Author: David Guyton

It was another busy week for Chester Croquet Club with two national competitions, a mid week match and a social event at Westminster Park.

On Thursday, 29 June, a Bowdon team came to play at Chester in the midweek association croquet handicap league. The Chester team was Brian Walton (captain), Helen Brophy, Sally Slater and Paul Watson. It was a sunny but cool morning and the lawns were in good condition after some recent rain, and soon dried with the breeze and sun as the day progressed.

The morning doubles match was a closely fought battle with Chester just failing to get the final hoop after a break of 5 hoops to win the game, leaving Bowdon with an easy hit in to take the match with the last shot. Honours were shared in the two single games, both of which provided a considerable bisque advantage to our opponents, leaving Chester with a 1- 2 deficit at lunch. In the afternoon two games each were won, with Sally Slater just winning her game on the golden hoop, so the final score was Bowdon 4 Chester 3.

Then on Saturday, 1 July, Chester Croquet Club attended the Westminster Park Residents’ Association Coronation Picnic and Fun Day. The extremely well organised event was held at Westminster Park Community Centre and Belgrave School and attracted many residents and visitors.

Chester Croquet Club members set up a croquet lawn that was a quarter of the normal competition size. Participants, both adult and junior, had to hit a ball around six hoops with the winners being those who scored the least number of shots.

Volunteers from the club Rhia, Benita, Jill, Doreen, Dave and Sarah accompanied the competitors and ensured there was a correct count of shots. The volunteers were busy all afternoon as over 60 rounds were played with participants being aged 3 to senior!

The competition was fierce with Chester Croquet Club players also having a go. In the end the winners played great rounds and Erin won the junior competition with 14 hoops in total and Jane the senior competition with 13 hoops in total. Well done to both participants as they were fantastic scores.

There were mixed fortunes for the teams competing in two national inter- club competitions during the same weekend.

A short lawn association croquet team of Derek Bell-Jones, Nigel Worthington, John Hampson and Robert Jones travelled to York on Saurday, 1 July, for their second round tie. Despite Robert Jones winning all three of his games and some very close matches, the final score was 7-4 to York.

On the follwing day, Sunday, 2 July, in the golf level play inter- club competition held at Chester against Bowdon, the team of Tom Grievson (captain), David Boyd, Mark Lloyd and John Hampson were facing a much stronger Bowdon team when looking at the respective handicaps. However, the Chester team played extremely well and won 4-3. Chester now go on to play Hurlingham in the semi-final.

Llanfairfechan hosted Chester at the first Snowdonia Cup golf handicap match on Friday, 16 June. The weather was lovely, sunny and warm with slight cloud at times but much more comfortable than in previous days during the heatwave of the last week!

Jim Hughes enjoyed his debut and was a great asset to the team along with Rick Davies, Kerry Dadson and Jude Wise (Captain). The Llanfairfechan lawns were rather challenging, undulating in parts with longer grass than Chester so slower, but all played well and Chester took the lead by 5-3 at lunch time.

Chester was in the lead 8-7 when everyone had completed their games except Kerry, so it was a nail biting wait for the final result, but Kerry excelled by winning all of his games resulting in the final score of Chester 9 and Llanfairfechan 7.

After beating Southport 4 – 3 in the first round of the national Longman Cup association croquet handicap competition on 19 May, Chester played away against Fylde in the second round on Saturday, 17 June. The Chester team for this match was David Boyd (captain), Helen Brophy, David Guyton and Brian Walton. Under a grey sky and adjusting to rather variable lawn conditions, they found themselves up against stiff competition from Fylde and by lunchtime were down 0 – 3 having lost the doubles game and two singles games in the morning. To retrieve the match, Chester needed to win all four of the singles games in the afternoon. However, it was not to be and Chester succeeded in winning only one when David Guyton beat Fylde’s lowest handicap player. The final result was a 6 – 1 win for Fylde. On losing matches at Chester Fylde have been known to question the handicaps of some Chester players and a reciprocal sentiment might have been felt on this occasion. Nevertheless, the games were played in good spirit and Fylde were generous in providing lunch with strawberries and ice cream followed by an iced lolly at the end of the afternoon.

On the following day, Sunday, 18 June, the club held one of its monthly social fundays for members and friends. After the blazing sun and high temperatures earlier in the week, the cloudier sky and gentle breeze provided ideal conditions for light refreshments and a few friendly rounds of croquet.

A busy week of croquet competition began with a Murphy Shield level play golf croquet match against Leicester at home on Tuesday, 6 June. Chester had earlier gained a walk-over win against Durham to get into the second round match of this national competition. The Leicester team arrived after a fairly long, arduous journey, but soon adapted to the vagaries of the sloping lawns and challenged the Chester team of Tom Grievson (captain), John Hampson, Sally Slater and Brian Lussey throughout the seven rubbers.

A very closely contested doubles game, which went to three golden hoops, saw Chester leading 3-0 at lunch. Another two rubbers were comfortably won in the afternoon and one game was drawn, giving a final score of 5-1 to Chester, who go on to meet Branston, Lincolnshire, on a neutral ground in the next round.

The following Thursday, 8 June, saw Chester’s two level play golf croquet teams in action. The Centurions played Bury away and the Chariots played Southport at home. The Chariots had a good day’s play even though it was a bit hot in the afternoon. Games were closely fought, the final score being Southport 11 and Chester 7. Meanwhile, at Bury the Centurions team of Tom Grievson (captain), Rick Davies and Mark Lloyd won convincingly by 16 games to 2.

Then, on Saturday, 10 June, Chester Senators played handicap golf croquet against the Llanfairfechan Pioneers at home. A gazebo was erected to provide shade from the expected very hot and sultry day and Chester’s strong team got off to a very good start by winning all but one of the first eight games. Chester’s Rick Davies and Ian Shaw continued with their winning ways and both ended the day with clean sheets and handicap rewards. Jude Wise and Sandy Grievson also had a good day with each losing only one of their games during the day. The final score was Chester 15 and Llanfairfechan 3.

Next, on Sunday, 11 June, Chester Tribunes travelled to Llanfairfechan to play their Dragons handicap golf croquet team. The weather started sunny although there was a sea fret which masked the sea views along the coast and the much anticipated sight of Puffin Island. Chester dominated the doubles with David Johnson (captain) and Brian Lussey winning 7 hoops to 4, and Laurence Cole and Sarah Clements also winning their doubles game 7 hoops to 4. Play then turned to the singles games as the Avanti trains rattled along the adjacent rail track. Special mention goes to Laurence Cole for winning three of his four singles games for Chester, and congratulations go to the Llanfairfechan Dragons team for winning the match overall, 12 games to 6.

On Sunday, 4  June, Bury Caesars arrived at Chester on another gloriously sunny day to play in a weekend North West Federation league match for handicap association croquet. Robin Tasker captained the Chester side with Sally Slater, Helen Brophy and David Boyd playing.

Both singles games were won in the morning but the doubles game was lost in a low scoring game, giving Chester a narrow lead of 2 – 1 by lunchtime.

After refreshment and rehydration, Chester managed to squeeze ahead in the four singles games in the afternoon winning 3 – 1 although Helen Brophy and and Robin Tasker had to work hard to dig out their wins while Sally Slater pegged out for the second time in the day.

The final result was a 5 -2 win for Chester giving the club a winning start to the weekend association croquet handicap season. But if the dry, sunny weather holds for much longer, lawn conditions will become much, much more erratic and exciting!

Wednesday, 24 May, was a lovely day for two NW Federation level play golf croquet league matches.

The first was between Chester Chariots and Bury, which was thoroughly enjoyed by both teams. At lunch time the Chester team was just in front by 5 games to 4, but clearly found fresh resources after lunch, winning seven of the nine games in the afternoon, giving a final result of 12 – 6. The team of Rick Davies (captain), Chris Thomas and Kerry Dadson, playing in his first level play league match, can be justly proud of their victory against a strong Bury side.

Away at Southport on the same day, the Chester Centurions team of Tom Grievson, Mark Lloyd and Sally Slater also had a successful day, winning 11 games to 7. Mark Lloyd was the star player, winning 5 of his 6 games.

Then on Saturday, 27 May, the club fielded a team against Bury in the NW Federation Advanced B Level league. Representing Chester were  Brian Walton (captain), Elmyr Hughes and David Boyd. The team arrived at Bury   on a glorious sunny morning to find a recently cut lawn in good condition. It was a little damp in the shaded areas but with the sunshine promised, we were sure it would soon dry and became fast and challenging, which proved to be true, with the added fun of the hoops appearing to get shrink as the day progressed.

The morning doubles match featured several full lawn roquets but making breaks proved more difficult. Paul Kenworthy, captain of the Bury team,  managed a couple of good breaks to take his ball around to peg and then assisted Phil Nuttall in getting his ball to a position to take the game as time expired. Meanwhile in the singles, Elmyr Hughes of Chester won a closely fought game against Ged Smolskas by a narrow margin with some excellent precision play.

Just prior to lunch the teams were rewarded with a fly past by the RAF Memorial Flight, right over the lawns, comprising a Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane, which stopped play for a few moments but well worth it.

In the afternoon in increasingly warmer conditions, Elmyr continued his good form with victory over Paul, David Boyd had to contend with Ged, who was keen to recover from his morning loss and with some good play and fortune was able to stop David getting momentum in the game and he eventually pegged out, Brian Walton overcame Phil by a narrow margin in a closely fought game with minimal breaks and plenty of hoop blobs.

The final result was a hard fought 3 – 2 win for Chester with many thanks to Bury for their hospitality, good weather and air display.

Finally, on Sunday, 28 May, the short lawn league was in contention when Chester played away at Bowdon. It was a mainly sunny day and the Chester team of Derek Bell-Jones (captain), Sally Slater, Helen Brophy and Nigel Worthington made a decisive start, winning 6 games out of 8 in the morning. The games after lunch were much more hotly contested with two going to the golden hoop and it was neck and neck until the final two games which Chester won, giving the final score of 9-7.

Overall, a good week for Chester with four wins in three leagues over five days.

It may not yet be the warmest and driest summer but lawn watering has begun! After the council repaired and upgraded the main pumping system from the pond on the golf course in Westminster Park, a hardy group of volunteers wheeled out the hose and sprinkler on Saturday evening, 27 May. And, after five years of recurrent problems and parched lawns, it worked!

Sixteen ladies from the Chester Trefoil Guild came to the club on a sunny  evening on Thursday, 25 May, to have a fun evening of croquet. Volunteer members Paul Taylor, Chris Slater, Jill Foley and Sally Slater took them through their paces.

The group first learned a little about the history of croquet and the game, then were shown how to hold and swing a mallet and hit balls and run hoops, before ending the session with a game of golf croquet.

The evening finished with refreshments in the pavilion. The ladies were very appreciative of their introduction to croquet and really enjoyed it.

 

 

Having won the national knockout competition for the Secretary’s Shield trophy in 2022, Chester’s association croquet team was automatically given the opportunity to compete for the trophy again for the 2023 season with Sheffield being drawn as the opponent in the first round. Although a ‘home’ match for Sheffield, it was agreed to play at the neutral ground of Bury on Sunday, 21 May.

The morning session, of a doubles and two singles games did not go well for the Chester team of Richard Smith, Mark Lloyd, David Boyd (captain) and Brian Walton, as Sheffield won all three of these games to take a commanding 3 – 0 lead by lunchtime. So, with the four singles games to be played in the afternoon, Chester still had a chance to reverse the score. However,  the relative handicaps of the two teams meant that Chester were giving away 66 extra shots during the day. This proved too challenging a task and enabled Sheffield to add three more games to their tally, resulting in a final match score of Sheffield 6 v Chester 1, thus denying Chester the opportunity to have their name on the trophy for two successive years.

Thanks to Bury for hosting the match.

Chester Croquet Club was drawn to play against Southport and Birkdale in the first round of the 2023 Longman Cup, a national inter-club knockout competition. This was played at Chester on Friday, 19 May. Chester was represented by David Boyd (captain), David Guyton, Nigel Worthington and in his very first Association Croquet match, John Hampson. Despite having ‘home advantage’, the morning session of the doubles and two singles did not go in Chester’s favour and by lunchtime Southport had taken a lead of 2 games to 1, Nigel being Chester’s only winner.

Apart from one of the four singles in the afternoon, the scoring remained very  tight with the final scores being within one or two points between the winners and losers. But Chester prevailed and managed to turn the tables on Southport, so, including a vital win by John, who was giving away 2 extra points to an experienced opponent, this gave Chester a victory of 4 games to Southport’s 3.

Chester now goes through to the second round to play against the winner of the Fylde v Tyneside match.

The next day on  a sunny and warm Saturday, 20 May, the Chester Tribunes croquet team were hosts to Southport in a North West Croquet Federation handicap golf coquet match. The team was Lawrence Cole, David Johnson, John Hampson and Brian Lussey. Both teams were fairly evenly matched at the start and Southport took an early lead. But as the day progressed Southport were gradually worn down by the consistency of the Chester players. After lunch Chester drew steadily ahead to finish the day with a solid victory winning  12 games to Southport’s 6. Chester’s Laurence Cole swept the board by winning all of his singles games.

On Sunday, 21 May, another Chester Tribunes golf croquet team of Sarah Clements, Kerry Dadson, Doreen Curtis and Arnie Bamford welcomed the golf croquet team from Craig-y-Don. The day started warm although overcast and gave way to blue sky and cooling winds in the afternoon. A perfect day to play croquet and the competition was very closely fought with Chester Tribunes finally winning 10 games to 8.

The morning session started with doubles games and Chester’s Arnie and Sarah beat husband and wife team Linda and Alan in a close match. Meanwhile Roger and Nick from Craig-y-Don won another closely fought match against Chester’s Kerry and Doreen. The singles games were all closely contested and special mention goes to Alan from Craig-y-Don and Arnie and Kerry from Chester Tribunes who all won three games each.

As well as the 6 – 1 win against Tyneside in the first round of the national Mary Rose competition for advanced association croquet, there were some great individual successes during the week, with Richard Smith winning the 14 point advanced association silver salver at Shrewsbury. This was  Richard’s fifth win of the trophy. Sarah Clements won the shield competition at a golf croquet C level competition held at Ryde on the Isle of Wight, with Tom Grievson winning the shield at the B level.