Thurs 1st Jan, Moira Manager/reporter: Arthur. Photos: Judith and Richard
Seventeen players gathered on a cold but essentially dry New Year’s Day to play the first croquet since early November. Pete M had prepared and Richard had marked out Lawn 3 into two half lawns. It’s worth noting that lawns 1 & 2 looked well covered in grass and had also been mown recently.
Mike & Arthur shared one place, leaving 8 pairs to contest 5 rounds of play. They were divided into two blocks of four, and the 3 morning games saw each pair play the others in their block. At lunchtime, both blocks had two pairs with two wins and two pairs with one win. In the afternoon, the top two pairs in each block played the top two in the other block, and similarly with the bottom two pairs.
After 5 rounds of play, two pairs emerged with 4 wins – John Picken & Colin Carr, and Ray Mounfield & Pete Bensley. Judith & Martin had a disproportionate effect on the eventual outcome having come from behind to beat John & Colin with some long hoop runs by Judith, and then having lost spectacularly to Ray & Pete, when Pete couldn’t do anything wrong. Ray & Pete emerged victorious with a +13 hoop difference compared to +8 for John & Colin.
It is interesting to note that all 8 afternoon games were won by the players from the second block, in spite of the attempts to balance the teams in the two blocks.
So the Dave Davis Cup returns to the Bensley home having been won last year by Helen – in 2025 playing with this year’s winner Ray.
Winners: Ray Mounfield & Pete Bensley
Runners-up: John Picken & Colin Carr
