[<<] [>>] by David Mooney at Surbiton
30 Sep-1 Oct 2006 (Other News)

On a weekend that saw the South East of England receive a months rain in 48hours. Surbiton hosted the association croquet national team finals. Arriving just after the morning's thunderstorm the teams were dispatched to the courts after assessing which of the teams had the most strong swimmers or as the ROT one ,G Noble yeoman of the borough, whispered "Send the Mary Rose chaps down to 6and 7 then I won't have to go down there much."

At lunch time the lifeboats were dispatched to recover the survivors. The match scores were close, all of them being 2-1.

Casting the players adrift again it was clear that Surbiton were sinking fast losing finally loosing 6-1 to Parsons Green. Whilst Blewbury and Pendle were desperately treading water with Pendle pulling the life jacket off Blewbury to go 4-2 ahead before Blewbury pulled it back to 4-3 then sinking in true Leonardo di Caprio style.

Meanwhile news came in that in the distance an epic struggle was taking place between Woking and Colchester with Woking finally triumphing 4-3. Life rafts were dispatched and the victors and vanquished rescued.

Sunday

Rain, Rain, Rain. The stalwarts that were the Longman Cup teams donned their Sou'westers and braved the steady rain. Meanwhile the A class teams arrived appropriately in dribs & drabs one quipping "Good weather for ducks i.e. Ed the Duck" Surbiton coming out 5-2 victors The inter club final was a final where mistakes became the deciding factor rather than good play or hitting in, a surprise at this level, with Ed Duckworth failing a peel at rover against Stephen Mulliner and Samir Patel missing a peg out for a TPO against Roger Jenkins (read Steve Mulliner's Report for full details).

Longman Cup final was a controversial affair that had a lesson for all. It seems that the teams agreed to use one clock for 2 of the matches and that time was mistakenly called 55minutes early. As all parties left the courts having agreed that the games were over then they were. Having realised the error it was championship referee Stephen Mulliner's unfortunate duty to inform the losing parties that the results stood. This resulted in the lunchtime score being 2-1 to Pendle. The afternoon session saw Pendle progress to 4-3 victory in a tight contest. This proves the need for all parties to take full notice of the clock in all situations and not to rely on others.

Surbiton beat Blewbury in the 3-4 play-off and the day finished in bright sunshine. Having completed their 40 days and nights the teams left two by two leaving the mangler reflecting on the fact that Surbiton Ark used to be played on that weekend. I wonder why?

Results

Longman Cup

Semis

Final

3vs4

Mary Rose

Inter-Club