Secretary's Shield

Canterbury 4 Fylde 3

The Hooper's tale

Soon in the morn were Canterbury a proud point to the goode and with their hearty fare did they tempt our valiant troubadours to sup a while in ye olden clubhouse. So hard pressed were we by the rush not making such progress as we are used enjoy. And did our hoop approaches became oft too long.

Then did Sir Andrew relieve himself on his opponents ball crying "Let us now see thee peel that", but our brave knight succumbed to the cunning ploys long in the making. Lady Elizabeth did so sweetly separate the Canterbury Captain's balls until he could no longer endure the torment but then in a moment of ecstacy he struck in, stealing her heart and point.

Sir Leo le Fylde swept his maidenly opponent off her feet. A wicked smile was upon her face as she beckoned "Oh, Sir Leo, Let thy malet fall once again between thy legs and let me see thy long roquet once again". All the company watched amused as Squire Petroff so roughly took his opponet from behind and with much surpise upon his face was he rewarded.

Our team sponsored by Ellis Brigham of Manchester...

... came up against a strong defense in Canterbury.

Posted by Geoffrey Chaucer 17th July 2006

Handicap

Southport Victoria 4 Fylde 2

Our dream of back to back titles took a knock in the first game of the season. Peter (c) and Lee lost their doubles match. Terry made his handicap debut in the other doubles match with Liz, loosing +1(t). In the afternoon Liz & Lee both managed wins against the experienced Southport players. The warm day ended with steady rain.

Posted by Peter, Sunday 7th May

Bury Caesar 4 Fylde 2

Peter and Terry lost their doubles by 1 hoop but Lee and Andrew won by the same margin. In the afternoon hot sunshine and on the fast lawns only Lee added to Fyldes score. The team had to give 16 bisques overall. A tough day.

Posted by Peter, Saturday 3rd June

Bury Peelers 4 Fylde 2

Liz, Lee, Andrew and Leonard travelled to Bury. The doubles in the morning finished 2 - 0 to Bury and in both games Fylde, giving a lot of bisques, did not get going. It the afternoon Liz was beaten by Barbara Young and Leonard was beaten by the latest Bury Bandit, Justin Brightmore. Lee finally won in a peg out tussle with Geoff Young and Andrew beat Jean Partington.

Posted by Liz, Sunday25th June

Bowdon Firs 0 Fylde 6

Peter, Liz (c), Lee and Terry had a good day. A closer match than the score suggests. The doubles in the morning went closely to Fylde. The Wilson and Wilson pairing winning +1 on time and the partnership of Lee and Terry winning + 5. In the afternoon Peter won his match +7 in an interesting game with a one ball ending. Soon after Liz also won +7 having pegged oppo out. Lee fought back to win +7 after his opponet had used bisques to gain a lead. Terry kept his nerve and completed the team's perfect score with a golden hoop win which was also his first match victory since moving up to handicap play.

Posted by Liz, Sun 9th July

Pendle 2 FYLDE 4

The relentless heatwave relented slightly as Lee, Andrew, Martin (c) and Leonard shared the morning doubles. In the afternoon singles Lee's opponent [conceeding 3 bisques] underestimated the danger when he stopped his first ball at rover. Lee duely peeled it and pegged it out in a good reply going on to win the three ball ending.

Posted by Andrew, 28th July 2006

Fylde 4 Southport Palace 2

Lee (c), Andrew, Leonard & Terry hosted the inaugural handicap fixture at our new venue. The visitors arrived in good time after circumventing the new security gate. Both of the doubles pegged out, with Lee and Andrew winning their match, so an early lunch was held alfresco in glorious sunshine with the score tied at 1-1. The afternoon singles also all finished before time, although the later finishers got a good soaking when the forecast rain arrived. A good comeback from Andrew supplemented earlier wins by Lee and Terry thereby securing Fylde's third win on the trot.

Posted by Lee, Sunday 6th August

Fylde 4 Chester 2

After a faltering start it is four on the trot for us. Lee, Martin (c), Leonard and Betty won both the doubles in the sea breeze. Points from Martin and Leonard secured the victory. Betty was pipped by one hoop right as time was called.

Posted by Martin, 9th August 2006

Fylde 6 Bowdon St Mary 0

The weather started bleak and the Bowdon players expected rain. The local knowledge promised better weather to come and this was the case. Lee and Betty polished of their opposition with an hour to spare. While the other doubles match went to time with Andrew and Terry just beating their opponents +1 on time. 2 - 0 to Fylde at lunch. In the afternoon Terry shot into the lead and was threatening a whitewah over his opponent. She pulled back however but too late and Terry won +7 and was the first to finish. The other three matches went to time with Andrew beating his namesake Rupert Webb +11, Lee beating Mike Steer + 14 and Betty Bates pulling off a stunning win over the experienced player Roz Pimlott +5. Special commendation to Betty who has improved enormously and desereves to start winning.

Posted by Liz, 20th August

Fylde 4 Crake 2

Our last match of the season was played in lovely sea-side weather. The lawns were difficult and both doubles partnerships struggled. Andrew (handicap 7) put in an oscar winning performance when he managed to play all the right shots and dragged Liz (4) round to earn a very close victory. Martin and Leonard similarly struggled to victory. At lunch the score was 2 - 0 to us. The afternoon matches saw everyone playing better Croquet. Andrew was beaten before time by Graham Whitehead who played very well. Leonard was beaten on time by David Porritt. The score with 10 minutes to go was now 2 - 2. Martin and David Maddox had a very close game which was nip and tuck all the way. Martin evenutally won very closely on time. Liz, who had been close to victory, had her lead cut from +20 to loosing by 2 with 2 minutes to go. She hit in, scored two points, pegged her forward ball out and left Mark Miller with a long hit in to level the match. He failed and so the match finished 4 -2 to us.

We have now completed our games and are currently top of the league waiting to see how the other matches finish to know our final position

Posted by Liz, 30th August 2006

Handicap Croquet
Final League Table 2006
Matches
Games
Points
  
P
W
D
L
W
L
 
Pendle & Craven
9
6
2
1
38
16
14
  
Bury Peelers
9
6
1
2
31
23
13
  
Fylde
9
6
0
3
34
20
12
  
Bowdon Firs
9
6
0
3
26
26
12
  
Chester
9
5
0
4
27
27
10
  
Southport Victoria
9
3
3
3
28
26
9
  
Bury Caesars
9
2
3
4
25
27
7
  
Bowdon St Marys
9
2
2
5
18
36
6
  
Crake Valley
9
2
1
6
21
29
5
  
Southport Palace
9
0
2
7
18
36
2
  

Reproduced from www.croquetnw.co.uk

Short

Llanfairfechan 5 Fylde 11

Lee, Leonard, Terry (c) and Betty are off to a winning start. Good journey down. No traffic, only took 2 hours. Weather warm and generally bright. Matches went well and we had clinched the match by end of 3rd round. Good journey back as well, (home for 7.30pm).

Posted by Terry, Saturday 22nd April.

Pendle 4 Fylde 12

Lee, Leonard, George and Terry (c) arrived hoping to build on their winning start at LLanfairfechan. Weather wasn't too bad, despite the early rain, although the lawns were very patchy in quality. The opening round was fiercely contested, Fylde eventually winning three of the four games, courtesy of a Golden Hoop in the match between Terry and Katherine Scholfield. Subsequent rounds followed a similar pattern.

Posted by Terry, Saturday 13th May

Fylde 8 Bowdon 8

Brilliant weather for the very first competitive match at the new grounds. The match was very hard fought, the first round ending up 2-2. Bowdon gained the advantage in the second round, but Fylde levelled the scores after lunch. The final round was very close, Leonard winning the final game on a Golden Hoop to tie the overall match. Croquet, weather and lunch were enjoyed by everybody and what a wonderful way to start league fixtures at the new grounds.

Posted by Terry, Sunday 11th June

Fylde 11 Bury 5

An overcast but dry day saw us record our first short lawn victory at the new grounds, thus maintaining both our unbeaten record for the season and the challenge for the 2006 short lawn league title. We reached lunch holding a slender 5-3 lead, but the excellent fare on offer clearly blunted the Bury edge in the afternoon with Fylde running out comfortable winners in the end. It was an excellent performance all round with Lee, Betty, Leonard and Alan all contributing at least 2 wins, the afternoon ending in dramatic style with Betty winning the final game with a golden hoop.

Posted by Lee, Sunday 13th August

Fylde 13 Chester 3

Lee, Terry, Betty & Geofrey - The match started under bright conditions, but the lawns were very wet and slow due to a heavy overnight dew. All players struggled with the conditions to start with, but play improved as the lawns dried, Lee and Betty having particularly good games. At the end of the first round, scores were tied at 2 - 2. The second round saw much better play and Fylde ran out 3 -1 winners, Terry scoring a particularly long golden hoop to win his game. After lunch, the sun came out, and Fylde romped away with the match winning all 8 afternoon games, to give a final score of Fylde 13 Chester 3. Lee had an excellent day winning all four of his matches and well done to Geoffrey who won three of his four games in his first match of the season.

download full results

Posted by Terry, 16th September 2006

Southport 9 Fylde 7

The intrepid short team of Lee, Betty, Alan and Terry arrived in Southport with hopes high for a possible win and therefore the League title, however they took a mauling from the Southport Wolf (Simon). The first round did not go too well, only Alan managing to win his game 7-6 on time. The second round was somewhat better, both Alan (8 - 7) and Lee (14 - 13) winning their games. Lee broke Southport hearts by pegging out both his balls when his opponent had pegged out one ball and was waiting to peg the other. This was particularly impressive has his opponent had 71/2 bisques to his none. At lunch, we were trailing 5 - 3. The sun came out and the close battle continued. The afternoon scores ended up tied at 4 -4, Lee pegging out in both games. Unfortunately, so did Simon Wolf who won all four of his games. The result allowed Southport to leapfrog over us in the League. Final league positions are 1st Bowden (11 pt), 2nd Southport (10 pt), 3rd Fylde (9 pt).

download full results

Posted by Terry, Sunday 23rd September

Short Croquet Final League Table 2006
Matches
Games
Points
P
W
D
L
W
L
Bowdon
6
5
1
0
63
33
11
Southport
6
5
0
1
58
32
10
Fylde
6
4
1
1
62
34
9
Bury
6
2
1
3
46
50
5
Chester
6
1
2
3
36
60
4
Llanfairfechan
6
1
0
5
31
59
2
Pendle & Craven
6
0
1
5
34
62
1

Reproduced from www.croquetnw.co.uk

Golf

Bury Norths 16 Fylde 6

Alan Morton(Capt), George Warcup, Cath Morton, Norman Smith opened their season against a strong Bury team . The match was played in rain throughout the day. Bury led 4-2 after the morning doubles but Fylde were unlucky not to be on level terms when Cath Morton and Norman Smith lost a game on a 'golden hoop' decider 7-6. In the afternoon singles ,Bury drew further ahead by winning each of the four rounds by 3 games to 1 as Fylde tried to stay on terms with their opponents .Fylde were within two hoops(7-5) of their opponents in 5 of the singles matches and again lost two more 'golden hoop' decider matches finally losing the match 16-6.

Posted by Alan Saturday 20th May

Southport 14 Fylde 8

In sunny conditions at Victoria Park, Liz Wilson, Alan Morton (c), Betty Bates and Cath Morton got off to a good start with Liz and Alan winning the opening doubles match. There was some good hoop runing with Cath scoring 2 hoops with shots from the boundary but Betty hit the shot of the morning by scoring a hoop from 22 yards. However, Fylde lost the remainder of the morning doubles by a single hoop in four of the games to leave them trailing 5-1 at lunch. The afternoon singles were again closely fought games which Fylde drew 2-2 in three of the rounds but Southport took round 3 by winning 3 games to 1. The overall result went to Southport but the final score didn't reflect the efforts of the Fylde team.

Posted by Alan, Saturday 3rd June

Fylde 22 Llanfairfechan 0

Being unable to raise a team they conceeded a walkover.

Posted by Peter, Sunday 18th June

FYLDE 13 BURY SOUTHS 9

In sunny conditins Alan (c), Norman, Cath & Isabelle faced a more experienced Bury team which fielded two zero handicap players. We got off to our usual promising start by winning the opening doubles match 7-5. However, our lack of consistency led to being behind by 4-2 at lunch. We opened the afternoon singles with a 3-1 lead in round one and kept ourselves in contention by drawing 2-2 in rounds 2 and 3 . Alan commented that this was the best performance of the season and that we could get a result. The team applied itself well in the final round with all 4 players winning their games. Notably Cath kept her nerve to beat Sheila Brickshaw in a tie-break and Isabelle pulled off the win of the day with a crushing 7-1 victory of Bury's lead player David Dean to secure the win. Our top player was Norman who won 6 of his 7 games.

Posted by Alan, Sunday 16th July

Pendle 16 FYLDE 6

Alan (c), Norman, Betty and Isabelle faced a very experienced team. Courts that had been parched with the July sunshine looked very different in the extremely wet conditions at Earby. We made our traditionaly slow start in the doubles, Pendle won some hoops with a display of accurate hitting from some 10-20 yards. We also showed some skills with Betty scoring a hoop with a spectacular shot off an opponent's ball and Norman hit a shot from the boundary to score a hoop. However, with the exception of Alan and Isabell winning 7-3, we found ourselves trailing 5-1 at lunch. The uphill struggle continued in round one of the singles with Pendle adding another four wins to lead 9-1. We held our own in rounds 2 and 3 drawing 2-2 but Pendle won round 4 by 3 games to 1. One shock win looked possible in Round 4 with Isabelle Seel leading Abdul Ahmad 4-0 in the early stages but Abdul used his experience to fight back and win by 7 hoops to 4. Alan was Fylde's best player winning 3 singles and a doubles match.

Posted by Alan, Tuesday 1st August

FYLDE 7 CULCHETH 15

Isabelle, Betty, Cath and Geoffrey would have to be at their best if they were to compete with league leaders Culcheth.

The morning session went fairly well with Betty winning two of her three doubles matches to keep us just two points behind at 2-4. We lost round one of the singles 3-1 but Isabelle used her extra turns well to defeat Bob Connop 7-4 to secure the single win in that round. In round two Cath had the result of the day by beating Bob Connop 7-1. However we were now behind 4-10 with eight matches remaining and so faced a difficult challenge in the final two round's. Round 3 went to Culcheth 3-1 but we managed to draw Round 4 at 2-2 finishing the match at 7points to 15. All the players made a contribution to winning points with Cath Morton top score with two singles and a doubles win.

Posted by Alan, Saturday 5th August

Fylde 10 Chester 12

Alan (C), Betty, Cath and Isabelle finished the season with a narrow defeat to Chester. The conditions at the start of the match were misty and the lawns were wet with overnight dew. We had a good morning in the doubles and at lunch were 3-3. Alan won all his doubles. Chester's Alan Clare and Keith Long demonstrated good jump shots to win hoops and this was an omen for the afternoon singles. The first round of singles saw only one Fylde win from Betty leaving the score at 4-6 in favour of Chester. We did better in round two. Alan hit a 23 yard hoop to stay in contention with Alan Clare but he lost 7-4. Cath played a brilliant approach to hoop 4 in her match with Keith Long only to lose the hoop to an excellent jump shot. Whilst we held good positions to win hoops during rounds 2 and 3 ,it was the the excellent finishing from the Chester pair that won the games. At the start of Round 4, we were four games behind and so needed to win all remaining matches to force a draw. It was a near thing as we won 3 of the 4 but couldn't secure the final win. Betty had an excellent game by winning all her four singles with Cath and Isabelle picking up wins. Alan had a poor game by his recent performances. This result leaves us bottom of the league for this season.

Posted by Alan, Sunday 17th September

Golf Croquet Final League Table 2006
Matches
Games
Points
P
W
D
L
W
L
Culcheth
7
6
0
1
96
58
12
Bury Souths
7
5
0
2
86
68
10
Pendle & Craven
7
3
1
3
84
70
7
Chester
7
3
1
3
75
79
7
Bury Norths
7
3
0
4
74
80
6
Southport
7
3
0
4
70
84
6
Fylde
7
2
0
5
64
82
4
Llanfairfechan
7
2
0
5
59
87
4

Reproduced from www.croquetnw.co.uk

NW federation Jamboree

Fylde third overall

We fielded a strong presence this year entering all four events.

Liz & Peter were runners up in the Advanced Doubles.

Lee captained the Handicap winning all five games. Andrew and Leonard both made stong contributions.

Terry captained the Short Lawn team comprising Geoffrey, George, Norman, Alan and Ken who made his debut for Fylde.

Cath & Isabelle captained the Golf team of Martin, Peter and two Southport players on loan.

Scortching sunshine throughout both days.

Posted by Peter, Sunday 2nd July