Canterbury beat Nottingham 4-3

[<<] [>>] by Frank Hughes at Newport, Essex
3 Aug 2008 (AC - Secretary's Shield)

Canterbury beat Nottingham 4-3 in the semi-finals of the Secretary's Shield knockout competition at Newport, Essex on Sunday and are through to the final of a national competition for the first time.

Nottingham went into lunch 2-1 up but Canterbury fought back magnificently in the afternoon to win three out of the four remaining games
The players had to contend with occasional heavy showers changing the characteristics of the lawns. Croquet does not stop for rain...
In the morning doubles Ted Salisbury and Jean Byers began well and were soon seven hoops ahead of Nottingham's Amanda and Nigel Hames-Keward.
Then Salisbury jammed his ball in hoop six, allowing Nigel Hames-Keward to seize the initiative. He took one of his balls round to rover, the last hoop, and the Canterbury pair couldn't regain the advantage. They went down 14 - 26.
Canterbury's Michael Poole had to give David Woodhouse 10 bisques, (extra turns), but the Nottingham player failed to make good use of them early on and Poole forged ahead. Woodhouse recovered but Poole was in good form and went on to win 26 -16.
Paul Hill, Canterbury's captain, had a fine start, taking one of his balls to the penultimate hoop. Victory looked assured but was not to be. His mallet caught the hoop instead of the ball, allowing his opponent, Michael Finnigan, to set up a four-ball break. Finnegan cashed in and won 26-22..
In the afternoon Salisbury found his form and took just two of the allotted 3.5 hours to defeat Nigel Hames-Keward 26 -16.
Poole denied Finnigan the chance to get into their game and won 26-13. Canterbury now led 3-2 with two matches still in play.
Hill had got off to a flying start with an 11-hoop break against Amanda Hames-Keward. Although she had fought back with spirit Hill eventually triumphed 26-19 to give Canterbury the match.
Meanwhile Byers soon found herself falling behind as Woodhouse made good use of the four bisques she had to concede to him.
She battled hard for the full 3.5 hours but Woodhouse won 26-17.