Cornwall Croquet Club

Sat 17 Aug 2013 - SWF B League, Semi Final B (Played at Cornwall CC)

Cornwall v Nailsea SE

With the weather forecast full of foreboding of heavy rain and gales lasting most of the day, our 'B' League side took to the lawns at Porthpean thinking "Deja vu", and that, if they could play on flooded lawns, as in last year's final, they could cope with heavy rain and wind. As it turned out, the rain held off until about 11.00 am and was heavy for a while and then eased off to intermittent showers.

So, the morning games of a doubles and two singles progressed well, except that Cornwall seemed to be going backwards. At the lunch break, we had lost the two singles but had triumphed by 14 to 9 when Jenny pegged out in the doubles after apparently wasting the last bisque by not running hoop 6 by literally a hair's breadth. The opponents were jubilant and were preparing to clear the balls from hoop 6 when Ron had a stroke of sheer enlightenment and pointed out that Jenny's ball was in contact with its partner ball and that therefore she had roqueted that ball and should take croquet from it. That enabled Jenny to peg out and leave Cornwall the task of just winning 3 of the 4 afternoon singles matches.

The rain stopped while we had lunch, but came on again once we started the afternoon session. However, we didn't get the promised heavy rain and gales. The afternoon was a tale of missed opportunities and only Jenny came close to winning any of the singles when she twice got stuck in hoop 5 with a good chance to peg out, only to be the victim of the somewhat un-gentlemanly conduct of her opponent who, on both occasions, knocked the ball out! He then went on to win, making the overall score 6 to Nailsea and 1 to Cornwall.

So, our dreams of winning the cup for a third successive time had come to nought, but the games were played in good spirit and we all enjoyed the day, if not the weather and the result. The good news is that, by not getting into the final, Ron does not have to re-organise the club Golf Singles Tournament, which is on the same day as the 'B'League final at Swindon.

Final Score: Cornwall 1 Nailsea 6

Repport by Ron George.