Ealing Croquet Club

This ‘friendly’ match, organised to give newer members a chance to visit another club and experience playing in a match, turned out to be a closely fought contest.

Following the Croquet South East H League format, the team of Tom H, Colin H, Steve H and Jane Pepe were neck and neck with Surbiton with 3 wins each after the first 2 rounds. So we stopped for a very convivial and delicious lunch provided by our hosts, with all to play for in the afternoon.

Then back to battle! With 1 win each after the first 2 games of the 3rd round we held our breath as it went down to the last 2 hoops in the final game. It could have gone either way, but in the end Surbiton pipped us to the post. But the welcome and hospitability were superb, the lawns, although having clearly also suffered in the dry weather, had fared better than at Ealing and had plenty of lush green on them, while the weather was sunny and bright all day. We left vowing revenge for the return match at Ealing!

Report Lindy Jordan