Category: News

Sat 17th May, Moira Manager/reporter: Judith

Dixon Engineering Ltd have kindly taken over the sponsorship of this East Midlands Federation competition hosted by Ashby Croquet Club. This competition has run for many years and was previously called the Coors Cup and Bass Shield.

Teams from Derby, Leicester, Long Eaton and Nottingham joined the two Ashby teams Ashby A and Ashby B.

The teams were divided into two blocks: Block B comprising Ashby A, Long Eaton and Nottingham and Block G had Ashby B, Derby and Leicester.

Ashby A and Ashby B both won their blocks convincingly, and at the end of the block stage Tim Ash from Nottingham and Andy Sherwood from Ashby both had 4 out of 4 wins and were in strong contention for the individual trophy.

The final round consisted of teams in each block playing the team in the other block in the same position so Ashby A played Ashby B, Nottingham played Derby and Long Eaton played Leicester. The cold weather from the morning had now been replaced by sunshine and the final positions were not resolved until the last games finished.

Andy Sherwood (Ashby A) played John Picken (Ashby B) in the crux match. Tim Ash had already won all his six games and Andy had won all his five so far with a strong hoop difference so if Andy won he would take the Dixon Cup and Ashby A would take the Dixon Shield, if John won then Tim Ash would take the Dixon Cup and Ashby B would take the Dixon Shield. In the event their game was drawn 5-5 so Ashby A (Mike O’Brian, Andy Sherwood and Pete Bensley) took the Dixon Shield with a much bigger hoop difference (+37) than Ashby B (+1) and Tim Ash from Nottingham won the Dixon Cup.

Match results

Derby 3-2 Leicester
Ashby B 3-1 Leicester
Ashby B 4-1 Derby

Long Eaton 3-3 Nottingham
Ashby A 3-3 Nottingham
Ashby A 5-1 Long Eaton

Ashby A 2-3 Ashby B
Derby 3-3 Nottingham
Leicester 2-4 Long Eaton

The competition was decided on total number of wins (drawn games don’t count) then hoop difference.

Dixon Shield
1st Ashby A 10 wins (+37) Mike O’Brian, Andy Sherwood, Pete Bensley
2nd Ashby B 10 wins (+1) John Picken, Janet Sherwood, Jill Goodall
3rd Nottingham 9 wins
4th Long Eaton 8 wins
5th Derby 7 wins
6th Leicester 5 wins

Dixon Cup
1st Tim Ash (Nottingham) 6 wins
2nd Andy Sherwood (Ashby) 5 wins, 1 draw

Dixon Cup & Shield page

Sat 10th May, Moira Manager/reporter: Judith

We had a full entry of 12 players from eight different clubs for the third annual Ashby One-Day Open GC tournament, many of whom had played in it last year.

The two blocks were won by Sarah Clements and Andy Sherwood, both winning four out of their five games. The second place in both blocks was decided by hoop difference, Mike O’Brian and Mark Buckley edging Alison Murray and Colin Spencer respectively out of a place in the knockout.

Both 19-point semi-finals were completed quickly, with Sarah and Mike winning out. The final was a close-run affair with Mike finally winning 10-8,  Andy Sherwood won the 3rd/4th playoff for the second year running and Colin Spencer the Plate. What turned out to be the Plate final between Colin Spencer and Alison Murray was the last game to finish, with the 19-point main knockout games taking less time to complete than the two rounds of 13-point Plate games, in part due to the high proportion of 7-6 results in the Plate.

Mike O’Brian, who initiated this tournament, kindly stepped in to play after we had a late withdrawal due to illness.  It was fitting that Mike was presented with one of the two lovely trophies that he designed and made especially for this competition.

Full results (CroquetScores)

Ashby 4 – 3 Derby

Thurs 8th May, Moira Report by Judith

Ashby welcomed Derby in the first round of the new GC Bowl competition. Derby is a fairly new club and this was their first entry in an Interclub competition and they produced a very creditable performance, giving Ashby a bit of a scare!

At lunchtime Ashby were two up and the doubles was tied at one apiece. It was decided to leave the final doubles game until the end: at the time we had no idea that it would be the deciding game.

Either lunch gave the Derby players an extra boost or they had got used to the bigger lawns, and they took all four of the singles games straight after lunch.  Jane Greaves and Frank Webster from Derby both beat their Ashby opponents in straight games and what had seemed like an easy Ashby win started to look in doubt. Judith Rowe from Ashby lost to Jack Blackmore in three tightly-fought games; fortunately Steph White was able to win in three games bringing the score to 3 – 3 and the suspended doubles game was played to an increasing audience of Ashby players who had turned up for their regular club session.

The final game of the doubles was not as close as some of the other games and Ashby finally won 4 – 3.

Full results (CroquetScores)

Thurs 1st May, Moira

Ashby lost 1-5 to Pendle in a first-round Murphy Shield GC match.

Full results (CroquetScores)

Mon 28th April, Moira Manager/reporter: Richard

A bit of a disappointing turnout: only five players in this year’s One Ball Plus club heat on a gloriously sunny spring day in the middle of a prolonged dry spell, which resulted in fast lawns and challenging hoops.

There was sufficient time for an all-play-all competition. Everyone won at least one game. Arthur and Mick were the standout players, both playing consistently well all day, and by chance they faced each other in the final round, Mick just edging it 9-8 to claim the Gnome trophy, with Arthur finishing as runner-up.

Unsurprisingly, just one of the ten games was completed within the time limit of just under an hour.

Arthur and Richard (who finished in third place) will play in the Nottingham One-Ball final on May 17th.

Final placings:

1. Mick Haytack 3/4 wins (beat Arthur)
2. Arthur Rowe 3/4 wins
3. Richard Sanville 2/4 wins
4. Mike O’Brian 1/4 wins (beat Adam)
5. Adam Wheatley 1/4 wins

Including the previous collection from the Christmas meal, our charity heat of the national event has raised an impressive £290 for the Alzheimer’s Society. Many thanks to all who have donated so generously.

One Ball Plus page

Mon 21st April, Moira Manager: Helen

Sixteen players took part in our Easter Monday Eggstra GC doubles tournament, with a change of partner after each game. After five 35-minute games (best of 11), Jeff Dixon was the overall winner, finishing unbeaten with 3 wins and 2 draws and a net points difference of +10. Arthur Rowe was a close runner-up, also finishing on +10. Well done to Jeff who was competing in his first club tournament.

Many thanks to debut manager Helen for stepping in to organise the tournament so efficiently despite the rather miserable bank holiday weather.

Club members have been busy getting the lawns ready for the start of the new season on Sunday 30th March – thanks to everyone who has helped.

The times of club sessions this year are:

Sunday 2pm to 5pm
Tuesday 3pm to 6pm
Wednesday 10am to 1pm
Thursday 3pm to 6pm

The first club competition of the season will be the Easter Eggstra GC on Easter Monday 21st April which will be open to all club members; details to follow nearer the time.

Sun 16th March

We had a great turnout of 37 people, in nine teams, for our Annual Quiz at the Welfare, with some fiendish questions provided by quizmaster Colin C.

The final result was really close, with just 2.5 points separating the top four teams, and all 9 teams were within just 12 points of each other! The winners were 3×18+1 with 73.5 (out of a possible 120).

Many thanks to Colin and Jenny and all who took part, and for the donations of raffle prizes.

Mon 3rd March

Club member Bill Jervis sadly passed away in February. Ten members of Ashby CC attended Bill’s funeral at Bretby Crematorium, and were able to speak with his family after the service. It was a good celebration of Bill’s life, accompanied by readings from the family and upbeat music from The Kinks, Bruce Springsteen and The Drifters which he apparently used to play on car journeys for family holidays. (Report by Arthur)

Sun 2nd March

After a working party in the morning to move stuff from the winter bowls lawns to the main lawns in readiness for the new season (which starts on March 30th), 11 of us enjoyed a winter walk bathed in glorious spring sunshine. A six-mile circular route from the croquet club took us past Conkers to Swainspark Wood, Linton Heath and Overseal, before a very pleasant tea and cake stop beside the lake at Lakeside Bistro and then ending with a pint back at the Miners Welfare.