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This is an annual inter-club Association Croquet (26 point) handicap
tournament, organised by the Federation of East Midlands Croquet Clubs, and
open to affiliated clubs. It is run in a form of a league over one or two days
depending on the number of clubs taking part, and the venue is usually either
Nottingham or Northampton.
We play a match against each of the other clubs. The format has been
modified slightly from 2007 onwards: Each match now consists of three games of
singles; there are no longer any doubles games. The players in the team can
be varied from one match to the next. All games have a three-hour time limit.
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Previous
winners:
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1999 Leicester
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2003 Nottingham
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2007 Nottingham
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2000 Nottingham
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2004 Woodhall Spa
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2008 Ashby
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2001 Leicester
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2005 Ashby
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2009 Ashby
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2002 Woodhall Spa
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2006 Nottingham
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2009 RESULTS Played at Nottingham on Saturday 8th August
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Ashby have
won the East Midlands 26-Point Association
Croquet League for the second year running.
It was good to see the event contested by four clubs once again,
making it more of a tournament than last year. As so often happens in this competition,
it went right down to the wire, with the overall outcome being decided by
the result of the last game in the last match.
The Ashby
team started well, winning the matches against Leicester and Woodhall
Spa. But in the final match against Nottingham, Derek and Richard failed to keep the
momentum going and lost their games.
This meant that Nottingham had an unassailable lead in the match,
and Nottingham and Ashby would end on two
match-wins apiece, meaning that it would go down to the total number of
games won. With the final game
between Geoff Ellott and Peter Moore still in progress well into the
evening, the games-won score was currently 4-4, and a huge crowd (about a
dozen people anyway) gathered to watch the thrilling climax, the players
unaware that the game was so crucial.
Geoff managed to hold on to his lead when time was called, ensuring
overall victory for Ashby.
Ashby win
the league for the third time, and once again qualify for next season's
Secretary's Shield.
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FINAL PLACINGS
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Matches won
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Games won
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1st
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Ashby
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2
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5
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2nd
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Nottingham
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2
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4
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3rd
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Woodhall Spa
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1
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5
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4th
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Leicester
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1
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4
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Ashby 2–1 Leicester
Mick Haytack (10) 26-5 Richard White (–1)
Derek
Buxton (10) 19-26 Lawrence
Whittaker (2.5)
Geoff
Ellott (14) 26-5 Richard Whiting (9)
Ashby 2–1 Woodhall Spa
Mick Haytack (10) 17-26 Roy Ware (3.5)
Richard Sanville (10) 26-9 Patricia
Duke-Cox (8)
Geoff
Ellott (14) 26-15 John Norman (16)
Ashby 1–2 Nottingham
Derek
Buxton (10) 23-26 Martin Beacon (3.5)
Richard Sanville (10) 7-26 Don Martin (7)
Geoff
Ellott (14) 25-20 Peter Moore (16)
Other matches:
Nottingham 0–3 Woodhall Spa
Leicester 1–2 Nottingham
Woodhall Spa 1–2 Leicester
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2008
RESULTS
Played at Nottingham on Saturday
23rd August: NOTTINGHAM
2 – 3 ASHBY. Disappointingly, there were only two clubs
taking part this year: Nottingham and Ashby,
fielding a team of three players each.
Due to clashes with other events at Ripon and Pendle and a golf
croquet league match at Moira, the Ashby team more or less decided itself
this time – Jeremy, Geoff and Richard being the only three players
available. The Ashby team just managed
to squeeze through by 3 games to 2, with two of our wins decided by just a +1
margin on time, so hardly a convincing victory! The team now wins the mythical East Midlands 26-point Salver. (Does this trophy really exist? Yes it
does! The editor did catch a brief glimpse of the salver at the club
AGM. It will be formally presented at
the Federation AGM.)
TEAMS
Nottingham: Roger Berkeley (4.5), Don Martin
(8), David Woodhouse (12).
Ashby: Jeremy Staley (10), Richard Sanville (10), Geoff Ellott (16)
RESULTS
Roger & David 15-16 Richard
& Geoff
Don 9-23 Jeremy
Roger 26-11 Jeremy
Don 26-8 Richard
David 19-20 Geoff
Match result: Nottingham 2 - 3 Ashby
2007
RESULTS
Played at Nottingham on Saturday 25th August. A slight change to the format this year,
each match comprising three singles games (no doubles games this year). Four clubs competed: Ashby, Leicester, Nottingham and Woodhall Spa. Nottingham
won all of their matches and therefore retained the trophy.
2006 RESULTS
Played at Nottingham on Saturday 22nd July: NOTTINGHAM 5
– 1 ASHBY. There were only two clubs taking part in the
"league" this year – Nottingham and Ashby – so this
year's event was played as a Longman Cup format, i.e. a team of four, each
player getting two games, time limit 3 hrs 15 mins each. The Ashby team of Tim
King, Derek Buxton, Geoff Ellott and Marilyn Murray were
beaten quite convincingly by a strong Nottingham
side. Unfortunately the stormy weather
intervened before all the scheduled games were completed. Congratulations to Nottingham
who will represent the East Midlands Federation in the Secretary's Shield
next year.
2005 RESULTS
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Played on Saturday 16th July at Nottingham
After several years in which we finished a very close second or third,
Ashby finally gets its name on the 26-point regional trophy with a clean
sweep of victories in our matches against Nottingham, Woodhall Spa and Leicester. We had a squad of six players, allowing
each person to play a singles game and a doubles game, and then sit out the
third game - a tactic which seemed to work!
Our first match, against Nottingham,
was a lot closer than the 3-0 scoreline suggests - two of the three games
being decided by just one point after time was called - and in the end the
results of these games proved to be pivotal to the outcome of the whole
competition.
The trophy will be presented at the East Midlands Federation AGM in
November.
The tournament success means that Ashby will now compete in next year's
Secretary's Shield - a national tournament for the winning clubs of the
regional tournaments.
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RESULTS
Ashby
v Nottingham
Derek Buxton (11) & Richard Sanville
(12) 19-18
Roger Berkeley (6) & Michael Finnigan (11)
Tim King (7) 19-14
John Hansen (9)
Jeremy Staley (10) 21-20
William Gee (14)
Match
result: Ashby 3 - 0 Nottingham
Ashby
v Woodhall Spa
Tim King (7) & Jeremy Staley (10) 20-14
John Norman (20) & Bob Thompson (18)
Geoff Ellott (18) 26-3 Patricia Duke-Cox
(10)
Marilyn Murray (20) 10-17 David Eckford (18)
Match
result: Ashby 2 - 1 Woodhall Spa
Ashby v Leicester
Geoff Ellott (18) & Marilyn Murray (20) 18-13 David White
(0.5) & Brian Kerr (3.5)
Derek Buxton (11) 26-0 Lawrence Whittaker (0)
Richard Sanville (12) 12-26
Richard Whiting (10)
Match
result: Ashby 2 - 1 Leicester
Other matches:
Woodhall
Spa 2 - 1 Leicester
Nottingham
2 - 1 Leicester
Nottingham 2 - 1 Woodhall
Spa
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Overall result:
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1st
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Ashby
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3 matches won
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2nd
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Nottingham
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2
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3rd
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Woodhall Spa
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1
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4th
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Leicester
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0
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