Author: ridleya

Eight hardy souls braved the warm weather and pleasant sunshine to compete in the 14 Point Advanced competition  The eight were divided into two blocks of four, from which the top two in each block qualified for the semi-finals.

In Block A, all four players achieved some success, notably Alan Smith beating Robbie Dodds thanks to consistent hitting-in.  Unfortunately for Alan, he lost his other two games against Robert Parsons and Julian Remfry.  The placings were decided in the final round, when Robbie beat Robert, leaving both on two wins, with Robbie winning the block on the basis of ‘who beat whom’.

There was a major upset in Block B when Tim Bunn beat Richard Smith.  In a low scoring game, the players were tied, both needing Hoop 4.  Richard looked almost certain to win, having set a simple rush from the South boundary to the hoop, with Tim’s balls separated.  Tim shot at Richard’s balls from near Hoop 3.  His shot didn’t find their target but flew straight through Hoop 4, a hoop run of at least 21 yards, giving him the victory.  Ultimately Tim qualified in second place for the semi-finals, behind Alan Ridley who won his three games.  James Handley had a torrid time, failing to win a game.

In the semi-finals Robbie beat Tim +13 in double-quick time.  Alan beat Robert +11.

There was little to separate the players for the first half of the final, then Robbie found his form, running one ball round and setting Alan a cross-peg wired leave.  Although Alan could see some of the other ball, his attempted roquet hit the peg and Robbie cleaned up, winning +10.

Many congratulations to Robbie for this third successive win and 6th overall in the competition.  Thanks also to the people who provided food, most of which came from the previous day’s coaching day, and to those who helped with the setting up.

I needed my calculator to work out the results of our final two competitions of the season.

The Shrewsbury Hooper is new this season.  The winner is the player with the most  recorded breaks of 10 or more hoops, with or without bisques, in a competitive game within or involving our club.  There are also prizes for the players with the most 8 and 9 hoop breaks.

There were 28 recorded breaks in total.  Robert Parsons, with five breaks of 10 or more hoops, is the competition winner.  He will receive the Shrewsbury Hooper trophy and a prize.  James Handley and I won the 9 and 8 hoop prizes respectively.

The Llew trophy for the most improved player is awarded to the player whose handicap index has increased most over the course of the season.  There is also a runner-up trophy.

Four players have achieved an increase of 100 points or more.  The winner by a ‘short head’ is Dave Meredith, with a 130 point increase.  The runner-up is Phil Extance with +125 points.

Thank you to everyone who took part in our competitions this season, as well as everyone who helped in any way.  Roll on next season!

Alan Ridley

This year’s Eight competition was played over the weekend of the 30th and 31st August, in changeable but generally favourable weather conditions, rather than the deluge that disrupted last year’s comp.

The eight competitors were split into two blocks of four, with an ‘all play all’ format.  Block A comprised Richard Smith, the defending champion, Alan Ridley, Phil Extance and Brian Christmas.  On Day 1, in two of the biggest upsets in living memory, Richard was beaten by both Brian and Phil.  Meanwhile Alan R beat Brian and Phil, so booking his place in the final regardless of the result of his game against Richard.  On Day 2, Richard beat Alan R and Phil beat Brian to finish second in the block.

Block B comprised Robbie Dodds, Robert Parsons, Julian Remfry and Barbara Edwards.  Robert and Julian had played their game on the Friday, with Robert winning.  Robbie won all three of his games, to qualify for the final.  Robert beat Barbara and Barbara beat Julian.  Robert therefore finished second in the Block.

The final was a ‘game of two halves’.  Alan started well, reaching 4-back and 1-back while Robbie had only run a couple of hoops.  Robbie then took over, reaching 4-back and Hoop 6.  With seconds left on the clock, Robbie had a chance to run 4-Back but missed.  Alan R then sent the balls far and wide and Robbie was unable to make progress on his final turn.  So, Alan R won by a single hoop.

Congratulations go to the winner and to Phil, Brian and Barbara for their wins against stronger opponents.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in a very enjoyable weekend.  Also thanks to Margaret Extance, Jacqui Dodds and Frances Haigh for coming along to support the final.  Special thanks to James for marking the lines beautifully despite not being able to compete in the competition due to other commitments.

On the perfect weekend for croquet, six players contested the 18 Point Handicap competition.

The players were split into two blocks of three.  Block A featured Julian Remfry, Alan Smith and Jane Archer.  Jane, who insisted she was only there to make up the numbers, made full use of her bisques to beat both Julian (+1) and Alan (+2) and qualify for the final.  Julian found his form against Alan, winning by +17.

Block B featured Alan Ridley, Alberto Porras and Max Sanders.  Alberto beat Alan on a golden hoop, Max beat Alberto +3 and Alan beat Max, again on a golden hoop.  Max qualified for the final, with the highest overall + score.

The final was described by one of the finalists as ‘dour’.  It certainly wasn’t a classic, not helped by the difficult lawns conditions.  Jane led by a single hoop for much of the time but used her bisques first.  Max came back late in the game to pip Jane by one hoop.

So it’s many congratulations to Max, our 2025 winner, with Jane a commendable runner-up in her first appearance in a croquet final.

Five pairs entered this season’s advanced doubles competition.  An all-play-all format was played, over five rounds, each of 2½ hours, with two games and one team resting in each round.  Three rounds were played on Day 1, two on Day 2.

Day 1 was hot and increasingly humid, which was particularly draining for those pairs with three games to play.  Day 2 was pleasantly warm.  Early heavy rain caused a short break in proceedings but after that, it was mostly good croquet weather.

The result was decided in the final round.  Alan R and Alan S, with three wins out of three played Julian and Sean, with two out of three.  In a low scoring game, neither side was able to make a decisive break.  Julian’s superb display of hitting-in was a major factor in that pair edging in front to win by +3.

Many congratulations to Julian and Sean on their victory and thank you also to the other pairs, Alan R and Alan S, James and Tim, Robbie and David, and Margaret and Phil for their participation and support.  Barbara also gets an honorable mention for coming along to cheer us on for much of the two days, as does Tina, who treated us to ice creams on the hot first afternoon.

Alan Ridley

On an almost perfect day for croquet, eight competitors set out on their quest to win the 14 Point Advanced competition and join the illustrious band of players to have been presented wth the Silver Salver.

The players were split into two blocks of four, for the all-play-all phase. In Block A, Robbie won his three games, with a tie for 2nd place between Alan S, Robert and Tim. Alan S qualified for the semi-final as he had the highest net score (-3).  In Block B, Alan R and Sean both won their first two games, to qualify for the semi-finals. They faced each other in the 3rd game, with Alan R narrowly winning +2, to qualify as Block winner (I almost said blockhead!).

In the semis, Robbie played Sean, while Alan S played Alan R. The entire crowd (of about 3) watched the Robbie/Sean match. Don’t ask me how it went as I was on the other lawn, however Robbie pipped Sean +1 in what must have been a nail-biter. Alan R beat Alan S +3.

And so to the final, where in a low scoring game, Alan R established a 5-1 lead over Robbie with time running out. Not to be outdone by a non-worid ranked player, Robbie got a good chance with less than 10 minutes remaining and took a ball to peg, to win the game 6-5.

So it’s many congratulations to Robbie and it’s back to the drawing board for the rest of us.

Alan Ridley

The President’s Cup is a season-long advanced singles competition where competitors play one or two games each month. This season’s winner is Alan Ridley with six wins out of seven.

In the battle for the runner-up spot, three players have finished on four wins, Phil, Alan Smith and Robert. In the games played between the three, Phil beat Robert, Robert beat Alan S and Alan S beat Phil. The runner-up, with the highest net plus score is Phil on +21. Alan S has +18 and Robert +4.

Julian and Brian have three wins. James and David have two wins.

Many congratulations to the trophy winners. Well done to everyone for playing their games promptly throughout the season, especially to Alan S, who managed to fit in his games despite having a cataract operation.

Alan Ridley

In a delayed final to The Eight competition, played at Chester CC, Richard Smith beat Alan Ridley to recapture the Claret Jug.

The competition had been scheduled to be played on the 7th and 8th of September. The games played on the Saturday were completed with an extra one brought forward after Brian had looked into his crystal ball and had correctly predicted a washout the following day, which turned out to be the second wettest day on record.

The highlight of Saturday’s play was a Triple Peel attempt by Richard, which just failed when his Rover peelee hit an upright, forcing him to jump striker’s ball through the hoop.

As only half an hour’s play was possible on the Sunday, the final was postponed and played at Richard’s home club, Chester CC on the 12th. Torrential rain in the morning meant the game was played in very difficult conditions, the highest break being only three hoops, with Richard triumphing +9. 

Congratulations to Richard and many thanks to the other competitors, and to Phil for marking the lines.

Alan Ridley

Ten people took part in this season’s 18-Point Handicap competition, which took place on the 24th and 25th of August.  With rain in the forecast, some disruption was expected but the weather gods were kind enough to arrange for most of it to fall during our lunch break, ensuring that we kept mostly to schedule.

Two blocks of five played ‘all play all’.  Block A was decided in the final round of games, where the winner of David v Mike would go through to the final.  David booked his place with a +8 win, leaving him unbeaten.  Block B was not as clear-cut.  Going into the final round, it was possible to have a five-way tie depending on the results.  In the event, Alberto and Phil both won their final games to have three wins out of four.  Alberto qualified for the final on the ‘who beat whom’ rule, having beaten Phil by +10 in the opening game.

Max also deserves special mention for a superb display of hitting in and hoop running to beat Brian 18-0 in a Block B game.  Brian was very impressed.

And so to the final, where Alberto slowly built a nine hoop lead only for David to come back in the last half hour to draw level and take the game into a Golden Hoop.  A very exciting passage of play followed, with the crowd on the edge of their seats.  Twice, David set himself a simple rush to his hoop only for Alberto to hit in from distance to save the day.  Alberto also had a shot at a hoop but hit an upright.  After the second long roquet, Alberto was able to rush a ball near to his hoop, take off and run the hoop to win the match and the competition.  The Golden Hoop play had taken about 20 minutes, surely worthy of an entry in the Guinness Book of Croquet Records!

So, many congratulations to Alberto and commiserations to David, who came so close to retaining the trophy.

After the trophy presentation, everyone went home for a well deserved lie down!

Alan Ridley

A great result for Shrewsbury today in the WMF league. Fuelled by a tin of gorgeous flapjacks provided by Sue, we beat Kenilworth 3-2, which means we finish as runners-up to Broadwas. Well done to the team – Robbie, Alan R, David and Mike. The highlight of the day, which your correspondent didn’t actually see, was Robbie coming within a whisker of completing a delayed triple peel.

Alan Ridley