Beds & Herts League 2015
















v Letchworth (home)     28 August    Drew 3-3

Bryan Harral (0) and John Tew (9) lost to David Mathews (6) and Robert Staddon (12) -2T

David Woolley (8) and Geoff Strutt (9) beat Keith Rhodes (3) and Peter Ross (14) +4T

Bryan Harral beat Keith Rhodes +9

David Woolley lost to David Mathews -5T

Geoff Strutt beat Robert Staddon +3T

John Tew lost to Peter Ross -7T

Report by Bryan Harral

The last match of the season and Wrest Park and Letchworth are fighting for bottom place in the league! Then I had a dream; with a slight bending of the rules and silver crossing palms we import Reg Fulford, he plays all the opponents at once, rather like a chess grand master, wins all the games somehow and I report that Wrest Park won 6-0. I wake up, there is no rule bending, I have no money and there is no Reg Fulford.

In reality, the match was surprisingly close. John Tew, playing his first competitive croquet for four years, should be pleased with himself, apart from a senior moment when he went for entirely the wrong hoop in his singles match. Geoff did his usual trick of finding his form three-quarters of the way through the game and snatched two victories. The overall result, 3-3, gave both teams one point and miraculously lifted us Lazarus-like off the bottom of the table.

Finally, a warm thank you to everyone who has played in the team this year and despite our ups and downs I hope you have enjoyed the matches as much as I have.










v Enfield (away)     7 August      Lost 1-5

Bryan Harral (0) and Peter Aspinall (14) lost to Ken Pickett (2.5) and David Frost (7) -7

David Woolley (7) and Geoff Strutt (9) lost to Brian Havill (3) and Tony Elliott (6) -17

Bryan Harral lost to Ken Pickett -19

David Woolley lost to Brian Havill -15

Geoff Strutt (9) beat Tony Elliott +10

Peter Aspinall lost to David Frost -8

Report by Bryan Harral

Headmaster’s report: Could do better! We had the bisques but they had the local knowledge. We have the A6, they have a very noisy children’s playground and it’s difficult to ignore screaming children. It was always a tall order to beat the Enfield team who are top of the league, but we didn’t expect to be beaten quite so comprehensively. Thankfully Geoff saved us from a whitewash.


v Watford (away)     9 July     Drew 3-3

Bryan Harral (0) and Peter Aspinall (14) lost to John Bee (4½) and Robin Barry (9) -1T

David Woolley (7) and Geoff Strutt (9) lost to Alan Clark (5) and André Machell (16) -12

Bryan Harral beat John Bee +4

David Woolley lost to Alan Clark -1T

Geoff Strutt beat Robin Barry +5

Peter Aspinall beat André Machell +2T

Report by Bryan Harral

What a change from previous years when we have been routinely thrashed by Watford. Peter only found his form after 2¾ hours so we were narrowly defeated in the doubles. In the afternoon we were set to win all the singles until Alan Clark played a spectacular break to snatch victory from David. A good result on tricky lawns, where Watford had the local knowledge.


v Northampton (home)     16 June     Drew 3-3

Bryan Harral (0) and Peter Aspinall (14) lost to James Skelton (2) and Richard Cain (9) -1T

John Bevington (1) and David Woolley (8) beat Peter Stansfield (3) and Mel Christie (20 +6T

Bryan Harral lost to James Skelton -26

John Bevington beat Peter Stansfield +18

David Woolley beat Richard Cain +23

Peter Aspinall lost to Mel Christie -12

Honours were even in this local derby. In the doubles Bryan and Peter lost narrowly but John managed a decent break during which time was called and the final shot was missed.

Bryan and David’s games on lawn 1 were quickly lost and won by large margins. John then won after Peter attempted to stop his remaining ball for the peg away while getting position for hoop 5 himself, but something went wrong and the ball ended up a few feet from the peg. Mel eventually got the better of Peter after a long struggle (was it on time? Do we care?). Honour was satisfied, and after copious amounts of cake, so were we.


v St Albans (home)     28 May     Won 4-2

Bryan Harral (0.5) and Peter Aspinall (16) lost to Chris Frost (5) and Roger Bowman (18) -5

David Woolley (7) and Geoff Strutt (9) lost to Heather Bennett (7) and Derek Lambert (18) -16T

Bryan Harral beat Chris Frost +15

David Woolley beat Heather Bennett +3T

Geoff Strutt beat Roger Bowman +3T

Peter Aspinall beat Derek Lambert +4T

Report by Bryan Harral

This is better, although it did not start well. In the doubles Bryan was double peeled out by Chris, leaving Peter struggling to pick up a break. David and Geoff had a scrappy game and eventually also lost. 0-2 at lunch. Was this going to be a repeat of the last match?

The afternoon’s singles were played on freshly mown lawns courtesy of John Bevington and, despite giving bisques in all but the David v Heather game, a rejuvenated WP made a clean sweep. Bryan’s win earned him a handicap reduction to scratch. Geoff snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by, as he said, tightening his grip and NOT letting his pesky mallet do its own thing! And well played David and Peter who clearly kept their mallets well under control.


v Melgrave (away)     20 May     Lost 0-4

Bryan Harral (0.5) and Peter Aspinall (16) lost to Duncan Hector (-1) and Robert Skeen (7) -26

Geoff Strutt (9) lost to Terry Mahoney (0.5) -11

Bryan Harral and Geoff Strutt lost to Duncan Hector and Terry Mahoney -6

Peter Aspinall lost to Robert Skeen -17

Report by Bryan Harral

Our first match of 2015. How else can I put this, they played well and we didn’t. Whether it was first match nerves or the bleating from the sheep paddock next door that upset us I don’t know, but in the words of the song “things can only get better”. On a lighter note we were treated to all the sheepish puns you can think of, and a very generous tea.

© Wrest Park Croquet Club  

Doubles

Singles


P

W

L

P

W

L

Bryan Harral

7

0

7

5

3

2

Peter Aspinall

5

0

5

5

2

3

Geoff Strutt

5

1

4

5

4

1

David Woolley

5

2

3

5

2

3

John Bevington

1

1

0

1

1

0

John Tew

1

0

1

1

0

1

On a sunny day marked by spectacular cloud formations, Letchworth’s Robert Staddon tries to get a break going after running the first hoop in his singles game. Looking on are (l-r) David Woolley, David Matthews and Geoff Strutt.

Club

Croquet

Wrest Park