On Wednesday, 30 May, Chester played against Bury in the first round of the national full lawn association croquet handicap knock-out competition for the Longman Cup. The morning proved a clean sweep for Chester with David Guyton and Paul Watson winning their doubles game against Ken Anderton and Phil Nuttall, and John Dawson and Paul Taylor winning their singles games by narrow margins against Margaret Eccles and Margaret Anderton. Rain forecast for the afternoon arrived early at lunchtime and play became more variable in the four singles games after the lunch break. John Dawson achieved an early win against Ken Anderton but the other three games went to full time. David Guyton gained a comfortable win against Margaret Anderton but Paul Watson lost to Phil Nuttall, last year’s All England association croquet handicap champion who hit another golden streak, and Paul Taylor lost to Margaret Eccles. The overall result was a satisfying 5 – 2 win for Chester who now go forward to face Bowdon in the next round of the competition.
On the same day on adjacent lawns, Chester Chariots faced Southport in the North West Federation level play golf croquet league. Despite the rain in the afternoon, the Chester team of Pat Clare (captain), Roger Edwards and Chris Thomas enjoyed a good day’s croquet but the result was a 7 – 11 loss for Chester.