Matches				Games		Points
	P	W	D	L	W	L
Fylde	6	5	0	1	35	19	15
Bowdon Canons	6	4	0	2	25	25	9
Pendle & Craven	6	3	0	3	24	26	9
Bowdon Saints	5*	3	0	2	30	15	7
Crake Valley	5*	3	0	2	25	20	6
Bury	6	1	0	5	19	35	3
Southport	6	1	0	5	18	36	2

* One game not played. Table courtesy of the North West Federation

bury 3 fylde 6

The rain had been falling for about four hours before the match started, but the lawns were almost dry, such is the effectiveness of the drainage. The first round saw an upset for Fylde when Barbra showed how good she can be beating Peter very comfortably in the uncomfortable conditions. Peter complained the Captain's armband was too tight and removed it for the rest of the match

By noon the ground was becoming soggy and the rains were still falling. Peter's two good breaks putting him on Penult and Peg were nullified by Paul hitting a lift, pegging Peter out and going on to produce a brilliant three ball break to finish +1 but Liz rescued Fylde, sensibly rolling off the hoops in the difficult conditions for a gritty win over the Bury Captain.

Going into the final round, Lee the unsung hero so far faced his strongest test against Paul. Lee employed a change of tactics, switching to a manoeuvring game to good effect and putting his third win on the board leaving Fylde needing one more win.

Liz & Peter were both ahead and the rain had stopped. The lawns were drying rapidly, the Sun even came out and several FCC members turned up to support the team which spurred us on.

Da Machine, Golden Boy & Boss celebrate the end of the season but must wait and see...

Golden Boy benefited from a stroke of luck. His backward approach pass roll to hoop one was not the best. But as the front ball passed the hoop it hit some soggy ground and slowed up more quickly than his strike ball which ran into it only to be deflected to stop perfectly in front of the hoop. David took his chance when it came and left Peter in the box and 4-back, but with only seventeen minutes left to get his last ball around. Aware of the time, Peter held his nerve and played a containing game from which David never go going. Liz made a delightful three ball break to set up a big lead against Barbra which she soon finished. The final score flatters FCC a little, many thanks to Bury for their sportsmanship in such difficult conditions.

Paul Rigge (0) beat Liz Wilson (3.5) +10
David Barrett (1) lost to Lee Hartley (-0.5) -23
Barbra Young (5) beat Peter Wilson (1.5) +20
Paul beat Peter +1
David lost to Liz -22
Barbra lost to Lee -19
Paul lost to Lee -15
David lost to Peter -7(T)
Barbra lost to Liz -20

The bonus point we get helps, but mathematically we have not won it yet.

Lady of the match Barbra Young for her break play in difficult conditions.

Posted by Peter, 3rd October 2010

Fylde 5 Crake 4

Lee Hartley (-0.5) lost to Peter Wardel (1.5) -5
Peter Wilson (2) beat Graham Whitehouse (2.5) +1
Liz Wilson (3) lost to Dave Nick (-1) -4
Lee beat Graham +19TP
Peter lost to Dave -24
Liz lost to Peter -9
Lee beat Dave +17
Peter beat Peter +11
Liz beat Graham +13

The second of the weekend’s double header saw Crake travel to fortress Fylde. It was a perfect English summer’s day, being warm and sunny without being hot and stifling. Dave arrived first of the visitors and soon changed into his clown’s trousers and Kevin Keegan wig. Unfortunately the rest of the team weren’t told about the away strip as they arrived in more commonplace croquet apparel. There were no mathematical anomalies to deal with today. Man for man Crake were ½ a bisque better than Fylde, meaning their total handicap was also lower. The question that was about to be answered was whether home advantage could swing it Fylde’s way.

In the first round of matches the odds were on the home side taking the initiative. Peter got off to a flier against Graham, who kept setting breaks up and then blobbing hoop 1, and despite a strong comeback Peter held on for a narrow win. Liz also got off to a good start against Dave, getting to peg and 4 back before Dave pegged her out. The wily old fox was always in charge of the 3 ball ending, eventually scraping home with Liz marooned on penult. Lee was expected to win his game, but struggled to get going in a very tactical affair and was finally “Wardled” just before time was called. 2-1 to Crake at lunch, which was as ever both splendid and supplied by Liz.

Webmeister adds: Dave completed a wonderful break against Peter with a straight double peel worthy of recording here: After peeling Black through Penult he rushed it down to a good position in front of Rover. The fact that Yellow was bang in the jaws did not deter him and he duly launched Black at it, knocking Yellow through, but with Black now stuck on the wire. Jumping over the Black half ball he ran Rover, then used Yellow to promote the Black away from the wire, in front of Rover. The Red then followed, bombarding Black into the jaws, where finally it could then be rush peeled leaving a twenty five feet pegout opportunity.

In the afternoon Dave set up for a sextuple against Peter, which would have been a first at Fylde. And despite breaking down after only 1 peel, Dave completed a comfortable win. Graham got off to a good start against Lee, making several hoops without ever establishing a break. After several attempts, Lee finally hit in and buzzed round to 4 back. Graham missed the lift and that was his last contribution as Lee completed a standard TP. Liz played really well against Peter, but he gradually wore her down to prevail in a tight game. 4-2 to Crake.

The final set of games saw Fylde out handicapped in every game, needing to win all of them to win the match and maintain their title challenge. Lee has the voodoo sign over Dave and, despite a failed standard TP and then a failed straight TP, duly won again in quick time almost before the other games had started. 4-3 to Crake. Liz was determined that her good play over the course of the day wouldn’t go unrewarded, and played a very canny game to always be ahead of Graham and eventually pegged out. 4-4. So for the second day running it all came down to the final game. Peter (F) got off to a good start, but Peter (C) stormed back. Peter (F) then got his second ball round to peg, but Peter (C) hit in for what seemed like the umpteenth time and again fought back. There then followed a period where neither player made progress, during which the tension on the sidelines was unbearable so heaven only knows what it was like for the players. Eventually Peter (C) missed a roquet, clanging a hoop in the process leaving it as a pioneer. The chance was eagerly seized and Peter (F) sealed the victory for the home side for the second day running. 5-4 to Fylde and a bonus point to boot sees Fylde extend their lead at the top of the table. A win in the final game against Bury should seal the league, though this isn’t scheduled to be played until October so you eager readers will have to wait until then for the final instalment in this gripping drama.

Posted by Lee, 1st August 2010

Fylde 5 Saints 4

The Bowdon Saints all stars rolled into town today for their top of the table clash with the Fylde wannabees. Though the lawns were heavy, as they weren’t cut yesterday due to the rain, they were still very playable. By one measure, that of adding the handicaps of the team together, Fylde were favourites for this match. However, that is a bit like saying a pub team should beat the under-19 world champions because they have more experience. The reality is that Bowdon were hot favourites to maintain their unbeaten record and retain the title they won last year since they were favoured in 6 out of the 9 games, and heavily so in 5 of those.

Ian Lines completed the first TP clean sweep on the Fylde lawns to win all his games. No surprise there. He is the world number 6. This was levelled up by Barry getting beaten in all his games. No surprise there either. The first round saw the only vaguely evenly matched game of the event, with Lee taking on Andrew. Andrew had beaten Lee at Heaton Park the last time they played, so it was Lee’s turn to win. And so it proved, as Lee completed another failed TP with a smooth rover peel to win +16. The second round saw Liz play Andrew. Prior to lunch, which was kindly provided by Liz and was up to the usual excellent standard, Liz played really well and established a healthy lead. However lunch clearly rejuvenated Andrew, as he took advantage of Liz’ failure to close out the game to win narrowly +5.

This set the scene nicely for the last round where Peter played Andrew. Despite being 3 bisques worse off than he would have been in a handicap game, which based on index points means that Peter should only win 1 in every 10, Peter has been playing really well recently and so went in with no fear. Peter took advantage of Andrew getting stuck in hoop 1 when set up, which is frankly a schoolboy error, and after a couple of breaks got his first ball round to peg. There were then small breaks for each of them, with Andrew struggling to get going, before Andrew clanged hoop 4 leaving Peter a very decent opportunity. He coped with the pressure admirably, showing nerves of steel to get round and peg out in exemplary fashion, to the resounding cheers of the rest of the team as this meant that good had triumphed over evil with Fylde winning 5-4.

This puts Fylde on top of the advanced league table, and if they can win their two remaining matches, starting with Crake tomorrow, they could win the league for the first time in their history. The team, well OK Liz and Peter, mowed the lawns after play, so they should be in top shape for that match. Apart from a very brief shower, the weather was fine with spells of sunshine, much to the chagrin of Lee who has got sunburnt as he forgot to bring either sun cream or a hat as it didn’t seem worth it at the time. As Eric Morecambe would definitely have said, the boy’s a fool.

Lee Hartley (-0.5) beat Barry Keen (11) +25
Peter Wilson (2) lost to Ian Lines (-2.5) -26TP
Liz Wilson (3) lost to Andrew Winn (-1) -5
Lee beat Andrew +13
Peter beat Barry +15
Liz lost to Ian -25TP
Lee lost to Ian -16TP
Peter beat Andrew +23
Liz beat Barry +22

Posted by Lee, 31st July 2010

cannons 5 fylde 4

With the lawns super fast a touch on a ball could send it three to four feet. Backward hoop approaches suffered. All six players found it difficult to keep breaks going but breaks there were from everyone. Perhaps the match turned on Martin's time turn lift shot where he hit a ball at the peg in the direction of his hoop (three). Then the difficult decision to play for the hoop paid off and he went to peg leaving three balls which Peter could not capitalise on. We fought like lions.

Thanks to Bowdon for a wonderful day.

Martin Granger-Brown (0) beat Liz Wilson (3) +25
Alan Mayne (0) beat Lee Hartley (-0.5) +18
Tony Hudson (4) lost to Peter Wilson (2) -3
Martin beat Peter +9
Alan beat Liz +23
Tony lost to Lee -17
Martin lost to Lee -12
Alan beat Peter +13
Tony lost to Liz -1

Posted by Peter, 11th June 2010

fylde 7 Pendle 2

This match saw the first triple peel on FCC's lawns. Playing in round one on the far lawn Lee completed his game against Abdul with a standard triple. David and Liz had a most interesting game that was decided by one point on the time turn. Fylde then won all the second round matches securing the win, but could a bonus point be scored? Alas no, as Liz playing a brilliant three ball catch up break had the miss-fortune to find three back in the way of her pioneer there, which brought her turn and the game to an end.

It was a perfect day, with sunshine and other members there to support the team. The lawns were as good as they get having been cut in good time for the match.

The machine gets sharpened up in the workshop with a well earned mug of engine oil.

Lee Hartley (-0.5) beat Abdul Ahmed (4) +20TP
Peter Wilson (2) beat Robert Essler (2) +23
Liz Wilson (2.5) lost to David Roe (3.5) -1
Lee beat David +18
Peter beat Abdul +15
Liz beat Robert +25
Lee beat Robert +26
Peter beat David +20
Liz lost to Abdul -4

Posted by Peter, 5th June 2010

Southport 1 fylde 8

Two bonus points won in this, the first NWFed match to be played this year anywhere. Warm and sunny hospitality from the home side who were caught cold. Nice 3rd turn break to the peg by Peter in the last round.

Peter Wilson beat Ray Lowe +7
Lee Hartley beat Mel Foster +22
Liz Wilson beat Terry Foster +10
Ray Lowe beat Liz Wilson +20
Peter Wilson beat Mel Foster +21
Lee Hartley beat Terry Foster +11
Lee Hartley beat Ray Lowe +7
Liz Wilson beat Mel Foster +3
Peter Wilson beat Terry Foster +21

Posted by Peter, 10th April 2010

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