by Charles Townshend 2009
As the croquet season comes towards its conclusion the
various competitions are in
their final stages with several important questions already
answered.
The Club Championship was played between eight of the low handicap
members in two blocks with each one getting three games. Block winners and
runners up then played best-of-three semi-finals. Charles Townshend won
all games in the first block and met Tony Bower, beaten by Peter Jones in
the other one. Their first game went close with both players making good
breaks and Bower seeing one of his balls being pegged out by his
opponent who then saw Bower hit in with his lift shot and take his second
ball through the last three hoops to the peg and a win +5. The second game
was again full of good croquet and went to Townshend +3. In the final game
Bower made excellent breaks and with Townshend seeing the few long shots
he was given narrowly missing. A missed peg-out gave him a chance to hit
in and take croquet making a single hoop before Bower hit the peg from the
boundary to take the game +25.
In
the second semi-final Peter Jones met Michael Lester and in
two close run games came out victorious with scores of +2 and +1 as the games
both went to time. He therefore had to meet Tony Bower in the final. Neither
player was quite on top form but in the first game Bower played
steadily and made useful breaks which put him ahead and in spite of having
one or two chances Peter lost - 18. In the afternoon game both players had
their chances but it was Tony who once again who produced the better
croquet and emerged victorious + 12 to earn the title of 2009 Club
Champion.
The Bull Cup is a knockout handicap competition for Ladies. |In the semi-finals
Marie Lester beat Audrey Howell +18 and Jackie Hardcastle beat Elaine
Norsworthy + 9
to set up a final with Marie who has been enjoying
a good season. Jackie was in top form however and used her bisques
well to defeat Marie +11. The Smartt Cup ( for Gentlemen) is close to a
conclusion with Malcolm Beaver booking his place in the final with a
convincing +20 win over Michael Lester and the other semi final due
shortly between Bob Donald and Jeremy Wilson.
The Gossage Cup is another handicap event open to all members and Bob Donald has already
secured a place in the final with a win +11 over Peter Jones. The other
semi-final will be played between Sam Watts and Tim Liles who had close
finishes in their quarterfinal games.
The Thorverton Cup (for higher handicap players) went to Martin Yates +1 over
Ainsley Jones when a golden hoop finish saw him achieve a nail-biting
victory. In the Hutchison Cup ( using advanced play with bisques) Michael
Peters had an unbeatable points tally of +39 following three convincing wins
and only a single (narrow) loss.
The Simpson Cup is a handicap competition with four blocks which saw Charles Townshend
winning all his games and meeting Marie Lester in a semi-final match. She used
her bisques effectively to gain an early advantage and reach a good
win +19 . The second semi final was between Pat Meredith and Michael Lester and
he managed to win +15 after Pat had taken her bisques early in a bid to put the
game beyond Michael's reach. This set up a final between Michael and Marie. She
again used her 7 bisques skilfully to take both bal round most of the hoops
before Michael had a chance to start and he was only able to make a couple of
hoops before he failed to run hoop 3 and let Marie back in and go through
the rover hoop and achieve a neat peg out and victory
+24.