[<<] [>>] by Frank Hughes at Canterbury
4 Jun 2008 (AC - Secretary's Shield)

Canterbury have reached the semi-finals of the national Secretary's Shield competition for the second time in three years.
They defeated West Midlands side Kenilworth 4-3 at Polo Farm last Wednesday (June 4) but the margin of victory could have been greater.

They went into lunch 3-0 up and needing to win only one of the four afternoon singles.
Paul Hill lost his match early on but, when Michael Poole won his, Roger Loram and Ted Salisbury also looked capable of victory. Both let their opponents off the hook.

That the match was played at all was remarkable after the downpour the day before. The lawns were under water and groundsman Tim Smith recorded 2.5 inches of rain.

In the morning Poole looked set for a crushing victory over a deflated Morris but, with just the final hoop to make with both balls, tried his luck too far.

After making the hoop with one ball he used his remaining shots to peel the other through instead of ensuring Morris had little chance of hitting in.

Morris went on to make a morale-boosting eight hoops before Poole could peg out for victory.
With an hour to go Hill was just one hoop ahead of Kenilworth's Cliff Daniel but the latter missed key shots and soon Hill was ready to peg out both balls for victory from close range. He struck the backward ball hard enough to send the forward ball on to the peg, leaving him with one 'dead' ball and so ending his turn.

Daniel cleared that ball far from the peg but Hill eventually hit one of Daniel's balls from long range and secured victory.

The doubles was a cat-and-mouse affair. Canterbury's Roger Loram and Ted Salisbury knew that Henry Fellows, handicap minus one, could complete his 12 hoops in one turn and then concentrate on helping his partner, John Handy (h 12). However the Canterbury pair were up to the challenge.

In the afternoon Morris made short work of Hill. Poole faltered early on but ended up winning with a bisque to spare after a nine-hoop break. This was enough to give Canterbury victory. In the other two games Loram missed a simple hoop shot to lose by a point to Daniel while Salisbury also lost by one.

In the next round Canterbury face either Nottingham or Chester

Scores

Michael Poole beat Morris +11
Paul Hill beat Cliff Daniel +9
Roger Loram and Ted Salisbury beat Henry Fellows and John Handy +17

Hill lost to Morris -21
Poole beat Fellows +10
Salisbury lost to Handy -1T (18-19)
Loram lost to Daniel -1T (23-24)