St Albans Croquet Club

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Letchworth 2-4 St Albans - 29th April​​

The team of Heather, Stephen, Brian and Roger travelled to Letchworth for our first match of the season.  It seemed to take most people a while to get back into the swing of things, with all but one of the matches going to time and breaks being a rare commodity. 

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In the morning doubles, an hour in St Albans were well behind in both matches having run 3 hoops in total. However, a rare break by Brian and Stephen from hoop 4 to rover saw them pull out a lead which they maintained to the end, and Heather & Roger managed to pull out a one hoop advantage as time was called, so we were 2-0 up at lunch.

In the afternoon, Heather saw off Brian from Letchworth +10. Stephen's match was a lot closer, with both players failing to make an significant breaks, but a rare 3 hoop break towards the end, and good use of his half bisque when his opponent hit in saw Stephen win the game +4 in time, getting us over the winning line.  Brian's and Roger's games both went to time with Brian nearly (but not quite) catching up his opponent on his last break.

Scores (St Albans names first)

Heather Bennett (2) & Roger Bowman (9) beat Brian Havill (1.5) & David Matthews (2) +1(T)
Stephen Mills (2.5) & Brian Johns (8) beat Keith Rhodes (3) & Stuart Haggett (11) +3(T)
Heather Bennett (2) beat Brian Havill (1.5) +10
Stephen Mills (2.5) beat David Matthews (2) +4(T)
Brian Johns (8) lost to Keith Rhodes (3) -1(T)
Roger Bowman (9) lost to Stuart Haggett (11) -9(T)

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​​​​​Northampton 4-2 St Albans - 3rd June

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In the morning doubles:

• Heather and David, playing alternate shots, had an amazing win over Lionel and James, with the help of some bisques! 

• Brian and Roger, with only 3 bisques, had a struggle against Nick and Jane leaving the score 1-1 at lunchtime.

In the afternoon singles:

• Lionel had a decisive win against Heather whose 2.5 bisques were used in the opening 10 minutes of the game, and there was no stopping Lione!

• Brian’s game against Nick had a tense finish, when Nick narrowly missed beating Brian’s 19 hoops in his final turn. 

• Roger had run 15 hoops when the bisques ran out, and James finally got in to play. In his final turn before time was called, he overtook Roger, winning by 7 hoops.

• The game between David and Jane was neck-and-neck all the way through, with Jane winning +1 on time.

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Scores (St Albans names first)

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Heather Bennett (1.5) and David Levy (16) beat Lionel Tibble (-1) and James Skelton (2) +15
Brian Johns (8) and Roger White (14) lost to Nick Evans (2) and Jane Evans (14) -18T

Heather Bennett (1.5) lost to Lionel Tibble (-1) -24
Brian Johns (8) beat Nick Evans (2) +1(T)
Roger White (14) lost to James Skelton (2) -7
David Levy (16) lost to Jane Evans (14) -1(T)

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Wrest Park 5-1 St Albans - 10th July

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The team of Heather, Stephen, Roger W and David travelled to Wrest Park in heatwave conditions.  The long spell of dry weather had made the lawns very fast, and emphasised the (minor) slopes on the lawn which made approaching hoops (particularly from the side) very difficult. This led to the majority of the games going to time.

In the morning doubles Heather & Roger's opponents caught up as time was called, and left themselves with an angled hoop if they got another chance.  With the go after time Heather laid-up directly in front of the hoop to increase the pressure, but Wrest Park were able to run their hoop and win on the golden hoop.  In the other doubles game, Stephen &
David pulled out a small lead in a game of few breaks.  Although the lead went up and down were able to maintain it until time ran out, leaving the scores level at lunch.

The afternoon didn't workout so well for St Albans!  Heather & Stephen lost as their opponents managed to make decent breaks on the fast lawns (we'll claim that the home team advantage made the difference!). David's game again went to time, with his opponent using his GC skills to hit-in and run hoops more regularly and hence build up a significant lead.

Roger's singles game was similar to his doubles game.  His opponent caught up as time was called, but laid up well.  Roger missed on his attempt to hit in with the go after time, and his opponent ran the hoop to win on the golden hoop.

Wrest Park's clean sweep of the singles meant we lost 5-1.

Scores (St Albans names first)

Heather Bennett (1) & Roger White (14) lost to Peter Rothwell (-0.5) &
Ross Bagni (10) -1T (Golden Hoop)
Stephen Mills (3) & David Levy (16) beat Tim Brewer (3) & Tim Nurse (5) +4T

Heather Bennett (1) lost to Peter Rothwell (-0.5) -23
Stephen Mills (3) lost to Tim Brewer (3) -20
Roger White (14) lost to Tim Nurse (5) -1T (Golden Hoop)
David Levy (16) lost to Ross Bagni (10) -17T​​

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Watford 3-3 St Albans - 25th July

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We travelled to Watford for our penultimate game of the season, with five of Ross's family and friends cheering us on at various points through the day.

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Roger and Mike got us off to a good start, pegging out for a +8 victory. Jon and Ross were slower to get going but managed to build a lead and hang on for a +4 win on time. 2-0 to St Albans at lunch.

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In the afternoon singles, Jon lost with ninety minutes still on the clock, giving Watford their first win. Roger fared much better, winning +16 with a bisque still standing, to guarantee us at least a draw.

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The remaining singles both went to time. Ross had used his bisques early to build a lead, but an all-round break from his opponent proved decisive. Mike's was the closest game of the day, losing by just two hoops to leave the match drawn 3-3.  

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Scores (St Albans names first)

Jon Palin (0.5) & Ross Raftery (18) beat Nick Archer (0.5) & David Robinson (10) +4(T)

Roger Bowman (9) & Mike Hann (12) beat Jonathan Lambton (4) & Ian Davidson (9) +8

Jon Palin (0.5) lost to Nick Archer (0.5) -18

Roger Bowman (9) beat Jonathan Lambton (4) +16

Mike Hann (12) lost to Ian Davidson (9) -2(T)

Ross Raftery (18) lost to David Robinson (10) -8(T)

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St Albans 1-5 Enfield - 23rd September

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Roger Bowman (8) and Mike Hann (12) lost to David Frost (6) and Nigel Owen (18) 13-14T
Playing conditions were difficult. The surface, although mostly green and cropped, was rough and
uneven in speed. A 1-metre attempted roquet shot of Mike’s jumped over the target ball, and gentle
shots approaching a hoop tended to meander or roll further than expected, making the hoop
unplayable. The lawn became faster through the day, a common phenomenon.
Roger and Mike, playing alternate shots, took an early lead of a couple of hoops which they
maintained for most of the match. They played some over-ambitious shots, however, enabling David
(using the team bisques) to make several hoops so that he and Nigel, playing separate balls, were
able to create a small lead. St Albans almost caught up, with a break after time was called, but could
not maintain it.
 

Brian Johns (9) and Roger White (14) lost to Michael Broadway (9) and Colin Carver (16) 10-13T
Facing the same conditions as the other doubles game, Brian and Roger kept pace with their
opponents for much of the match, neither side being able to put a break together. However, the
home team gradually acclimatised to the lawn better than Brian and Roger and pulled ahead with a
short lead which they held to the completion of time
 

Roger Bowman (8) beat David Frost (6) 13-8T
Roger played a lower-risk game than in the morning. This paid dividends, in the form of a gradually-
increasing lead then a 6-hoop break. David could not find consistency and even though Roger also
lost his fluency, he managed to hold on to his lead until the end of the allotted time.
 

Brian Johns (9) lost to Michael Broadway (9) 9-20T
Brian continued to struggle with the pace and slope of the lawn, to the extent that nearly every time
he gained the innings, a croquet sent off the boundary quickly handed it back to his opponent, who
gradually started to master the conditions and built up a comfortable lead, albeit via individual
hoops rather than any breaks.
 

Mike Hann (12) lost to Colin Carver (16) 16-24T
From the start, Mike’s opponent successfully used his bisques to build up a 10 hoop lead, which
Mike was never able to claw back

Roger White (14) lost to Nigel Owen (18) 8-17T
Again affected by the conditions, the match started very evenly, and was level at 8 hoops each half
way through the time. However, Nigel held back most of his bisques to eventually open up an
unassailable lead.