Nottingham 4-3 Northampton (GC Inter Club)

 by Ian Burridge at Northampton [^] -> bottom
14th August (Golf Croquet Inter-Club)

 

Nottingham lost the crucial toss and had to travel to the sloping lawns of Northampton. Ian Burridge and James Death were slow to adapt in their first game and although they improved slightly in the second, good hooping from Michael Hills was enough to secure him and Lionel Tibble a comfortable 2-0 win. Richard Bilton was always in control of his match against Leslie Heard and took a comfortable 2-0 victory. The match between Euan Burridge and Stuart Smith was much closer and Stuart ultimately ran out the winner at the golden hoop in the 3rd game to give Northampton a 2-1 lead at lunch.

In the afternoon session Ian and James quickly won their first games against Lionel and Mike. Richard was taken to hoop 13 by Stuart and was fortunate to run it when missing a clearance, whilst Leslie comfortably won the first game against Euan. James held off a comeback from Mike to win 2-0 and level the match and Richard won his 2nd game more comfortably, including running hoop 3 from the north boundary behind hoop 2 and hoops 5 and 6 in the same shot! Euan and Lionel both equalised in their matches.

This left one of the Burridges needing to win their final game for Nottingham to advance to the final. Solid play from Leslie saw off Euan quite comfortably but as their match concluded Ian ran hoop 5 from the south boundary for a 5-0 lead before wrapping up his match and the victory shortly afterwards. Nottingham will play rithet Phyllis Court or Dulwich in the final.

Northampton names first:-

Michael Hills and Lionel Tibble beat Ian Burridge and James Death 7-4 7-4 
Leslie Heard lost to Richard Bilton 3-7 5-7 
Stuart Smith beat Euan Burridge 4-7 7-4 7-6 
Lionel Tibble lost to Ian Burridge 3-7 7-4 1-7 
Michael Hills lost to James Death 3-7 5-7 
Stuart Smith lost to Richard Bilton 6-7 3-7 
Leslie Heard beat Euan Burridge 7-4 5-7 7-3

Northampton 3-4 Nottingham