2020 Mary Rose final 11 April

Notes from manager and referee George Collin

Nottingham - captain, Alex McIntyre 2.5, Dave Gunn 1, Mike Hedge 2.5, Sophie McGlen 3.

High Wycombe - captain, Mike Porter 0, Chris Roberts 0, Keith Pound 2, Richard Peperell 3.

The final should have been played at Surbiton last October but was cancelled due to flooded lawns.

Calm before the storm - Nottingham ponder their next move in the doubles.

Morning singles one each. A close doubles to Nottingham after 4.5 hours - not unusual for a Mary Rose match. A quick win by Sophie in her afternoon singles set an example that the others still struggled to follow. So they had to persevere, as the weather, carried on a chill north wind, deteriorated, including hail.

I didn't quite follow who was who but on lawn one it was possibly Alex (but it may have been Mike H) who pegged out Keith Pound, when Keith's other ball was for one-back (now aka hoop 7) and Alex's other ball was still for hoop 1.

A prolonged pegged-out game ensued. Keith only managed one hoop. Eventually he caught a hoop on a long shot, allowing Alex to suddenly sprint on a three-ball break from 3-back (now aka hoop 9) to peg. But, in his enthusiasm, he overdid the rush to stick and carried on for some turns - always declining every opportunity to peg out just one ball, despite a five hoop lead. Then, without much lining up, he suddenly pegged out both his balls in one long roll shot, which would have given Keith half a chance, had it failed. 

 By now it was after 5:30, cold and wet. It didn't take much to persuade the top two singles to abandon their games, giving Nottingham a 4-1 win. Of course, as soon as the players departed, the sun came out, the wind dropped and it was a perfect evening.

The Mary Rose trophy

Pegging out in the doubles

Sophie heading for 3-back

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