Reports from the 2005 season can be read here.
The Mary Rose is a national interclub knockout tournament organised by the Croquet Association. Early stages of the draw are done on a regional basis to avoid excessive travel.
17th June 2006: Newport 3-4 Pendle
& Craven
Newport were eliminated
from this year's Mary Rose tournament at the first hurdle with a tightly contested
defeat to Pendle & Craven.
After making good time on the long journey from Lancashire, our opponents arrived before the lawns were fully set out, but play commenced shortly before 10.30. In the morning doubles, Jim and David struggled to put together any form; nevertheless, they got close to their opponents, Roger and Norman, and lost by only 5. Mike similarly was involved in a close match and looked in good shape after pegging out one of Abdul's balls while both players had their backward ball for 4-back. However, following a mediocre leave by Mike, Abdul hit in from the lift shot and finished with a +3 victory. The only positive Newport result from the morning's session came when John held out for a win, +5, to leave Newport 2-1 down at lunch.
Fortunes changed in the afternoon session; David had a rapid win over Roger to level the scores at 2-2, and Mike finished shortly afterwards against John - his first win in a Mary Rose match in eight attempts - to give Newport a 3-2 lead. Then came the turning point of the match: Jim had two opportunities to peg out from relatively short range but failed on both occasions - the less than level lawns perhaps proving not to be to the advantage of the home team! Norman took full advantage to record a +2 win for P&C, and level the match score at 3-3. Thus the match came down to the final game and, unfortunately for Newport, John never really got going; Abdul completed one of the more one-sided victories of the day to clinch the match and secure a third-round tie against Ipswich. Our best wishes go to Pendle & Craven for their further progress in the tournament.
Scores (Newport players first)
David Tutt (1) and Jim Potter (2.5) lost to Roger Schofield (2.5) and Norman
Hicks (3) -5
Mike Porter (4) lost to Abdul Ahmad (4) -3
John Rolfe (4) beat John Filsak (3) +5
David Tutt beat Roger Schofield +21
Jim Potter lost to Norman Hicks -2
Mike Porter beat John Filsak +16
John Rolfe lost to Abdul Ahmad -13
The Longman Cup is a national interclub handicap tournament, organised by the Croquet Association.
Newport received a bye through the first round of this year's competition, and a walkover in the second round when Hurlingham were unable to raise a team. The third round tie will be against either Watford or Norwich.
The Essex and Suffolk League pits
eight different clubs from across the region against each other in a series
of handicap matches.
Players of all standards are encouraged to take part in ESL matches; contact
Bernard Yallop if you
are interested in playing.
6th May 2006: Ipswich 4-1 Newport
Scores (Newport players
first):
Chris Van Essen (2.5) and Adrian Seabrook (24) lost to Peter Allnutt (3) and
John Williams (11) -10
Bernard Yallop (10) lost to Celia Pearce (5) -8
Bernard Yallop lost to
Jill Waters (5) -15
Adrian Seabrook lost to John Williams -14
Chris Van Essen beat Peter Allnutt +4
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10th June 2006: Newport 3-4 Colchester
North
A closely contested match on a perfect summer's day for croquet; the only hiccup
came through Ron forgetting to bring his mallet...
Scores (Newport players
first):
Bernard Yallop (10) and Ron Atkinson (11) lost to Jonathan Hills (3) and Vi
Lester (18) -17
Robert Skeen (10) beat Pam Neville (16) +12(T)
Bob Brashaw (10) lost to Richard Williamson (14) -6(T)
Bob Brashaw lost to Jonathan
Hills -2
Robert Skeen beat Vi Lester +12
Ron Atkinson lost to Pam Neville -16(T)
Bernard Yallop beat Richard Williamson +1(T)
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8th July 2006: Havering 4-1 Newport
Newport continued their losing record in the Essex-Suffolk League, despite a
good showing from Francis Lambert, returning to croquet after a ten-year break.
Sadly, this may be Newport's last visit to Havering, as the courts are up for
sale and their future looks bleak.
Scores (Newport players
first):
Bernard Yallop (10) and Francis Lambert (16) lost to Maureen Foster (16) and
Betty Carter (16) -7(T)
Ron Atkinson (12) lost to Sheila Harris (16) -25
Bernard Yallop lost to
Sheila Harris -11
Ron Atkinson lost to Maureen Foster -20
Francis Lambert beat Betty Carter +5(T)
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9th September 2006: Newport 5-2
Bury St. Edmunds: Newport completes the season in style.
Having so far lost every Association croquet interclub match this season, Newport
finally pulled it off with a comprehensive victory over previously unbeaten
Bury St Edmunds in the Essex-Suffolk league match.
In the morning Jim Potter and Bob Brashaw were well beaten in the doubles by
John Rolfe and David Wicks. The singles were much closer. Ron Atkinson was well
ahead of John Robinette but unfortunately a rover peel went slightly wrong (as
they do!) with Ron unable to peg out. John hit in and 45 minutes later won +2.
In the other match Angus Bell just scraped home +1T against Tony Harvey. Bury
2 Newport 1 at lunch.
75 minutes into the afternoon Ron pegged out +25, having played a faultless
match against Tony. The other three matches were scrappy and all went to time
but in each case the Newport player got ahead and stayed there. Jim +8T against
John Rolfe, Angus +8T against John Robinette and Bob +7T against David.
So a clean sweep in the afternoon resulted in a 5 - 2 victory to Newport. Lets
hope we can start next season as we have left off this one!