Nailsea Short Croquet Tournament
The club entered two teams in the Nailsea Short Croquet Tournament last weekend. One team in division 3 on the Saturday and one in division 2 on the Sunday. Reports from the respective captains David Prescott and Bob Hart are below.
“The Bath “Buns” arrived at Nailsea on Saturday to find the lawns looking a picture in the spring sunshine. Our first match was against Camerton & Peasedown, and we went down 1-3, with Tony Jackson the sole winner. It turned out that they had been the most formidable opponents that we would face, and they went on to win the league with very few hiccups over the day. The Buns played consistently well after this, recording three successive 3-1 wins, and ending up in second place with a total of ten wins to Camerton & Peasedown’s twelve. Despite David Prescott being nominally captain (the team generously attempted to credit their marked improvement after the first round to a pep talk he doesn’t remember giving) it was Tony who led the way, winning all four of his games. Roger Hayes and David each won three, and whilst Gary Thomas ultimately drew a blank he gave a good account of himself in his first ever tournament, losing by just a single point in three of his games.”
“On Sunday, the cold wind dominated proceedings for much of the day. The Bath “Salts” team of Pete Miles, Bob Hart, Lynne Passfield and a 4th slot shared by Monica and Neil Baker got off to a disastrous start losing all four games in their first match. Fortune turned in the second round against Kington Langley with wins for Pete, Lynne and Monica, with Bob, as Captain, again failing to lead by example. After lunch, it was back to our old ways, losing all 4 games against eventual division winners, East Dorset. The final round then turned into a relegation battle with Sidmouth, who stood on 2 wins to Bath’s 3. By good fortune and determined play, Bath took all four games, confining Sidmouth to Division 3 next year. Neil was thrilled to come away with a win, and Bob’s brief half smile was equally a result of “Salts” remaining in Division 2 and avoiding a personal 0-4 scoreline. Excellent that Monica and Neil each contributed a win. Our thanks to them for stepping in very late.”
