Ealing Croquet Club

It was the Ealing team’s turn to host The Hurlingham Club in an AC friendly match on Friday 5 May, a pleasantly warm day with only a brief shower.  In the morning doubles, Carole and Roger never really got going against Martin Read and John Culhane, and lost 26-5.  The other doubles match, however, was very well balanced, with Tony and Simon Turner playing against Veronica Carlisle and Ludolph Van Hasselt.  The final turn after time expired left the position level, and after a few tense further turns, Simon managed to run the ‘golden hoop’ for a 20-19 victory.

After a convivial lunch, the afternoon singles matches were played. Carole had an excellent break early in the match, and then clung onto her lead to beat John 22-21 on time.  Tony had mysteriously tweaked a thigh muscle during the lunch break, and his discomfort was increased by some good breaks from Veronica, who duly won 26-12.  On the other court, Simon fought successfully against Ludolph and his bisques to win 26-16.  This left the match between Roger and Martin as the last game in play.  As time expired, the score was 15-15; they both agreed that such a close match did not deserve a loser, so they sportingly agreed to a draw.  Thus the final score was 3½ -2½ to Ealing; a good day was had by all.

Article: Tony Elliott