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Wrest Park

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Beds & Herts League

17 August     v Northampton (away)     Lost 2-4

Bryan Harral (½) and Tom Brewer (20) lost to Nick Evans (3) and Jane Evans (20) -1T

Ray Pearcy (14) and Peter Aspinall (20) beat Richard Cain (12) and Owen Bryce (12) +13

Bryan Harral beat Nick Evans +1

Ray Pearcy lost to Richard Cain -5T

Peter Aspinall lost to Owen Bryce -6

Tom Brewer lost to Jane Evans -18T

Report by Bryan Harral

This was Tom Brewer’s first match and he was unlucky to find himself on the famous sloping lawns of Northampton. Bryan and Tom lost to amazing shooting by Nick Evans who seemed to be able to allow for the effect of the slope in any direction. Luckily Ray Pearcy had been persuaded to come out of semi-retirement and he and Peter won their game convincingly, and so the score was 1-1 at lunch. In the singles, Bryan managed to beat Nick at last, but Ray, Peter and Tom needed a few more bisques to beat their opponents. Why did we lose? It was the slope, of course!

Four draws and two losses mean we won the bananas this year, but I am grateful to everyone who played. Win, lose or draw I have enjoyed the matches and your company.

4 August      v St Albans (away)     Lost 1-3

Bryan Harral (½) and Peter Aspinall (20) beat Terry Mahoney (2) and Heather Bennet (14) +15

Tim Brewer (3½) lost to Thomas Cullie (14) -15

Bryan Harral and Tim Brewer lost to Terry Mahoney and Thomas Cullie -2T

Peter Aspinall lost to Heather Bennet -1T

Report by Bryan Harral

A team of three this time because St Albans has only one lawn, so doubles and singles both morning and afternoon. In the morning Bryan and Peter managed a win but Tim lost to Thomas, a rising star at St Albans. The trick shot of the match was Tim getting in front of hoop three from near the peg by going through the hoop backwards! So the score was 1-1 at lunch. After lunch Tim unfortunately lost his form and the doubles went to St Albans. Yet another draw was in prospect. Peter and Heather were all-square when time was called but Heather had position and collected the golden hoop.

14 July     v Melgrave (home)     Drew 3-3

Bryan Harral (1) and Peter Aspinall (20) lost to Robert Skeen (8) and Keith Holgate (14) -1T

David Morris (18) and Cliff Hayes (20) beat Alec Osborne (12) and Peter Whiting (18) +3T

Bryan Harral beat Robert Skeen +5

David Morris lost to Alec Osborne -13

Cliff Hayes beat Keith Holgate +1T

Peter Aspinall lost to Peter Whiting -2T

Report by Bryan Harral

No prizes for guessing what the weather was like mid-July. Bryan and Peter with half a bisque playing Robert and Keith with one bisque and the rain pelting down made the game extremely interactive. Hoop by hoop we crept up on the opposition but like the Saxons at Hastings we came second! David and Cliff with nine bisques were rather more successful, and so the score was 1-1 at lunch. After lunch there was standing water on lawns 2 and 4. In the singles, Bryan managed to beat Robert, David ran out of steam against Alec, and Peter Aspinall was narrowly beaten by Peter Whiting. The result hung on Cliff’s game against Keith. Cliff was ahead by one when time was called, Keith was in position and could have drawn level if his ball had gone all the way through the hoop instead of half way. And so another drawn match, four out of four so far (to paraphrase a well-known slogan).

9 June     v Letchworth (away)     Drew 3-3

Bryan Harral (1) and Peter Aspinall (20) beat Jeremy Scott (4) and Peter Elworth (9) +5T

Tim Brewer (3½) and David Morris (18) beat John Hall (4) and Martin King (12) +17

Bryan Harral lost to Jeremy Scott -9

Tim Brewer lost to John Hall -3

David Morris beat Peter Elworth +5

Peter Aspinall lost to Martin King -9

Report by Bryan Harral

Letchworth has only two lawns but they are a pleasure to play on, flat, level, fast and very easy to go off on – if you see what I mean! In the morning’s doubles Bryan and Peter held on to win by 5 on time. Tim and David also won but were mistakenly given eight bisques by John Hall rather than the 2½ they should have had. Unfortunately the error was not noticed until after the game so at lunch the score was 2-0 to Wrest Park. After scrupulous handicap checking and bisque calculations the afternoon’s singles commenced. In the game between Bryan and Jeremy, part way through Jeremy’s break he noticed to his embarrassment that the clip on his shoe was the opposite colour to the ball he was playing! Whether he had picked up the wrong clip or swapped balls during the break we could not decide so we assumed the former, and he then went on to win. John Hall recovered from the morning’s bisque debacle to beat Tim, Peter, after a long battle lost to Martin, but David’s win made it 3-3 at tea. Not only are Letchworth’s lawns good but their teas are very good too.

11 May     v Enfield (home)     Drew 3-3

Bryan Harral (1) and David Marsh (3) lost to Ken Pickett (3) and Brian Dawes (20) -14

John Bevington (1) and Peter Aspinall (20) beat Brian Havill (18) and Alan Foott (18) +1T

Bryan Harral beat Ken Pickett +3

John Bevington lost to Brian Havill -13

David Marsh beat Alan Foott +11

Peter Aspinall lost to Brian Dawes -15

With bisques in plenty Enfield made the early running in the doubles and won the first game to finish. The other game had a more dramatic finale. With only a few minutes left and no bisques Alan stuck in hoop 5 off partner, who was for the peg, with Peter (for hoop 5) and John (yet to start) joined up. In splitting Peter’s ball to hoop 2 John ended up on the playing side of hoop 5 and peeled Alan’s ball in roqueting it, which meant having to peel Peter through hoop 6 en route to the peg in order to establish a one-point lead. It all worked out in the end, the balls were left near the corners and Alan missed the last shot to give us the win.

The afternoon singles divided 2-2. Bryan pegged Ken out to win +3, and Brian (who won the handicap event at the EACF Champions Day tournament) did the same to John to win with five bisques standing. David earned us the draw when he beat Alan in a game featuring a 20 minute delay to allow him to pick up his children, who returned to take a ride on the visitor bus and share in the teatime cake.

17 April      v Watford (home)     Drew 3-3

Bryan Harral (1) and Cliff Hayes (20) beat Ian Parkinson (1½) and Adam Huby (12) +15

Geoff Strutt (8) and David Morris (18) lost to Quiller Barrett (9) and Robin Barry (10) -1T

Bryan Harral beat Ian Parkinson +14

Geoff Strutt beat Quiller Barrett +13

David Morris lost to Robin Barry -12

Cliff Hayes lost to Adam Huby -1T

Report by Bryan Harral

“There was no wrecks…nobody drownded
ʼFact, nothing to laugh at, at all.”

These lines from The Lion and Albert just about sum up this match, and as a result of some not very good croquet by either side it was 1-1 at lunchtime. The afternoon singles got off to a better start with Bryan and Geoff winning, and when David lost to Robin the chances of a win depended on Cliff and Adam’s game. Scores were level when time was called but Cliff was beaten to the golden hoop. I should mention that Cliff saved us from a whitewash when we played Watford last year!