Club
Croquet
Wrest Park
Mary Rose 2013
11 September v Nottingham (away) Lost 3-
Bryan Harral (½) and David Marsh (½) lost to Ian Vincent (0) and Richard Huxley (0) -
John Bevington (1) lost to Peter Death (3) -
Tim Brewer (3½) lost to Omeid Hallam (1½) -
Bryan Harral lost to Ian Vincent -
David Marsh beat Richard Huxley +16
John Bevington beat Omeid Hallam +22
Tim Brewer beat Peter Death +5
Report by Bryan Harral and John Bevington
Things did not start well but in a remarkable turn of events the outcome was on a knife-
Our thanks to Nottingham for hosting the match and their kind hospitality, and especially to Martin Beacon for a lunch of coq au vin with all the trimmings, including wine, and a choice of desserts.
John adds: My morning game was littered with unforced errors: taking off long or short, mishits, you name it, and when Peter did stick in a hoop it always seemed to be off his own ball. When we pegged it down my clips were on 1-
When we restarted it looked as though the game could go on until dark, but Peter got round to peg and peg and pegged one out. Having hit the lift I managed to hold him off for a while but failed 3-
6 August v Letchworth (away) Won 4-
David Marsh (½) and Eric Audsley (1) beat David Tutt (0) and Ian Mantle (2) +22
John Bevington (1) lost to Terry Mahoney (2) -
Bryan Harral (1) beat John Hall (6) +9
John Bevington beat John Hall +24
Bryan Harral lost to Terry Mahoney -
Eric Audsley lost to Ian Mantle -
David Marsh beat David Tutt +14
Team captains will know the feeling. You have used up all your powers in merely getting a team together, and then one of them has the temerity to get his handicap reduced, thus taking your team’s total below the maximum limit. Thankfully the Regulations for Tournaments (H1f) allow a week’s grace, so all was well.
The result of the doubles game was decisive, but both singles were much closer. John Bevington was ahead until Terry found his rhythm and went round in two turns, finishing soon afterwards. John Hall set off like a train, but Bryan managed to apply the brakes and got home first. Terry’s good form (how could he do this to his ex-
28 June v Chester (away) Won 4-
Bryan Harral (1) and John Bevington (1) lost to Mark Lloyd (½) and Jerry Guest (1½) -
David Marsh (1½) beat David Guyton (6) +9
Tim Brewer (3½) beat Dennis Graham (4½) +2
Bryan Harral beat Mark Lloyd +18
John Bevington v Jerry Guest abandoned
David Marsh best Dennis Graham +12
Tim Brewer v David Guyton abandoned
After a very wet drive up to Chester it was a relief to find the rain had stopped before play began. The doubles was scrappy to begin with, but an intended wide join which drifted down the slope to leave the balls much closer than had been intended gave Jerry the opportunity to go to 4-
The rain reappeared soon after lunch and got steadily worse, so when David had beaten Dennis to give Wrest Park a winning lead it was agreed to abandon the remaining games. Chester would in all probability have won at least one of these, as Jerry had just conceded the innings when on peg and peg against 2-
Many thanks to Chester for their hospitality and the excellent lawns. The club also has an excellent system for storing and transporting hoops and equipment using adapted wheelybins, which we might well consider for ourselves.
© Wrest Park Croquet Club