Category: News and Reports

Congratulations to Alberto, winner of this season’s 14 Point Handicap competition.

The gloomy weather lifted for the day, to provide perfect croquet conditions for the 10 participants.

Two blocks of five played ‘all v all’, with some very close games including three decided by a golden hoop. In both blocks, the result came down to the last game. In the first block, Margaret Extance and Mike won three matches but Margaret had beaten Mike so qualified on a ‘who beat whom’ basis.  Similarly, in the 2nd block, Alberto and Phil won three games, with Alberto qualifying.

In the final, Alberto used his bisques to build a lead. Margaret then had chances to catch up towards the end of the match but couldn’t quite find her form from the block games, giving Alberto a +4 victory.

So it’s a first club trophy for Alberto.  The boy done good!

Alan Ridley

Congratulations to Robbie, winner of the 14 Point Advanced competition.  Robbie beat Richard by +11 in the final, breaking Richard’s three year winning sequence.

On a lovely day for croquet, Robbie and Richard won their respective groups.  We held semi-finals, in which Richard came from behind to beat James  by +6, while Robbie dispatched Alan R by +13 with plenty of time to spare.

Rain had been forecast for the afternoon and with the final in progress, rumbles of thunder could be heard coming ever closer.  The game finished just as the first hint of rain reached the lawns and within 15 minutes of packing up, the heavens opened.

So, further congratulations are in order to Robbie for managing to peg out before we all got soaked!

Alan Ridley

The pristine lawns of Northampton Croquet Club provided the ideal setting for a thrilling encounter between Pinchbeck and Shrewsbury Croquet Clubs in the Longman Cup.

Played on neutral ground because of the distances between the two Clubs, Pinchbeck, from Lincolnshire, on their return to the competition after a number of years, provided a stern test to Shrewsbury, with three of the seven matches finishing with only a hoop between the teams.

It was a credit to the handicapping system that with only five minutes left on the clock, the result was far from certain, with two games hanging in the balance. However, finally, it was Shrewsbury who triumphed, with Alberto Porras and Margaret Extance holding their nerve under pressure to take the Shropshire Club through to the next round.

Played in good spirit throughout in perfect weather conditions, all the players offer their thanks and appreciation to their wonderful hosts at Northampton 

Report by David Hart

Result – Shrewsbury 5 Pinchbeck 2  – Played on 15^th May 2024 at Northampton Croquet Club

Morning singles Results ( Shrewsbury names first)

Phil Extance (10) beat Ken Knock (8)  +1

David Hart (10)  beat Mike Bowser (4) +18

Doubles Result

Margaret Extance(14)  and Alberto Porras (20) lost to Charles Ostler (3.5) and David Boxell (22)  -11

Afternoon singles Results

Phil Extance (10) lost to Charles Ostler(3.5) -3

David Hart (10) beat David Boxell (22) +7

Margaret Extance (14) beat Mike Bowser(4) +1

Alberto Porras (20) beat Ken Knock(8)  +1

We hold an introductory course for new members every May for those who are new to the club and who want to get the most out of the game.

After a taster session and the subsequent 4 lessons you will have received a good introduction to Association Croquet.

The course is free if you subsequently become a member, and will take you through the basics of techniques and skills required to enjoy the game at a competitive level.

The 2024 course will begin on May 14th at 6pm.

Please contact the Secretary or Chair to register your interest.

Phil Extance

We were blessed by perfect croquet weather, save for the temperature at the beginning of the day! 12 participants played 4 games, each of 55 minute duration, on half lawns. The majority of players had some bisques which makes for interesting games, particularly when time is of the essence. There were some very close games and there were some with very clear winners. I will remember the day for the number of rules that had to be checked and much debate about rules were to be interpreted. For a game that is in essence so simple it is amazing how many times situations arose that required careful consideration – partly because it is early in the season and our memories of last year are poor!! The final was fought between Tim Bunn and Alan Ridley was very a close run match with Alan winning by just one point after time was called. Many thanks to all who joined in and to those who came to watch. It was a particular pleasure to have Robert’s family join us as spectators for part of the day.

https://croquet-websites.org.uk/shrewsbury/the-morley-trophy/

Phil Extance

There are two contributions included here, Shrewsbury Croquet pre 1914 and Shrewsbury Croquet – 40yrs – 1983-2023.

On Saturday 23rd September seven players battled for the Evason Cup in an all-play-all day of 50min, 14pt games on half lawns. To be eligible, players had to have a handicap that had never been below 18 and never to have won the competition before. Three players, Mike Long, Clare Burns and Nick Young had only joined the club this year. Four players, Tina Hart, Frances Haigh, Max Sanders and Jane Archer had played in last year’s competition. Short games meant that staying on the lawn for as long as skill (and bisques) would allow was helpful. It was a long day (9.30am-5pm) but spirits remained high. There were some nail-biting games, golden hoops, crush shots, wrong balls being hit, and many ither incidents that kept the excellent referees on their toes (thanks to Alan Smith, Barbara Edwards, Alan Ridley and Margaret Extance). Everyone played some really excellent shots that much lower handicapped players would be proud of. The weather was amazingly good given the wet week beforehand and the sun only failed us for a brief period before lunch. The winner of the Evason Cup was Mike Long winning all six of his games, but closely followed by Tina Hart (winning five) and Frances Haigh (winning four). Thank you to those members who came to watch some of the games – it was appreciated. Finally thanks to the players for being willing to participate.

Phil Extance

Richard and Robbie resumed their rivalry in the Eight competition, played between SCC’s top eight available players over the weekend of 9th/10th September.

Two Groups of four played ‘all v all’ over the course of Saturday and Sunday morning. Richard romped away with victories of +22, +24 and +21 to top his group. In the other group, Robbie needed to beat Alan R to be sure of making the final. The game went to the wire with Robbie winning on Golden Hoop.

The final was the proverbial game of two halves. Richard raced into a big lead then Robbie came back to end only two behind when time was called.

So Richard received the Claret Jug and a nice bottle of claret to enjoy.

Congratulations go to Richard and commiserations to Robbie who played very well to almost catch up. Thanks to all the players for taking part and helping to set up/put away. Thanks also to everyone else involved in making the weekend so enjoyable, from those providing food and drink to the line markers and anyone else I’ve missed.

Alan R

We were up at the crack of dawn to head to a small village miles from civilisation.  The croquet club isn’t easy to find unless you already know its whereabouts, i.e. a left turn into what looks like a scrap yard!  Once there, however, you find an excellent facility, with a clubhouse and spotlessly clean loos.  What bliss!

Our team comprised (in ascending order of handicap) Robbie, Alan R, Robert and Barbara.  The Eardisley team had handicaps of 7, 14, 14 and 18.  They actually struggled to find enough bisques! 

I’ll reveal the score then run through the excuses – Eardisley won 5-2.

The grass was quite long and was slow to lose its morning dampness.  This made long rolls and rushes difficult. Three of the games were close and could have gone either way.

We lost 7-0 last time so this was a huge improvement. Err I can’t think of any more excuses.

Anyway, well done to Barbara and Robert for winning their afternoon singles games.

The highlight of the day, as at our last visit, was the homemade lemon cake.  I strongly recommend making the expedition just for that experience.

Alan R

We had a varied line-up for the 18 Point Handicap competition, ranging in handicap from 20 down to 2. It was great to welcome two people, Alberto and Mike, who were playing their first weekend singles competition (in Alberto’s case excluding the Founders).

The group games were played over the two days. Group A produced a tight result, with two of the five players finishing on three wins. David made it through to the final ahead of Julian on countback. In Group B, Alberto and Alan R, each with three wins out of three, went head-to-head in the final game. It went down to the wire, Alan R winning on a Golden Hoop.

The final between David and Alan R was a one-sided affair. David kept Alan R at bay and for the most part, unable to hit in. He played some brilliant split rolls and made a long roquet late in the game, which woke up most of the spectators! David eventually won by +16.

So well done to David for winning a keenly fought competition and maintaining his 100% weekend competition record. Many thanks to the other competitors, to Phil and Margaret for coming at the crack of dawn to set up everything, to Barbara for marking the lines beforehand and to everyone who kept the goodies table well stocked.

Alan Ridley