Category: SECF Tournament

In a thoroughly convincing performance over the weekend of 1-2 July The Ryde team of Roy Tillcock (Capt), Andrew Larpent, Stuart Peters, Pam Sim and Jonathan Smith won all four test matches against the other teams (from three clubs) that were competing.

The weather over the weekend was good and the Southwick lawns playing well, so it was really unfortunate that more clubs could not be persuaded to take part. As it was, the two days were a fairly relaxed affair with 10 rounds played over the weekend, with each test match consisting of two doubles and six single level play 13pt games.

The full test match results are:

Ryde: beat East Dorset 7-1, Royal Tunbridge Wells 7-1, Sussex A 7-1 and Sussex B 6-2

Sussex B: beat East Dorset 6-2, Sussex A 5-3 and tied with Royal Tunbridge Wells

Sussex A: beat East Dorset 5-3 and tied with Royal Tunbridge Wells

Royal Tunbridge Wells: tied with East Dorset, Sussex A and Sussex B

East Dorset: tied with Royal Tunbridge Wells

Thanks to John Low for managing the competition and to Fran Box, Rosemary Faulkner, Linda Gavigan and Chrissie Isaacs for the catering.

The Surbiton 2 team won this event beating Ramsgate at the Doubles golden hoop.

The event was managed as a block of the six entered teams, with a play-off after the completion of the block. The scores after the play-offs remained in the same order as after the block stage, leaving Surbiton 2 as the winners.

The outstanding player of the tournament was Todd Ballantine of Ramsgate who played more like a -2 than a 1 – definitely one to watch out for in the future.

The complete results are on Croquetscores.

Martin Burger (Manager)
Bracknell

Very many thanks to Martin for managing this competitions so expertly.

The flagship tournament of the South East Federation returned this year. The first time without any restrictions since 2019.

The event is divided into three divisions and the first to be played was Division 2 South which took place at Sussex County Croquet Club on the 11th/12th June. The other two divisions, Division 1 and Division 2 North, will be played over the next few weeks.

The weather was perfect and the lawns immaculate as always. Nine teams had entered, but one had to withdraw at the last minute due to several team members contracting Covid. This meant a complete change in the format for the two days but it did mean that there did not have to be a bye in each round. Each team had to play two matches each against the opposing teams with each match consisting of one doubles game and two singles games.

What followed was a very intense couple of days with a lot of croquet being played. In fact over the two days 168 games of croquet were played. The lead ebbed and flowed over the first day but on day two one team forged ahead.

The eventual winners were Ryde with 12 match wins followed by Canterbury on 9 wins and Rottingdean on 7 wins beating Sussex B with the same match wins by 21 games to 20.

Thanks must go to Roger Sutton assisted by Andrew Stewart for all the work in preparing for and running the tournament. Also to the catering team at Sussex County for providing excellent lunches and tea and cakes over the two days.

The morning was devoted to doubles play with the competition in 4 rounds. The event was won by Royal Tunbridge Wells with 3.5 wins in 4 rounds; Sussex  A, Sussex B and Roehampton all had 3 wins.

A light lunch was available and Linda Gavigan, who was leading the catering team in between playing for Sussex B, thanked the clubs for their strong support as most players used the service.

The singles competition in the afternoon comprised of 6 rounds; the weather, which had been by turns sunny and chilly throughout the day, gave us a nasty shock in the last round when the heavens opened, fortunately only for ten minutes.

The competition went down to the wire, with Compton and Reigate Priory both ending up with 9.5 wins out of 12 games. Reigate Priory was the winner with 2 net points more than Compton.

Thanks to Martin Peacock, who was the Supervising Referee for the day, assisted in the afternoon by Roger Sutton, Robin Wootton and Frances Low;  and to Sussex County generally for excellent lawns and catering. It was also pleasing to see Bill Arliss who attended for part of the afternoon’s play.

Eight teams again took part in the AC Teams Doubles competition at Southwick on 7th/8th May but, unlike last year, the weather was pleasant with only spits and spots of rain on Saturday and warm sunshine most of Sunday.

This year we reverted to the normal Swiss format of play so fine rounds were achieved over the two days.

By the end of Saturday and the first three rounds, Reigate Priory was in the lead with 5 wins, away from Cheam, Guildford & Godalming and Purley Bury, all with four wins each.

Sunday morning saw Reigate Priory falter somewhat, their B team losing to Purley Bury, but still in the lead by one win. The final round pitched Reigate Priory A against Purley Bury A at the top of the Swiss ladder, a match which went down to the wire, being won +1 on time by Purley Bury. The Manager, whilst neutral obviously, nonetheless was content he didn’t have to do a lot of points counting as the reverse result would have left three teams on the same wins.

The Sussex lawns played well and it was just a shame we were unable to attract more clubs to enter a team for this event which is one of the very few where you see a wide range of playing ability in the same competition.

Final Order

John Low
Manager

A wet day at Southwick on Sunday 8th August greeted 14 teams for Teams day. Heavy morning showers caused us to suspend play after the first two sessions and lunch was bought forward. The rains eased by early afternoon and play resumed.  So we were able to complete both the doubles and singles losing just one session to the bad weather. My congratulations to everyone for enduring such atrocious conditions.

The Doubles trophy was won by Reigate Priory who beat Surbiton in the final by 7-4. The losing semi-finalists were West Worthing and Littlehampton.

The Singles trophy was a very close affair. Cheam 1 had been leading throughout the competition only to be caught by Sussex County 1, Chichester, and Rottingdean. These the three clubs shared 2nd place. Guildford overtook all of these in the last session to win the trophy.

Many congratulations to the winners.

Roger Sutton

One of the big events in the federation calendar was held at Southwick on 14th July. Not sure Bastille Day was of significance but……………………!

We were very fortunate with the weather and were pleased to welcome 12 teams of ladies with 4-6 players. A Bar-b-q lunch was available as were teas/coffees and afternoon cake. It was almost ‘back to the old days’ before Covid!

The format was the usual one devised by Bill Arliss who created and ran the original tournament. There were 6 rounds, randomly drawn, with 3 games per round. These made up the ‘match’ but individual wins were also recorded. There were 2 singles and one doubles in each ‘match’. All handicap play. Extra turns came into play of course!

There were many close games and indeed the whole competition was not decided until the last round.

The winners of the impressive trophy were Surbiton who won 5 ‘matches’ with 13 games won, and 2nd place went to Guildford who also won 5 ‘matches’ but had won only 11 games! A very good ending to the day. Reigate Priory were 3rd, Chichester 4th, Rottingdean 5th and Sussex 1 were 6th. The others I will not mention! Well done everyone and the spirit of the day was very friendly and it was fun! Just as it should be.

It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and to welcome some new ones. The GC Day is a great way to begin a competitive career.

One thing – clubs need to ensure their ‘high bisquers’ know how to use their ‘extra turns’ effectively! It is all part of the learning curve. I learned that we must have a klaxon for timings in future!

Many thanks to all who helped make it such a marvellous day – Linda Gavigan who assisted me in managing and kept people on the move and in order, Mike Oulton who was referee of the tournament, Jackie who assisted him when she was not playing, and of course Jonathan and Chrissy Isaacs who did all the catering. Thanks to Clive Hayton and Sandra Towner who helped get everything ready and of course the groundsman and his team who provide such excellent lawns.

Phew – over for this year. A klaxon for next year! Happy memories.

I hope the clubs will all return next season and hopefully will be joined by a couple more.

Frances Low