneside) from 8 to 7;
Walter Sanders (Middlesbrough) from 12 to 14;
Robin Delves (Pendle & Craven) from 12 to 14.
|
Return to top
Ian Lines (Bowdon) receives the Neil Williams Trophy from Bury Chairman, David Barrat.
|
MILLENIUM ADVANCED AT HEATON PARK (9/4/06)
Ian Lines won the North West Federation Millenium Advanced Competition on the weekend of 8/9 April 2006. Ian from Bowdon, won the main 'A' class event - the Neil Williams Trophy - with 6 victories in 7 matches. The 'B' level trophy was won by Paul Rigge of Bury, with 6 out of 6 winning games, handicap now changed from 2.5 to 2. Congratulations also to Alan Pidcock from Southport whose handicap with a handicap change from 0 to -0.5.
(Photographs by kind permission of Bowdon Web Site)
Return to top |
Paul Rigge (Bury) receives the 'B' award from Tournament Manager, Geoff Young.
|
MILLENIUM HANDICAP at PENDLE (8/4/06)
Saturday 8 April 2006 - 16 players experienced rain, wind, low temperatures, even a bit (a small bit) of sunshine, and yet more rain. By lunchtime, the lawns were waterlogged and play abandoned for the day. After an inspection early on Sunday morning, the tournament was abandoned.
Return to top
|
