Posted by Barbara, 28th August 2022

Bury 7 Coasters 10 DRAWS 1

Bury South: Roy Spencer 8, Gail Burnett 12, Barbara Duncan 12, Susan Worth 12.
Fylde Coasters: Jan Smith 6, Sue Clarke 9, Claire Pearson 9, Jude Acda 10.

Doubles, Jan and Sue played Roy and Gail in a match that went to time resulting in a 5-5 draw
Claire and Jude narrowly missed out at the golden hoop against Barbara and Susan

Fylde got off to a great start winning all but one match before lunch. As has seemed the norm lately, we took our foot of the accelerator in the second half but still managed to win 3 out of 5 matches.

Jan had her handicap reduced to 5 after winning all her games.

Posted by Jan, 28th August 2022

FYLDE FALCONS 10 PENDLE 6 DRAWS 2

FYLDE FALCONS: John Cutler (9), Barbara Walker (10), Ted Walker (10), Lou Pel (12).
PENDLE Penny Clark (6), Karen Bamforth (6), Cathy O’Brien (7), Richard Mansfield (12).

After a Hiccup with the sat-nav, taking them to Poulton le Fylde, the Pendle team arrived at 9.45 on a lovely summer morning.

The doubles went in the visitors favour winning one and halving the other. Falcons fought back and at lunch the match score was 6.5 to 3.5 Pendle. Still all to play for.

Over lunch, a lengthy discussion ensued to reduce playing time to 35 minutes per game instead of the usual 50 minutes because of the heat and their homeward journey time. We reluctantly agreed to 40 minutes per game. Overall 8 of the 18 games went to time.

Posted by Ted & Barbara, 28th August 2022

CRAKE 7 FYLDE FALCONS 9 DRAWS 2

CRAKE : Frank Sharps (5), Graham Jowett (8), Brenda Knight (12), Paul Galley (12)
FYLDE: Barbara Walker (10), Ted Walker (11), Colin Galbraith (12) Vivien Galbraith (12).

The weather, dry with sunny spells but a cold wind in the morning.
The lawns were in excellent condition.
Each team contained 2 players new to the league. The doubles games were shared, Vivien and Ted winning 7 – 4 for us.
The first singles, Crakes number 1 mallet, Frank, played our new boy Colin, who had 7 extra turns which he used to very good effect in a 7 – 0 win including an excellent jump shot.
What a start! He used this new found skill in 2 later games. Well done.
Vivien played well in her first competitive match, sharing a point with Brenda and scoring well in the other 3 singles.
Frank & Ted had a combined age of 172 but the younger of the two triumphed in a 7 – 6 win for Ted who reduced his handicap with his 3 wins.
The lawns were in excellent condition. Barbara won 3 singles playing off a new handicap of 10.

This result puts Fylde Falcons top of Group A league with one match to play.

GO FALCONS

Posted by Ted & Barbara, 21st August 2022

Fylde Coasters 7.5 Crake Valley 10.5

Alexa had forecast rainy weather for todays match against Crake Valley. Fortunately she got it wrong and the rain stayed away although the wind was quite strong at times.

Coasters: Jan Smith 6, Sue Clarke 9, Claire Pearson 10 and Robert Bentwood 12.
Crake: Frank Sharps 5, Simon Robins 6, Graham Jowett 8 , Roger Coates 11 and David Cornes as non playing captain.

Robert had been recruited to play his first league game as a last minute replacement to cover for illness. A quick lesson was given on the use of 'extra turns' prior to his first game. The two doubles matches were shared with Robert and Jan taking on the stronger Crake pairing and beating them 7 -2 with Rob making good use of his 4 extra turns. Fylde had a poor first half winning only 1 game and drawing another leaving us well behind at half time and although we won 5 out of 8 of the second half games it wasn't enough to snatch a result. Play was quite difficult today (for both teams) as the dry lawns and the strong winds carried the balls in all directions seemingly with a will of their own.

Posted by Jan, 20th August 2022

Westmorland 5 Fylde Falcons 13

Westmorland : - John Armer 5, Elaine Newman 6, David Snaith 6, Fiona Armer 10.
Fylde Falcons :- Betty Bates 3, Ted Walker 11, Derek Matthews 11, Alison Broughton 12.

Arrived at Levens Hall in good time for our match on a very hot and sunny Sunday. The opening doubles and the first 4 singles were shared, score 3 each. Falcons won the next 4 to take a 7 – 3 lead at lunch which was enjoyed in the shade of one of Levens beautiful tall hedges. We won 6 of the remaining 8 singles to seal the match 13 – 5.

Highlights of the day, include Betty’s superb jump shot over the opponents 2 balls to score the hoop and also 23 yard hoop in her 3 wins. Ted won all his games, Derek in his first league match shared a point with Ted in the doubles and won 2 of his games including a jump shot and hooping from the boundary. In the last game Alison’s long angled shot into hoop 11 sealed her win over Fiona 7 – 4.

We celebrated our win with Ice Cream Cornets in the Courtyard. Another gritty performance by the Falcons - well done!

Posted by Ted & Barbara, 14th August 2022

FYLDE FALCONS 14 BURY SOUTH 4

Fylde Falcons: Ted Walker 11, Barbara Walker 11, Lindsay Campbell & 12 Alison Broughton 12.
Bury South Ian Saunders 7, Roy Spencer 9, Gail Burnett 12, Sue Worth 12.

Saturday's rain and the early morning drizzle slowed the lawns down but as the match started the clouds cleared, the sun shone and the Blackpool breeze dried the lawns, making an ideal day for croquet.

The two doubles were shared - Ted & Lindsay beating Ian and Sue 7 - 1, Alison & Barbara losing on the golden hoop to Roy and Gail. In the first singles, Gail raced to a 4 - 0 lead over Ted but he fought back putting the next 3 in the “jaws” & Gail’s attempted jump shots scored the hoops for Fylde. However she went on to win 7 - 5.

The next 7 games all went Fylde’s way making the match score 8 - 2 at lunch. Most of the games were close but Alison’s accuracy and good use of extra turns saw her win 3 of her 4 singles. Barbara won all 4 singles, beating Roy on the golden hoop by knocking the black ball through the back to a couple of inches from long range. The star of the day was Lindsay who won all her games. The day finished with everyone enjoying tea & cake in the sunshine.

Well done the Falcons!

Posted by Ted & Barbara, 29th July 2022

Bury South 9.5 Fylde Coasters 8.5

Bury South: Jane Bailey 3, Vi Richards 6, Lynne Gaukrogers 9, John Cassell 12. Bernard Lord (non playing captain.).
Fylde Coasters: Jan Smith 6, Sue Clarke 8, Claire Pearson 10, Jude Acda 10.

Weather seemed to be perfect for our trip to Coronation Park and thankfully the heatwave had subsided .

Doubles: Jan and Claire came out on top against Jane and Lynne winning 5 - 7. The highlight came when Claire pulled off a fabulous backward jump shot which became the talking point of the break. Sue and Jude went to time for their doubles match losing to Vi and John 5 - 3.

Singles. Fylde started strongly before lunch winning 6 out of 8 games and drawing one.

The 'perfect' weather waited for us to stop for lunch before it teemed down and also obliged by easing off as we restarted. The second half became the reverse of the first with Bury winning all but one of the second half. Five games went to the golden hoop and five ran out of time

Posted by Jan, 23rd July 2022

FYLDE COASTERS 11 PENDLE 7

Coasters: Philip B (6) Catherine (9) (C) Claire (10) Shelagh (11)
Pendle: Mike Bradbury (4) Penny Clark (7) Karen Bamforth (7) (C) David Carpenter (9).

A cold breeze and light rain in the morning faded by mid-afternoon, so it warmed up a little but the sun stayed away. All level after the Doubles 1-1.

By lunchtime, two wins for Philip and a win each for Claire and Shelagh kept the score level at 5-5. Talk of Woke culture, Bridgerton, Gogglebox and Naked Attraction kept us entertained over lunch and we were buoyed up ready for the afternoon. In Round 4, Coasters edged in front with another win for Philip and Claire and Catherine managed her first win of the day. So, 8-6 going into the final round and Pendle had all to play for. However, the Fylde ladies had a win each, so Fylde Coasters was the victor, keeping them top of the Group A League.

Only two Games went to time and Coasters prevailed in four of the five Golden Hoop shootouts. Despite the weather, everyone enjoyed the day with many compliments about the variety of wild flowers in Martin’s Meadow.

Posted by Catherine, 5th June 2022

Fylde Falcons 10 Bury North 8

The day was fine but with a cool breeze for the morning matches but warm sunshine in the afternoon.

Falcons: Betty 3, Ian 4, Ted 11, Barbara 12.
Bury North: Bernard 3, Richard 4, Norman 8, Pat 12.

Fylde won both doubles 7-4 & 7 – 6.

Most of the singles were close with Fylde Falcons coming out on top in some very close games. Pat played some very good stop shots against Betty but they were beaten by Betty’s brilliant jump shots. Ted made an excellent start against Richard winning the first 5 hoops only to lose 7 – 5 as Richard made a good come back. A similar game against Ian, 5 – 1 turned around by Richard for a win on the golden hoop. Ted played a super game against Norman winning 7 - 0 despite losing their way on lawn 5 after Ted won the first 4 hoops! Barbara shared a win with Betty in the doubles and won 3 out 4 singles to seal the match.

Well done Team.

Posted by Barbara, 8th May 2022

Fylde Coasters 9.5 Fylde Falcons 8.5

in the first Golf Croquet League match today. The Coasters team were Jan (capt), Sue, Claire and Shelagh. Falcons Ted, Lu, John, Alison with non playing captain Barbara. Player of the match was Alison who won all her games.

The Coasters came out on top, but not in the photo.

Posted by Jan, 1st May 2022