Open Association Croquet Midweek Advanced

It was a chilly day that saw the arrival of a strong entry for the second 2-day AC Midweek Advanced tournament to be staged at Watford, after the cancellation of the 2020 event. It was also the first to be able to take advantage of the new pavilion, albeit in a socially distanced way that still required food and beverages to be consumed al fresco outdoors.

The entry was split by handicap into two independent blocks, with the winners in each block determined by the highest percentage from a minimum of 5 games. In the 'A' block Sam Murray proved to be on top form, stamping his mark in the first round with a tpo and following up with two more tps in his next five games to win the tournament and the Cassiobury Cup with a 100% record. Stephen Wright also played well, showing some of the form from his heyday some decades earlier, and his only defeat was at the hands of Sam.

Unfortunately in the 'B' block one of the entrants had cancelled at short notice the day before to leave an odd number of players on the first day, but Geoff Johnson was co-opted to stand in to play on the second day to even up the numbers. The pace was also somewhat slower in this block with a couple of games that dragged on for over 4 hours, requiring the imposition of time-limits. So nobody in the block managed to play more than 3 games on the first day, and some only managed two. Brian Havill had emerged as the overnight leader with 3/3, including a narrow win over Richard Peperell, but was unable to capitalise on that on the second day, losing both his games. Meanwhile Richard Peperell won both his last two to overhaul Brian and take the 'B' block title and the Cassiobury Salver with 4/5 in spite of his loss to Brian on the first day.

The weather deteriorated further in mid-afternoon of the second day, and reached the point where there was no enthusiasm from any of the players to carry on, and as the outcome had by then been determined the final round of play in both blocks was abandoned.

Results: Block A Results vs.: SM SW PC CR NP SH TR DM SCORE W-L % WIN QLTY NET HOOPS Sam Murray   +26tp +12tpo   +9 +17 +22 +26tp 6-0 100% 2.50 +112 Stephen Wright -26tp     +1 +15 +17 +24 +15 5-1 83% 1.57 +46 Phil Cordingley -12tpo     -6 +9 +2   +8 3-2 60% 0.90 +1 Chris Roberts   -1 +6   -3 -5 +2 +13 3-3 50% 0.94 +12 Nigel Polhill -9 -15 -9 +3     +16   2-3 40% 0.67 -14 Simon Hathrell -17 -17 -2 +5     +17 -13 2-4 33% 0.67 -27 Tim Russell -22 -24   -2 -16 -17   +24 1-5 17% 0.17 -57 David Marsh -26tp -15 -8 -13   +13 -24   1-5 17% 0.33 -73 Block B Results vs.: RP BH GB AR MH JW AC GJ SCORE W-L % WIN QLTY NET HOOPS Richard Peperell   -3 +5   +19 +6 +25   4-1 80% 1.40 +52 Brian Havill +3   +19 -2 -16 +7     3-2 60% 1.60 +11 Gary Bennett -5 -19   +1 +18 +22     3-2 60% 1.00 +17 Arthur Reed   +2 -1   +11       2-1 40% 1.00 +12 Mike Hills -19 +16 -18 -11     +3   2-3 40% 0.80 -29 John Wells -6 -7 -22       +4T   1-3 20% 0.20 -31 Alan Clark -25       -3 -4T   +7 1-3 20% 0.00 -25 Geoff Johnson             -7   0-1 0% 0.00 -7 Participants Name Club H'cap Sam Murray Surbiton -2 Nigel Polhill Hurlingham -1½ Simon Hathrell Watford -1½ Tim Russell Roehampton -1 David Marsh Wrest Park -1 Phil Cordingley Hampstead Heath -1 Stephen Wright Eynsham -½ Chris Roberts Phyllis Court 0 Gary Bennett Watford ½ Brian Havill Watford ½ Mike Hills Northampton 1½ Alan Clark Watford 2½ Arthur Reed Watford 3 Richard Peperell High Wycombe 3 Geoff Johnson Watford 3 John Wells Cheltenham 3½   WINNERS Sam Murray, Richard Peperell Block A winner Sam Murray Handicap change: Richard Peperell 3 to 2½, Gary Bennett ½ to 1, Alan Clark 2½ to 3 Click on image to enlarge