Bowdon 6 Fylde 1

Bowdon: Adrian Apps 2.5, Mike Skelmerdine 6, David Beddy 11, Ros Pimlott 16.
Fylde: Lee Hartley -1.5, Betty Bates 7, Philip Bass 20, Catherine Bass 22.

Bowdon break the winning run of the Fylde handicap team.

First Round
-The doubles pairings of Lee and Philip against Adrian and Ros was the only winning game for Fylde for the day. The pairings worked well especially for Lee and Philip as Lee showed his prowess much to the awe of the crowd peeling Philip twice. The score 21-12 to Fylde. -David versus Betty was a one sided affair. David used his bisques well and progressed easily, Betty struggled to hit in only took croquet 4 times as the opponent regularly split the partner balls. The game was over in less than two hours the score 26-0 to Bowdon. -Catherine played really well showing her four ball break knowledge, unfortunately Mike was on top form and showed his experience winning 26-24 with no bisques.
RESULT at lunch Bowdon 2-1

Second Round
-Adrian versus Lee was always a one sided affair with the unusual present to Adrian of the 3.5 bisques. Adrian won comfortably 26-1 doing a rover peel with a bisque still standing. -Mike was always in control in the game against Betty. Betty failed to hit in on a number of occasions and was only able to score a few hoops thanks to the extra bisque. Betty was given a few chances with the opponent stuck in the hoop with her ball opposite but failed in the short roquets. She was extremely frustrated and this did not help her improve as she tensed even more. Mike won 26-5 -Philip played steadily against David but once his bisques ran out the rapid improver David Beddy eventually won 18-11 -Catherine versus Ros was a nip and tuck affair with Catherine taking advantage of her 14 bisques. Ros did some excellent long hit ins and failed in her rover peel, Catherine caught up a little but eventually Ros was the victor 26-16

Posted by, Betty, 6th July

Crake 3 Fylde 4

Crake: Ian Tupling 7, Simon Robbins 12, Colin Dykes 14, Philip Helliwell 22.
Fylde: Andrew Webb 7, Betty Bates 7, Philip Bass 20, Catherine Bass 20.

Road closure on the A590 on an already busy day meant that part of the team were almost late. A petrol spillage on the way to Barrow on Dave Day meant that roads were cordoned off and traffic slow. The temperature rose to almost 30 degrees and there was no air. The welcome summer shower came at midday but unfortunately only briefly so it was short respite. All players were hot and clammy but were refreshed with the ice cold drinks available.

First Round wins for Simon and Philip against Fylde's Catherine and Philip 17 -12, Andrew beat Colin 26-21 in the most incredulous fashion. With half an hour to go Andrew was 13 hoops behind, but he was able to get a ball round and peg his opponent out leaving a 3 ball ending. Andrew did a great hit in and took his ball to 4 back . Colin responded with a fabulous long roquet but his cut rush didn't work so he laid up at his hoop. Andrew hit in and finished the game with a peg peel. Betty was on fire in the morning rarely missing anything and hitting long roquets like it was a walk in the park.  Colin had a number of mm misses on his long roquets but he was no match for Betty as she won 26-10     SCORE AT BREAK Fylde  winning 2-1

Second Round wins again for Andrew who had a nip and tuck of a game with Ian eventually winning 26-23. Simon beat Betty 18-10 , having got to 3 back with his first ball with 3 bisques still standing. Betty was unable to muster the form from the morning, missing long roquets by a gnats eyebrow. Colin beat Philip bass 13-11 in a game that could have gone either way. .... both players did some magnificent long hit ins...score at this point  Crake 3 Fylde 3..... Philip H and Catherine Bass was a cat and mouse affair the evenly matched pair result could have gone either way. However Catherine went 2 ahead and managed to hang on to her lead so eventually Fylde won 4-3.

Andrew didn't get a Mars bar for his two wins but did get a kiss on the forehead from Captain Betty.

 The fine rain welcomed at midday which gave a little respite from the clammy conditions

Posted by, Betty, 21st June

Fylde 5 Chester 2

The winds of change blew in more ways than one

Forecast for the day was for light showers in the morning then brighter in the afternoon. However the rain held off and strong winds hung around all day hampering all players for the duration, causing mallets to move mid swing. The poor flag was being threshed against the flagpole so it had to come down to protect it.

Fylde: Lee Hartley -1, Andrew Webb 6, Betty Bates 6, Ian Theakestone 9
Chester: Richard Smith - 1/2, David Boyd 4 1/2, Robin Tasker 5, Paul Watson 9

In the mornings the game against Richard and Betty was over in less than 2 hours, although Betty had 6 ½ bisques she never really got going. She managed to get to 2 back on her second turn and never got in again. Richard played like clock work with only one miss on a long roquet. Score 26-7. Robin kept control against Andrew throughout their match, with Andrew missing a number of roquets by mm. The wind did not help. Robin of Chester won 22-6 The doubles of Ian and Lee with David and Paul was a cagey affair with both sets of players playing tentatively, with the away team holding onto their bisques for quite a while. Lee helped to set Ian up and regularly crossed wired their opponents, leaving them relatively long shots. There was an oohh from the crowd as Lee uncharacteristically missed a roquet. It wasn't long before Fylde were in again and Lee peeled at the peg in the end to win 26-18.

SCORE AT LUNCH Chester 2 Fylde 1

Lee made short work of his game against Richard winning in just over an hour. Winning 26-10 Ian and Paul were constantly on and off the lawn missing short roquets with some very near misses. Ian was always ahead but Paul nipped at his heals but could not gain advantage. Ian won in the end 26-16. Andrew was always leading in his match with David. The wind blew a hooley and both players contended with the gales. Andrew won emphatically 20-8 but maybe would have won by more if he did not go through the hoops a number of times the wrong way!

Betty versus Robin was a nailbiter at the end. At one point Betty was 12 hoops in front. Betty got to peg with one of her balls and Robin did 7 hoops to match the clip on peg and decided to peg her out . The three ball ending allowed Robin to be cautious and slowly and methodically caught up with Betty's second ball. With 4 minutes to go it was neck and neck. Robin did a split roll to the hoop and overshot then went back to his partner ball. Betty decided to shoot at them and hit in. Time called, so she did a take off to his other ball, did not quite get the rush she wanted so she did a split roll, leaving his ball north west of the peg and getting her ball in front of the hoop. She scored it then decided to hide behind it, leaving Robin a last turn to only be able to hit his partner ball which was 15 yards away, he shot but unfortunately just missed. Leaving Betty the victor with a score 21-20.

Posted by, Betty 1st June

Pendle 1 Fylde 6

Posted by, Webmeister 11th May

Bury Peelers 3 Fylde 4

BURY: David Barret 6, Richard Leach 10, Margaret Eccles 11, Vi Richards 20
FYLDE Lee Hartley -1, Peter Wilson 3 1/2, Andrew Webb 6, Betty Bates 6

Well done to Fylde's handicap team for winning away at Bury. All Fylde's handicaps were less than base. They had a bit of a job on and a bit of a tussle but came out victors in the end.

Round 1
Doubles pairing David with Vi against Peter and Lee was a tight affair with the Fylde pairing needing a peel at Rover and peg to win in the last turn. Peter duly obliged . Winning 26 -23 Richard beat Andrew in record time with an hour left on the clock 26-13.

Margaret versus Betty was a nip and tuck affair until the last half hour when Betty hit in and made a number of hoops . Eventually Betty won 22-14 on time. At break score 2-1 to Fylde.

Round 2
David versus Lee was one sided affair, Lee lived up to his nickname 'the machine' , he did 2 peels and eventually won 26-8.

Richard versus Peter was a tussle with Richard taking advantage of his 6 ½ bisques winning 26-11 Margaret versus  Andrew was a tightly fought contest with Andrew only one point behind with 10 minutes to go, Margaret held on to win in the end 22-19.

Vi versus Betty was a slow start but Vi remained in front with half an hour to go, some lovely breaks but a few near misses and long hit ins by Betty, meant she took control . If the break broke down Betty made sure Vi's partner balls were well split up.   Eventually pegging out winning 26-15.

Posted by Betty, 27th April