Club

Croquet

Wrest Park

Beds & Herts League 2024

v St Albans (home)     22 August     drew 3-3

Bryan Harral (-1) and Peter Aspinall (11) lost to Heather Bennett (1) and Mike Hann (16) -17

Peter Rothwell (4) and David Woolley (10) lost to Roger Bowman (9) and Brian Johns (16) -6t

Bryan Harral beat Heather Bennett +20

Peter Rothwell beat Roger Bowman +24

David Woolley beat Brian Johns +1t

Peter Aspinall lost to Mike Hann -7

report by Bryan Harral

Our last match of the 2024 season. No highlights to report this time. After winning the league three years in a row, this year we have finished mid-table. I have tried to give all the AC players a match or two, and as captain I have never had so many willing and able AC players to choose from. Thank you everyone.


v Enfield (away)     22 July     lost 2-4

Peter Rothwell (4½) and Peter Aspinall (11) lost to Thomas Halliday (7) and Nigel Owen (18) -7

George Collin (0) and David Woolley (10) lost to David Frost (4½) and Michael Broadway (9) -17

George Collin beat David Frost +6

Peter Rothwell lost to Thomas Halliday -4

David Woolley beat Michael Broadway +2t

Peter Aspinall lost to Nigel Owen -5t

report by Peter Rothwell

After a trouble free journey, we arrived early and had the full range of weather during the day:  Overcast initially, then some light rain late morning, and much hotter with full sunshine in the afternoon.  It got so warm that Peter R felt it necessary to change into shorts!

In the morning doubles, all four pairings elected to play traditional doubles.  The two Peters initially struggled to adapt to the slow pace of the lawn, fell behind and never quite managed to catch up as Thomas guided the less experienced Nigel through his turns. In the other game, George and David also struggled to make progress with George stuck on 1 back and David having few opportunities to get going, so we were 2-0 down at lunch.

In the afternoon, the lawn assignments for singles were arranged so that the two players with a colour vision deficiency could both play with primaries.  Peter R's game was quite close and he should have won but mis-approached penult from the side on what should have been a finishing turn, leaving it agonisingly short by an inch and too angled to run the hoop. He tried to scatter, but could not separate the balls sufficiently and Thomas hit back in.  With both of his balls for rover, the peelee initially stuck in the jaws, but he hit the following partial jump shot so well that the peelee took some wire and finished just to the side of the hoop, with the striker’s ball dropping down behind and spinning through the hoop to leave an easy rush back to peg!  This secured Enfield’s third match point, guaranteeing them at least a draw.

George then scored our first match point with a win over David F after being faced with a longer than ideal peg out shot.  He carefully arranged it in an east-west direction, with oppo’s balls in corners 1 and 3, but his aim turned out to be perfectly centre stick so the cautious protection of Plan B was not needed.  David W was behind for most of his game against Michael but staged a last minute comeback to sneak ahead by a couple of points during his final turn as time was called, and Michael failed to hit in so WP’s second point was scored.  Peter A was conceding 8 bisques to Nigel which proved a few too many to overcome and Nigel ran out the winner of the final singles game on time.

Unfortunately the overall result of a 2-4 loss for WP means we can't retain our 2023 league title with Enfield now the bookies’ favourite to be this year's winner.


v Northampton (away)     5 July     won 5-1

Tim Brewer (2½) and Peter Rothwell (5) beat Lionel Tibble (-1) and Nick Evans (2) +1t

John Bevington (½) and Peter Aspinall (11) beat Mike Hills (2) and Paul Chard (16) +4t

John Bevington lost to Lionel Tibble -10

Tim Brewer beat Mike Hills +16

Peter Rothwell beat Nick Evans +26

Peter Aspinall beat Paul Chard +15

Tim Brewer in his singles game at Northampton’s new ground at Roade.

Both doubles went to time, and Tim and Peter’s game ended with the scores level and both sides going for the golden hoop. Nick was all set with his ball in the jaws of 2-back, but we hit in and eventually ran 4-back to win. Both Tim and Peter and Mike and Paul elected to play alternate stroke but the others played normally.

John then lost to Lionel’s metronomic accuracy, but Peter R won without Nick taking croquet and, after Tim beat Mike, Peter A overcame Paul’s five bisques for a well deserved win.

Northampton’s new ground is next to the bowls club in the grounds of what was once the old rectory, surrounded by mature trees. The pavilion is in the process of construction, and the lawns played very well considering the relatively short time they have been established.


v Watford (away)     3 June     lost 2-4

George Collin (0) and Peter Rothwell (6) lost to Simon Hathrell (-1) and Andre Machell (5) -1t

Tim Brewer (2½) and Tim Nurse (8) lost to Geoff Johnson (3) and Alan Clark (3½) -1t

George Collin lost to Simon Hathrell -17

Tim Brewer beat Geoff Johnson +18

Peter Rothwell beat Alan Clark +10

Tim Nurse lost to Andre Machell -11

report by Peter Rothwell

The afternoon singles were shared with no really close games, so it really hinged on the morning doubles.  Both doubles games were won with a golden hoop by Watford, so the result could so easily have been the other way around or a draw.

The lawns, not having been mown for a week, were very challenging and extremely slow. Peter really struggled in the morning doubles match with George. Despite this, the scores were level and we were set up and poised for a golden hoop win until Simon hit in from about 25 yards on their final turn after time had run out to scupper our carefully laid plan!

In the other doubles, the two Tims, playing alternate shots, were on penult and rover with their opponents yet to score a point, or so I believe. I don't know any detail of what happened thereafter but it must have been an impressive come-back by the Watford pair.

The match score was already 4 to nil by the time Peter managed to grind out a win in the afternoon, although still not firing on all cylinders. Tim B won shortly afterwards as well to score our second point and salvage a bit of pride.


v Letchworth (home)     18 April     won 5-1

George Collin (-½) and Peter Rothwell (8) beat Keith Rhodes (3½) and Sheila Haggert (20) +1t

John Bevington (1) and Tim Brewer (2½) beat Colin Davies (5) and Stuart Haggert (10) +2t

George Collin lost to Keith Rhodes -9

John Bevington beat Colin Davies +10

Tim Brewer beat Stuart Haggert +16

Peter Rothwell beat Sheila Haggert +21

Fresh white lines, newly powder-coated hoops and some welcome sunshine made it an ideal setting for the first match of the new season, and both doubles went the distance. George and Peter’s game went back and forth until a loud cry announced George’s making the decisive hoop at the last minute. The other game started with the usual flurry before John made a break to rover, after which Colin and Stuart clawed their way back to make it level. Tim had been having a hard time of it but finally got in and, aided with a rover peel, got us home +2.

The top two singles were shared, but Tim and Peter both won comfortably to seal the win. Spare a thought for team organiser Bryan Harral, who was expecting to be with us for tea after visiting family in Dubai but encountered unseasonably wet weather. We also had rain, but it held off until after the match was over.

© Wrest Park Croquet Club