Camerton and Peasedown Croquet Club played their first-ever SWF AC Federation League match on 18th March. Having come runners-up in the Federation’s AC Intermediate League last year, their Association Croquet team was moved up to the SWF’s highest level league.
The first match was against Weston-super-Mare, who, three days before, had beaten East Dorset 6-1. In the initial game, Weston edged ahead after coming from behind by the time the game’s limiting three hours ran out.
It was left for the home pairing of Mo Boys and Tony Brooks to even the match, with a 13-7 win at the time limit. After lunch, Colin Britt’s decisive 26-7 win put CPCC ahead for the first time. Weston’s Brian Robinson evened the match score with a 23-13 win before Mo Boys won the final game 22-15, giving CPCC the match. So all augurs well for the team’s season in their new league.
Colin Britt also had unexpected success in the Latham Cup, an AC Handicap Tournament in Bristol, beating Bob Whiffen in the final, 26-16. This year, with CPCC’s rejuvenated interest in AC, they are fielding a new second AC team playing in the SWF’s B League (central). They won their first match 4-3 against Kingston Maurward from Dorchester.
Meanwhile, CPCC’s more numerous Golf Croquet players, unlike last year, had a mixed start to the season’s league matches. The Central South team lost to East Dorset, but won 12½-7½ against a much stronger Nailsea side in a close-fought handicap match.
Following their earlier win at Nailsea, CPCC’s Central North team drew against Bristol in spite of being two up at lunch. After a slow start, the High Handicap team in the Central League won 11½-8½ against Bath, winning their last four games. Unfortunately, they lost their next match to Weston-super-Mare. The GC Level Play team’s first match was cancelled.
Malcolm Evans