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Crake Valley Making a National Splash

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Crake Valley Players in National Finals
 
Players in the National Final at Hunstanton. David Cornes is first left on back row.
 
Crake Valley recently had 2 representatives playing in National Finals – After finishing 4th in the Northern Regional GC Final in August David Cornes had a late call up to play in the National GC Handicap Finals at Hunstanton on 22/23rd September. There where 14 finalists in a 2 day “all play all” format. David managed to win 7 out of his 13 matches and finished a very credible 8th position. A tremendous achievement with the highlight being a 7-4 victory against the runaway Champion Simon Carter (-3).
 
On the same weekend Sandra Cornes played in the C level finals in Nottingham – there were 16 finalists with Sandra being the highest handicapper in the field.  Despite this disadvantage Sandra still managed 3 wins so avoided finishing bottom. Given the short time Sandra has been playing to get to the finals and to win some games is a massive achievement.
 
Crake also has David Lloyd playing in the B levels finals this coming weekend at Camerton & Peasedown.
 
 

Another Croquet Trophy from the East

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Tina Kelly Wins the York Short Croquet Tournament – 22/23 September 2018

Tina Kelly (right) receiving the York Short Croquet Trophy from 2017 Winner, Debbie James (left)

A gang of eight north west Croquet players from Southport went over the Pennines looking for trophies.  They did battle in York and made their escape with Tina Kelly holding aloft the York Short Croquet Trophy. 

The York Short Croquet Tournament is brilliant – 24 players, double banked on six short lawns, 70 minute games with centralised timing and played over ten rounds of croquet.  A recipe for chaos? far from it!  Expertly managed by John Harris and David Hudson, the event is fast moving, exciting, competitive, friendly and fun – a perfect end of season croquet weekend – especially when provided with a sumptuous array of delicious cakes, courtesy of York members.

The Short Handicaps ranged from scratch to ten, with players travelling from as far afield as Dorset and included Callum Johnson (winner in 2016) and Debbie James (2017 winner).  There was some excellent croquet on display (especially from Callum), many all round 3 ball breaks and players running between shots as they realised time was running out.

Southport players, ready for action (?) as they leave the hotel (photo Kath Thomas)

However, it was Tina Kelly from Southport (Handicap 10) who played calm, steady croquet, throughout – doing the basic stuff well and managing her bisques in a very practical manner.  Round ten proved decisive with several players still in contention, however, Tina came from behind to secure a narrow victory with minutes to spare.  

Tina came in first, unbeaten throughout the weekend and one point ahead of Callum, with Pauline Rooney (also from Southport) in third place.

All that was left was to smile for the group photo, enjoy another cake and make a note for next year – 21/22 September 2019.

Group photo of players taking part in 2018 York Short Croquet tournament. (photo: Kath Thomas).

Sam Murray Wins CA Eight at Southport

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Sam Murray Wins the CA Chairmans Salver at Southport, 6-9 September 2018, by Robin Brown

CA Chair, Brian Shorney, presents the Chairmans Salver to Sam Murray. (Photo: Robert Wilkinson)

Sam Murray and James Hopgood finished with 10 wins apiece in the Chairmans Salver at Southport. Before the final round, James declared himself unavailable in the event of a playoff being required, having a train he needed to catch to get home to Edinburgh.

As it happened a playoff was required but with James withdrawing, the trophy was awarded to Sam. Chairman of Council Brain Shorney, travelled to Southport to present the Salver to Sam Murray.

Final standings:  Sam Murray 10; James Hopgood 10; Robert Wilkinson 8 (from 13); Daniel Gott 7; Robin Brown 6; Jonathan Powe 6; David Goacher 5 ( from 13); Chris Williams 3; 

Full results at: https://croquetscores.com/2018/ac/the-chairmans-salver/ 

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