Enfield Take On Might of Wrest Park and Win!
Monday, 22nd July - Enfield 4 - Wrest Park 2
We knew it would be tough when Wrest Park came to town and we had the hardest match of the league so far, but managed to come out on top.
George Collin (0) and David Woolley (10) initially struggled in the doubles match, with David Frost (4.5) and Michael Broadway (9) making good breaks.
Michael missed the peg out of David Frost's ball but pegged his own ball out to reduce the size of the target, before Frosty finished to win 26-9.
Meanwhile, Thomas Halliday (7) and Nigel Owen (18) built a lead with half their bisques, and when Peter Rothwell (4.5) overapproached penult, Nigel was
able to break to peg, leaving Thomas to finish 26-19.
In the singles, Nigel was facing Peter Aspinall (11), who had shown great skill in hitting in in particular. Nigel used his bisques wisely to get yellow
to peg, but Peter was not far behind.
Thomas was first to finish after 2 hours 55 minutes in an intense battle. Peter Rothwell, on a break to finish, and remembering his earlier error, was
gentle at penult, and underapproached instead. Thomas, long out of bisques, took a break from 5 to rover. Peter missed the 12 yard roquet attempt, and Thomas pulled off a very lucky rover peel and
jump combination to earn a rush to the peg to win 26-22.
David Frost and Michael both led for substantial periods of their matches, but George Collin was unerringly accurate to peg out with 10 seconds left, and
David Woolley overtook Michael with 90 seconds remaining on the clock to win 20-18 on time.
The clock ended Nigel and Peter's match, too, the last on the lawns. Nigel left the lawn with balls widely separated and holding a five point lead. Peter,
with both balls on 3-back, needed a peel to stand a chance. He played the only shot that might give him that, but missed, with Nigel winning 21-16 on time.
The result means that Wrest Park's three year reign as champions is over, and that however St Alban's do against Northampton, Enfield go into the final
round top of the league. Only bottom side Letchworth now stand in the way.
Enfield Beats Meldreth 11-4 in GC Open
Thursday, 18th July : In the Open team, for the first time in a while, we're in the top half of the league towards the end of a season. The day was evenly
matched through the whole of the morning, with the score at 1-1, 3-3, 5-5, and 7-7 after the first four rounds. The only way of avoiding a deciding doubles was if one side swept the final
round.
Within ten minutes, David had returned victorious over Les Heard (1), shortly followed by a win by Peter over Ross Bagni (0). Thomas then finished against
John Watson (3), before Kim wrapped up an Enfield victory by beating Terry Collis (3) for his first win of the day.
In previous matches, we've said that all we needed was one of us to have a great day. Today, that was Peter Brock, who won all four singles matches and
played very well in defeat in the doubles (it was my fault we lost).
One more match against Watford, where we *might* manage to end the season as runners up for the first time ever. Something still to aim for! (Report by
Thomas Halliday)
Federation Shield Game Held At Enfield
Monday, 15th July - Enfield was delighted to host Worthing West and Leicester as they met in the latest round of the Federation Shield. The weather kept
dry except for a brief shower during lunch and Worthing West left victorious with a one point lead on the final 4-3 scoreline.
Barnet Roundheads Surprise Enfield West
Thursday, 11th July - 5-5 Draw
A tougher battle than expected for Enfield West who took on the Barnet Roundheads. The Roundheads have come a long way since forming last year. Captain
Dave Hill and Nigel Owen won the doubles but struggled on the singles. Andrew Yianni won two matches and with Dave's singles win bringing the draw. Sausage rolls and watermelon
helped!
Narrow Loss For Enfield East At Meldreth
Tuesday, 9th July - Meldreth 6 - Enfield East 4
It was a narrow loss for Alan Bateman, Brian Dawes and Patrick Beecham at Meldreth today. Hang in there - it will get better boys!
Rain Stops Play At Newport in Enfield B Level Match
Tuesday, 9th July - Newport 9 - Enfield 6
A slow start followed by a strengthening of play, the comeback efforts of the Enfield B team was thwarted by a torrential downpour which brought the day's proceedings
to a close. Not an easy decisions teams Dave Hill, Nicola Hyde, Ian Moore and Brian Dawes along with Newport's Anne Taylor, Sally Carr, Fran Lambert and Trevor Reynolds were enjoying the
games - the pictures however show it was impossible to continue!
Enfield Start AC Season With Resounding Win
Monday, 1st July 2024 - Enfield 6 - Watford 0
Enfield's excellent start to the AC season continued today as the visiting Watford team were roundly beaten by Enfield by six games to nil.
Both doubles games went to time, with all players falling prey to very fast conditions (at least by Enfield standards) on Lawn 3 and hoops that, though
not actually very narrow, were certainly often unyielding on Lawn 1. Both were close, but Enfield prevailed, with Thomas and Nigel pulling ahead only after using their bisques, and David and Michael
staging a late pair of breaks to lead for the first time ten minutes before time was called.
In the singles, many of the matches were close for some time. Thomas was neck and neck with John Smallbone for the first hour, but pulled ahead to win +16
in the next hour. Not long afterwards, Michael, who had never looked in trouble, convincingly beat David Robinson +17 to ensure an Enfield victory.
David was battling with Andre Machell. Both at times looked well in control, until at 23-23 David decisively hit in from distance to take both balls to
the peg. He missed the peg out on the croquet stroke, but removed one ball, and Andre made no further progress as David finished it off on the next turn, +3.
Nigel was playing Wendy Spencer-Smith, a former Enfield player herself. The tricky hoops meant that progress was slow, one or two hoops at a time, until
eventually Nigel managed to win 16-9 on time to confirm a whitewash - our first 6-0 win since 2018.
With news arriving in the middle of the day that title rivals St Albans had beaten Letchworth 4-2, our result means that we remain tied with St Albans at
the top of the league, but now it's us that has the advantage with a better net games score.
Our next match is the crunch point of the season. At home on the 22nd of July to triple-defending champions Wrest Park, currently in third place. Bring it
on!
Enfield West Remain Top of the League
Friday, 28th June 2024 - Enfield West 14 – 4 Barnet Cavaliers 28 June 2024
Nicola Hyde 4, Dave Hill 5, Colin Carver 5 and Graham Curtis 8 played for Enfield West and took on Marian Hardy 9, Lynda Armsby 12, Sue Gale 12 and Chris Gale 12 for
Barnet. Following the opening doubles which ended 1-1 with Nicola and Colin winning theirs it mainly went Enfield’s way. Actually, it went on to be a pretty emphatic victory against the
Cavaliers who were game but inexperienced opponents. The singles rounds saw results that went 3-1, 4-0, 2-2 and 4-0. But although the 14-4 win may look rather one-sided it has to be noted that there
were 7 games that went to golden hoop with 6 of those going in Enfield’s favour. So perhaps a closer match than the scoreline suggests. Nicola absolutely starred for West winning all 5 of
her singles and doubles games, while Dave and Graham with 3 singles wins each and Colin with 2 ensured another impressive win which keeps Enfield West top of the GC Handicap Central Area
League with maximum points but they also lead the way with seriously strong games and hoops difference.
Report by Georgina Orwell
Another Clear Win For Enfield East
Monday 24th June - Enfield East 16 - Bury St Edmonds 2
We were delighted to host Bury St Edmonds - a lovely team - and we had a fine day on the lawns in hot and muggy weather.
The whole team played well and unbelievably we were close a whitewash...!! The game finished 16-2 with both doubles
won and then Nigel Own and Alan Bateman went on to win all 4 of their singles which included 2 x 3 handicappers, Nigel amased 44 points and is romping towards a 5 handicap. Peter Brock and
Captain, Dave Hill both won 3 singles and then both lost to Jan Oldfield, saving the day for Bury.
Enfield East In Fighting Mode Against Letchworth
Friday, 14th June - Enfield East 12 - Letchworth 6
Enfield East had a point to prove in their second match this week, having lost the first away to Newport 6-12, albeit scoring 100 hoops in the process. Today, back at
home, we came roaring out of the blocks.
Frank Palmer (11) and Chris Twomey (12) wrapped up their doubles match before the other had reached hoop 6, beating Tracy Martin (6) and Sarah Brame (10)
7-0. After initially trading hoops, Thomas Halliday (1) and Phillip Hawes (9) followed suit with a quick 7-2 win over Colin Gregory (6) and Graham Styles (6)
The first round of singles saw quick wins for Thomas over Colin and Frank over Tracy. Chris came in with a 7-6 win over Sarah, before Phillip staged a
comeback to eventually beat Graham with a tricky angled jump shot on the deciding hoop that bounced through beautifully. Enfield East 6-0 Letchworth.
Letchworth initially threatened a comeback by winning three in the second singles round, but with the exception of Graham Styles, who beat everyone but
Phillip, they never really took control.
Thomas and Chris each won 3/4, Phillip and Frank 2/4, to win not only 12 games to 6 but 112 hoops to 81, taking us up for now to third in the table,
albeit having played one game more than all other teams, and with a healthy net hoop
Enfield East Miss Out On Opening Game
Monday - 11th June - Newport Oaks 12 - Enfield East 6
A chastening defeat for Enfield East in our first away match of the year. The team comprised Thomas Halliday (1), Frances Broadway (6), Frank Palmer (11), and making
his league debut, Patrick Beecham (16).
We couldn't have had a worse start, losing both of the doubles games and all four of the first round singles. After that the match was shared six games
apiece, but the damage had been done early.
It was in some ways closer than the scoreline suggests, with Newport winning 7 of the 10 games that went to a golden hoop, but you make your own luck in
croquet, and they deserved their win through their accurate, if extremely gentle hoop running.
At times the team found the lawns challenging - not just because their faster pace than Enfield's took some adapting to, but because of their springy
nature - all six of Thomas's attempted jump shots bounced over the top of the hoop, even when trying to keep the ball low.
Thomas won 3/4 singles, Patrick had a solid debut with 2/4, Frances 1/4, while Frank, who at the start of the day was threatening to go to a 10 handicap,
was unlucky to lose all four of his singles games 5-7, 6-7, 6-7, and 6-7, two of which were won by extraordinary last gasp shots from distance.
First Two-Shot Champion Is Crowned at Enfield
Thursday, 7th June - Twelve players spent the morning in beautiful sunshine for the first outing of Two-Shot GC at Enfield.
This variant, developed by 2019 GC World Champion Ben Rothman, among others, rewards players who make contact with another ball on their shot with a second shot. The
changes to tactics are many, as we soon discovered. Placing a ball dead in front of a hoop is just an invitation for a distant opposition to make a gentle roquet and score from what had seemed like
nowhere.
Many of the games, played as first-to-5-point level play singles, were very close - there was only one 5-0 win, by Dave Hill over Sue Gillett. In that
block, Kim Taylor won 4/5, losing only his opening game to Frances Broadway. Frances, Dave, and David Barnicoat were tied for second on three wins each, with David having a better points difference
by a single point. Kim and David B qualified for the semifinals.
In the other block, David Frost won his first four games to seal qualification with a game to go. That was against Thomas Halliday, who had won 3/4,
losing only to Colin Carver, at that point on 2/4 wins. Colin duly beat Graham Curtis so that if Thomas lost, Colin would have a better points difference. In the end Thomas beat David 5-2 to take the
last semifinal spot.
In the semifinals, Thomas beat David Barnicoat 5-3, and David Frost saw off Kim with a tough 5-4 win. In the final, David won the first two hoops before
Thomas fought back to 2-2 with accurate long roquets. A miss from Thomas from a few feet out at Hoop 5 opened the door for David, who scored and then jawsed the ball in 6. Thomas stuttered through 7
to make it 3-4, and engineered a fight for 8 from a difficult position, but David saw it out in the end, and is our first Two-Shot champion.
Our winner, reflecting on the day, self-deprecatingly said "I won, but I'm still not sure I know what I was doing". What David was doing was making
accurate roquets and running hoops, and stopping the rest of us from doing so. What else, after all, is there to it?
First Two-Shot Champion - David Frost - Is Crowned At Enfield
6th June - the GC All-England Qualifier took place which was contested by David Frost, Colin Carver, Nigel Owen and Brian Dawes - as they appear on the
left!
The current National Grassroots Champion, Nigel Owen won all three of his games, including a critical 7-6 win over 2nd-place Colin, whose two wins saw his handicap go
down to 8. Congratulations to Nigel, who qualifies for the Area Final to be held at Surbiton at the end of July. If he does well there, the National Final takes place in Guildford in
September.
Enfield Commence B Level Challenge With Win
3rd June 2024 - Enfield 12 - Ipswich 8
We believe this is the first time Ipswich has visited us; they took on our team captained by Dave Hill (5) of David Barnicoat (3), Nicola Hyde (5) and Nigel Owen (6)
and their team comprised Martin Hart (3), Bernard Button (6), Martin Brown (7) and Ria Hunt (8).
The day started badly for Enfield with the two doubles lost but as the sun went behind the clouds, Enfield won the first singles round 3-1. Enfield repeated the
score line in the second round and didn't lose any further rounds throughout the match. The afternoon rounds were both shared so the final doubles were played and reversed the
results at the start of the day thereby winningboth - a great team effort.
David Barnicoat was the star with four wins backed up strongly by Dave with three singles wins. Nigel chipped in with a worthy two wins whilst Nicola finally came into
her own nicking just enough to get us over the line.
Another good day for Enfield! PS They were very impressed with our trolleys!!
Reported by Chas Dickens
Enfield Take On Defending Northampton in 1st Open League Match
30th May 2023 - Northampton 11 - Enfield 7
A match of what-might-have-beens against defending Open League champions Northampton, in our rainy first visit to their lovely new site at Roade.
Northampton started strongly, winning both doubles games 7-3, with Lionel Tibble (-2) accurately clearing to let Glynis Davies (2) score all the hoops and
go round largely unimpeded, beating Kim Taylor (1) and Peter Brock (3). Accurate hoop running was the difference in the other match, with David Frost (2) and Thomas Halliday (1) both missing chances
that let Peter Tofield (1) and Mike Hills (2) gain a lead they never relinquished.
The singles went better, with Enfield keeping toe to toe with Northampton until the very end. Lionel was imperious, with only David threatening him by
going 5-3 up, until he came back to win 7-5.
We certainly had our chances. Peter Tofield came back from 5-2 down to beat Peter Brock 7-6 thanks to two splendid jump shots and an unlucky sticking in
hoop 9 from close range, while Mike Hills ran hoop 11 from near the boundary, then hoop 12 from behind hoop 11 to snatch a win from Thomas, his only victory of the day.
The final game on the lawns was Peter Tofield against David. If David won, we would play a doubles round to potentially sneak a tie. On the golden hoop,
David engineered a three yard shot, straight in front, and unfortunately bounced off the upright. Peter won to seal another win for Northampton.
A frustrating end, but signs of accurate and tactical play from all Enfield players means that our three remaining matches, all at home, look potentially
very winnable.
Enfield East Beat Barnet Roundheads
Enfield East 14-6 Barnet Roundheads - Friday 24th May 2024
On Friday 24th May our Enfield East team comprising Brian Dawes (3) Ian Moore (5) Frances Broadway (6) and Chris Twomey (12) took on a Barnet Roundheads team
consisting Roger Turner (8) Ian Davidson (8) Jill Turner (9) and Tony Moore (10).
We had a lovely day’s play against friendly opposition where the day started sunny and remained out for a majority of the match. Brian chipped in with two singles wins
but the rest of the team, namely Ian, Frances and Chris did us proud with 3 singles wins each. Frances, Brian and Chris also had close golden hoop calls with a 6-7 defeat each. The first round
doubles also saw a win for Ian and Frances with the round ending 1-1. The singles rounds went 3-1, 3-1, 2-2 leaving East requiring a single win in the 4th round to win the match, but they ran
out 3-1 winners in the final round also.
Two Fine Wins In A Week Put Enfield West In Top Slot
Enfield West 11 v 7 Meldreth - Friday, 17th May
Our Enfield West team comprising Nicola Hyde (5), Nigel Owen (6), Colin Carver (10)
and Andrew Yanni (11) were up against a Meldreth team containing David Edwards
(4), Mike Bithell (5), Roger Wallbridge (6) and Alan Crowden (11).
The day's play saw the doubles drawn 1-1, the first round singles won 3-1, second round singles drawn 2-2, third round won 3-1 and final round drawn 2-2. Colin won all
his singles while Nicola bagged 3 singles wins. What was also significant was the fact that of the seven matches lost, five of them were by the very narrowest of possible margins which resulted in
our total hoops tally of 114 being not only most impressive but also enough to see Enfield West top the EACF Handicap Central area division.
Big Win For Enfield West
Enfield West 14 v 4 Newport Oaks - Monday 13th May
Our Enfield West team comprising Nicola Hyde (5), Dave Hill (5), Graham Curtis (8) and Andrew Yianni (11) took on a Newport Oaks
side consisting of Max Byfield (4), Nick Jones (6), Sue Roberts (10) and Kevin Lacy (11).
It was a dry day by way of a change, but rather cool That said Enfield West were red hot and ran out comprehensive winners. Following a win apiece in the first round
doubles our team went on to walk away with all four rounds of the singles. There were 3 out of 4 singles wins each for Nicola, Dave and Graham whilst Andrew had an absolute field day
winning all his singles by decent margins and partnering Dave to our doubles win. Credit also to Max who achieved 4 victories on the day for Newport.
Away Win Starts Our Open GC Race
Tuesday, 30th April - Enfield started the Open GC league with a narrow win away to Newport - final score 10-8. On paper, it should have been relatively easy, with
Newport fielding two players with 6 handicaps. But they made us work for our win. Enfield won both the morning doubles, with Kim Taylor (0) and Peter Brock (3) making light work of Mat Hardy (0) and
Nick Jones (6), and some tactical play from Thomas Halliday (0) and David Frost (1) engineering a comeback from 3-6 down to beat Colin Taylor (3) and Trevor Reynolds (6).
The 16 singles games were shared 8 apiece, with only Mat unbeaten, after which Newport declined the option of a final doubles round that could have seen
them draw.
Thomas won 3/4, David 2/4, Kim 2/4, and Peter 1/4 in the singles. Those high handicaps, though, were enough to wreak havoc on our handicap cards, so
though we return to Enfield with a win, we also come back with Thomas now a 1, David now a 2, and Kim teetering one point away from a 1 as well. Enfield club players be warned - your Advantage is no
longer as great...
First AC Win Against Northampton
Our first AC outing on Monday, 22nd April saw a great fightback with a 4-2 win over a strong Northampton team.
In the morning doubles, David Frost (4.5) and Thomas Halliday (8) started strongly, building a lead when Thomas took a ten-hoop break to rover, only for
Northampton's Lionel Tibble (-1) to take a break to peg, also pegging out Thomas in the process. Although David had a good lead, without the support of a second ball, there was little he could do to
stop James Skelton (2) overtaking, and Northampton won 26-20.
On the other lawn, Michael Broadway (10) and John Street (8) elected to take advantage of the new league rules to play Alternate Strokes. Afterwards, they
thought that this was probably a mistake, and their opponents, playing the traditional way, with Nick Evans (2) coaching Mel Christie (20) through his break, and keeping John and Michael at bay, were
able to build a lead. Nick and Mel won 23-14 on time to give a 2-0 lead for Northampton.
After lunch, captains Nick and Thomas were the first to start and the first to finish. Nick threatened to repeat the pegging out tactic of the morning,
but failed to get in a good position with his own ball after the rover peel. After some to-and-fro, Thomas won 26-11.
Shortly after this, David, facing an uncharacteristically inaccurate Lionel, took a lovely final turn round to win 26-9 and level the match.
John made good use of his bisques to establish a lead of 4b and 4b against 3b and 6. James put the pressure on late in the game, but some smart play from
John and an unluckily hampered ball after penult for James allowed John to finish 26-20.
With at least a draw guaranteed, all eyes turned to the marathon match between Michael and Mel. Mel had used all 10 of his bisques to get 7 hoops. After
an hour without a hoop, he had a late surge to get within a point of Michael. But Michael held his nerve, continued to keep the score ticking over, and held out to win 20-13 on
time.
Having swept the singles, Enfield finished a fantastic comeback victory that had felt very unlikely hours before. Next up is a trip to St
Albans.
ECC Welcomes Leighton Linslade
Every year we try and play a few friendlies with other clubs and on Friday, 22nd April, we hosted Leighton Linslade for a GC doubles day. We saw
pairings of David Frost and Karin Hinds, Peter Brock and Jagruti Gandhi, Michael Broadway and John Street, and Frances Broadway and Phillip Hawes. Both Karin and Jagruti were making their first
appearances for the club. Captain David Frost reported that “it was quite a close contest and I believe enjoyed by all. The weather (once again) could have been
kinder.” We won 9 – 7.
EACF Enfield Derby
Monday, 15th April saw the first of the East Anglian Croquet Federation league matches with the Club’s two teams competing for the first GC handicap win of the
season. Enfield West and Enfield East fought valiantly against extreme cold, harsh winds, torrential rain and hailstorms as well as some sunny moments last
Monday. Enfield East got off to a strong start until Enfield West found their form and won the day at 11-7.
Charity One Ball
11th April - this morning saw the Charity One Ball event. £115 was raised from players and there has been an offered donation from a non-player of
£10 which would mean we could send an extra player to the final. David Frost won with a round to spare, leaving a three-way fight for second place. In the end, Frances Broadway and
Nigel Owen were tied with three wins and +3 hoop difference, however Nigel scored a few more hoops and beat Frances in their game.
David (and with £10 more, Nigel) will qualify for the final to be held at Surbiton on the 5th May.
1st - David Frost, 4 wins
2nd - Nigel Owen, 3 wins
3rd - Frances Broadway, 3 wins
4th - Thomas Halliday, 2 wins
5th - John Street, 2 wins
6th - Michael Broadway, 1 win
Graham Curtis Wins 1st Club Tournament of 2024
Thursday, 4th April 2024 - Graham Curtis was again the quickest out of the blocks, winning our
season-opening 10:10 contest for a second year in a row. Graham has now won three of the last eight monthly Thursday Series competitions - well done!
His final record was 4 wins out of 5, and a hoop difference of +9. The narrow runners up were John Street and Phillip Hawes, also on 4 wins but lower net
hoop scores.
It was cool winds, 16 of our members escaped the rain and ate on the fly to ensure we finished on time!
Enfield Croquet Club - 1993 to 2023
Celebrating 30 Glorious Years
Print 