Category: NWF Competitions

Bowdon Bounders play their opening fixture of the season at home against Southport in the Croquet North West GC Handicap League. Unfortunately they did not obtain the winning result for which they hoped, and lost 7-11. The ‘Bounders’ enjoyed a friendly match with Southport, in the sunshine on Sunday. Bowdon won both the doubles games, but Southport did much better in the singles. Monica Young had kindly stepped in at the last moment, and won three of her four games. Well done Monica. Congratulations to Garth who played his first League match, regrettably, against very tough opponents.

Our team, with their handicaps, was:

Southport’s team, with their handicaps, was, Gill Pinch 9, Bear Trotter 10, Wendy Cawley 12 and Peers Cawley 12.

The games’ results were as follows:

Fred and Monica beat Gill and Peers 7-6

Margaret and Garth beat Bear and Wendy 7-4

Margaret lost to Peers 4-7, Wendy 3-7, Gill 4-7 and Bear 5-7

Fred beat Bear7-3, and Gill 7-3, but lost to Wendy 3-7 and Peers 6-7

Garth lost to Gill 4-7, Bear 2-7, Peers 3-7 and Wendy 3-7

Monica beat Bear 7-4, Gill 7-4 and Peers 7-5, but lost to Wendy 1-7

Bowdon’s team in the Croquet North West AC Handicap League played at Southport on Sunday 12th May. Sadly, our hopes of a winning start to the season were not fulfilled, and we lost by 3 games to 4. Southport’s lawns were no more challenging than on previous occasions, so they must have worked hard to make ready for our visit. The weather was good with a fair amount of sun and no rain during play. In the morning we lost the doubles, and John’s singles against Bill (handicap 8). David won our only game against David Venables (handicap 14). In the afternoon we shared the games. Alan was overrun with Bill’s 8.5 bisques. David obtained a lead and kept it, until the later stages of his game when his more experienced opponent Peter (handicap 16) finished strongly. John won his singles against Gail (handicap 10) after struggling for most of the game yet staying in contention. When Gail’s bisques were used up John achieved a small break to go one ahead on his penultimate turn, and then add another hoop on his final turn. Ed was always ahead against David Venables (handicap 14) who was more experienced. Southport CC provided some very nice biscuits and cakes. David drove us safely and comfortably and we generally had a good day out.

The team, with handicaps, was as follows:

Southport’s team was, Bill Nicholl 8, Gail Moore 10, David Venables 14 and Peter Williamson 16.

The morning results were:

Alan and Ed lost to Gail and Peter 9-13, John lost to Bill -6 on time and David Beddy beat David Williamson +6 on time.

The afternoon singles results were:

Alan lost to Bill -24, David Beddy lost to Peter -6 on time, John beat Gail +2 on time and Ed beat David Williamson +7 on time.

Bowdon Bounders play their opening fixture of the season at home against Southport and will be hoping for a successful start to their campaign in the Croquet North West GC Handicap League. The weather forecast is good and spectators will be welcome to watch some fiercely competitive croquet.

Our confident team is:

We wish them good luck and fine weather. Lawns 1 and 2 will be occupied by this match for most of Sunday.

Bowdon’s team in the Croquet North West AC Handicap League play at Southport on Sunday 12th May. This is our first match of the season so we are hopeful of a good start. Apparently Southport has had severe lawn problems mainly due to seawater incursion, so play may be challenging. Our team will take swimming costumes and snorkels.

The team is as follows:

We wish them good luck, fine weather and a nice swim.

Bowdon had a convincing 16-2 win over Ellesmere in the CNW Level Play GC League.
The team was: Nigel Matthews, Angharrad Walters & David Holland.

The scores were:
Nigel (-1) beat Janet Maxwell (12) by 7-2, 7-2 ; beat Mark Frayne (3) by 7-2, 7-5 and beat Alan Wright (5) by 7-4, 7-2.
Angharrad (-3) beat Janet by 7-3, 7-1 ; beat Mark by 7-2, 7-2 and beat Alan 7-6, 7-3.
David (3) beat Janet by 7-2, 7-4 ; drew with Mark 6-7, 7-5; drew with Alan 7-5, 5-7.

Our team for the second round of the Short League against Bury was:
Brian Medley (2p), Liz Webb (3), Gordon Hennel (7) and David Beddy (7).

The day started cold and wet but got much sunnier as it wore on. And our croquet followed suit: having been 3-1 down after the first set of matches we clawed back to level pegging by lunchtime and edged ahead in the afternoon. David Beddy acquitted himself very well on his first outing for the club but the star of the show was Liz Webb who won all her games. So we will not make fun of her for forgetting the rules about when a ball is pegged out.

The full scores were:
Brian (2p) lost to Chris Williamson (6) by 0-14; beat Vi Richards (7) by 12-10; beat Richard Leach (3.5); beat Tony Philips (1).
Liz (3) beat Vi (7) by 10-8; beat Chris (6) by 14-11; beat Tony (1) by 14-13; beat Richard (3.5) by 12-8.
David (7) lost to Tony (1) by 11-12; beat Richard (3.5) by 14-2; lost to Vi (7) by 6-14; lost to Chris (6) by 8-14.
Gordon (7) lost to Richard (3.5) by 5-14; lost to Tony (1) by 8-14; beat Chris (6) by 9-8; lost to Vi (7) by 6-14.

Bowdon’s B-Advanced team, Bowdon Angels, won their opening match against Fylde 5-0 Our team was:

The morning doubles was a very close game with Charles (1) and Ed (14) coming from 2 hoops behind when time was called on their last turn. They managed to run 5 hoops and to peg out leaving Liz Wilson (5) and Betty Bates (8) a long hit in – which they missed.
Adrian (3) beat Peter Wilson(4) by +8 in the morning and beat Liz +19 in the afternoon.
In the afternoon Charles beat Peter by +12 and Ed playing in his first advanced match beat Betty by +15.
Well done Ed and well done team!

Bowdon Earls came to Llanfairfechan, saw Llanfairfechan but sadly did not conquer Llanfairfechan (the phrasing there is mainly for those who know some Latin and Roman history). The match was our first in the new Croquet North West 14 point handicap League. Earls experienced lawns that were very slow, heavy and undulating (especially in comparison to Bowdon) plus they each had a forest of bisques to play against (46.5 over 4 games per person).  So it was a difficult day and Earls lost 2 -14.  They did their best but international croquet is tough. Earls will be determined to improve on this in their next match. Our team, with handicaps, was:

Llanfairfechan’s team was; Dave Harding 7.5, Giles Pepperell 13, Jane Turner 13 and Fred Wiliams 13.

Results were as follows:

Mike beat Jane 10-9 and Dave 14-11, but lost to Fred 5-12 and Giles 5-14

Liz lost to Jane 8-14, Dave 3-14, Fred 6-14 and Giles 6-14

Cas lost to Giles 7-10, Dave 8-11, Jane 5-14 and Fred 6-8

Ros lost to Dave 5-14, Giles, 6-14, Fred 5-14 and Jane 7-8

On Saturday 20th April, Bowdon Earls head into the Principality to play at Llanfairfechan in the Croquet North West 14 point handicap League. This is the first outing for our team in what is a new CNW League competition. Accordingly, a strong team has been selected, and is as follows:

They can now regard themselves as international players, and we hope that they enjoy good luck and fine weather.

On Friday 12th April the North West Federation Short League programme began with our 2 Short teams, Bowdon Blanks and Bowdon Bullets playing head to head. The day was great for croquet. There was no rain, it was warm and the lawns were in great condition. The presence of spectators showed the importance of this fixture, and they saw some good quality play from both teams. All players had ample opportunity to enjoy themselves regardless of the result. The Bowdon Blanks won by a good margin of 11-5, which augurs well for their season. Bowdon Bullets will no doubt be determined to win their next match, and Cas will certainly want to keep their best performer, Ed, in the team.

Bowdon Blanks team, with handicaps, was:

Bowdon Bullets team, with handicaps, was:

Results were as follows (Blanks score first):

Alan Mayne beat Pauline 14-4, CAS 14-7 and Brian 14-12, but lost to Ed 0-14

Charles beat Pauline 14-7, Ed 14-8 and CAS 14-6, but lost to Brian 10-14

Kay beat Brian 10-6, CAS 14-7 and Pauline 14-4, but lost to Ed 6-14

Carol beat Brian 14-4, and Pauline 11-8, but lost to CAS 6-14 and Ed 5-14