Sun 13th October, Moira
Andy and Janet are the winners of the internal GC Doubles, with a 7-6, 4-7, 7-4 victory in the best-of-3 final against Rosie and Martin.
Ashby A win East Mids GC Div 1 with 10-2 victory at Gainsborough
Sat 5th October, Gainsborough Report by Arthur
The Ashby A-team played their final match of the season against Gainsborough A away.
Arthur, Andy & Judith played in the sunshine at Gainsborough and came away with a 10-2 win. There were a few close games that went our way, so the score could have been a lot closer.
We only needed to win 3 games to win Division 1 – but we are now the only team with 6 wins in Division 1 and are undisputed champions. Well done to everyone has played for Ashby A this year!
E Mids GC Div 1: Ashby B 5-7 Gainsborough A
Mon 30th Sept, Moira
On a damp day, the Ashby B team (Maurice, Richard S and Janet S) finished their season with a 5-7 loss at home to Gainsborough A. Ashby B were 4-2 up at lunchtime, but Gainsborough recovered to win five of the six afternoon singles games.
E Mids GC Div 3: Ashby C 5-7 Derby A
Mon 16th Sept, Moira Report by Lesley
The Ashby C-team of Jill, Kate and Rosie played their last match of the season against Derby. There were some very competitive games but in the end Derby won 7 games to our 5; we however scored 64 hoops to their 63.
E Mids GC Div 1: Ashby A 7-5 Leicester A
Sat 7th Sept, Moira Report by Arthur
Judith played as a last-minute substitute in the crunch Ashby v Leicester match for Chris who was unwell – we wish her a speedy recovery.
We managed to win 7-5, a good achievement and thanks to Judith who won two out of three of her singles games. Fortunately Arthur woke up after his post-lunch loss to Paul Williams and dominated his last game against Alison Murray. Mike quietly went about winning all his singles games.
E Mids GC Div 1: Dunston A 7-5 Ashby A
Fri 30th August, Dunston Report by Arthur
Arthur, Andy and Judith ventured to Dunston in Lincolnshire and came unstuck against a decent team with a big home advantage, losing 5-7.
This means Ashby A now have 4 wins out of 5 matches, with two more to play. Sheffield Parkhead A also have 4 wins from 5, but we are ahead on game wins (41 vs 35).
E Mids GC Div 3: Ashby C 6-6 Sheffield Parkhead B
Tues 27th August, Moira
Ashby C (Pete B, Jill G and Richard T) drew at home against Sheffield Parkhead B. Very well-fought games, 6 wins each and 69 points each.
John and Richard win the Clive Pearson Doubles
Mon 26th August, Moira Manager: Martin
Nine pairs (18 people) took part, with manager Martin called in as a last minute substitute player for injured Avril.
Block A had 5 pairs, playing slightly shorter games (best of 9 points). Three pairs finished on 3 wins from 4 games: Martin and Andy (+8 hoop difference) and Mike and Janet S (+6) qualified for the semi-finals, while Colin C and Ray (+3) just missed out.
Meanwhile, the four pairs in Block B played normal 13-point games. Three pairs finished on 2 wins out of 3: John and Richard (+4) and Pete B and Stephanie (+3) progressed to the semi-finals, just ahead of Arthur and Jill (+2).
In the semi-finals Martin and Andy won 7-5 against Pete and Steph, whilst John and Richard beat Mike and Janet by the same score.
John and Richard played well in the final, beating Martin and Andy 7-2.
Mick and Jane T won the Plate competition.
Samir and Edward Patel win the National Forest GC Doubles 2024
August 24th & 25th, Moira Manager and reporter: Ray
Eight pairs competed in our National Forest GC Doubles tournament (for combined GC handicaps 0+) on a rather wet bank holiday weekend. Father-and-son Samir and Edward Patel from Surbiton were the winners, beating Ashby couple Arthur and Judith Rowe in the final 7-3, 7-5. The tournament progressed at a fast pace despite the intermittent rain, with the final completed by around 3pm on the Sunday.
The fifth National Forest GC Doubles (subtitled “Total Zero Plus” to reflect minimum joint handicaps) was played on the last weekend of August at Moira. Eight pairs, including players from the North East, Wales, London and the Midlands, competed for the trophy.
Manager, Ray Mounfield used the same format as in recent years. On Saturday, using just two lawns, two blocks of four pairs played two games against the other teams in their block.
Block A : Mike O’Brian & Christine Wood, Arthur Rowe & Judith Rowe, Jane Pringle & Jane Bailey and Andrew Grant & John Palframan
Block B : Tom Grievson & Martyn Seal, Samir Patel & Edward Patel, Ross Bagni & Marilyn Robinson and Chris Jackson & Pauline Donner
The two Janes emerged as winners on five wins in Block A, with Arthur and Judith as runners-up. In block B, with four wins each, Ross & Marilyn and Samir & Edward qualified for the semi-finals.
On Sunday the semi-finals were both completed in two games and with Samir & Edward and Arthur & Judith winning their matches.
So the final was a two family tussle between the Patels and the Rowes. Samir and Edward took the first game with relative ease, but the second game became a tighter affair. At hoop twelve it looked to be going to the golden hoop until an uncharacteristic miss by Judith allowed the father and son partnership to take the game. So Edward, at 16, (the youngest player by far) and Samir were deserving winners of the unique trophy.
The losing semi-final pairs played a third place decider which was won by Jane Pringle and Jane Bailey.
In the plate Mike and Christine won 4 of their 6 games , but with 5 wins the plate went to Andrew and John.
The weather was somewhat unkind, with persistent rain throughout most of Saturday but not quite bad enough to hold up play on either day.
Results (CroquetScores)
E Mids GC Div 1: Leicester A 9-3 Ashby B
Sat 24th August, Leicester
Ashby B (Julie, John and Peter R) lost 3-9 in the rain at Leicester.