The boys are wrming up on lawn 2 in front of me, so should be under way soon.

GAME 1

======

1 K supershot

2 R to W boundary 1 ft S of C2

3 U hits R, rolls it to 5yds beyond 6 and gets N bound rush on K. Approaches 1 from 5 yds SSE and runs it with a rush to 2. Rushes directly to 2, sending to 4 after, getting a rush to middle of B baulk. Cuts it towards 3 and has 3yd backward to. Runs the 3ft hoop no problem, 3 ball break awaits

The three ball king is sailing round

Gets to 3b and looks like he's eschewing the 3 Ducks for a DL. Doesn't manage to give K a tight rush on R, so puts U 4 ygs E of the peg

4 Kevin lifts Y and misses U into 3 from A baulk. The shot at U from the end of B baulk looks shorter, and must make it more difficult to pick up a standard tp

5 Jim puts R to 2 but plays a poor approach to 1 then runs an excellent 45-50 degree hoop. Rolls U to 3 going to 2. Apart from the fact that U lands 2 yds short of 3, easy standard tp now

Excellent croquet stroke out of C3 puts Y 1 yd N of 4 and gives a 1 yd rush to 3. Over hits that a bit so has ended up with a 2ft 40 degree peel. Plays it straight to 6" through and rolls down to 4 & 5.It's all there now

Collects the peelee after 4 but overhits the to to 5. Manages to place the escape ball so that hoop and roquet rushes it to the N boundary so still in good shape

Penult peel goes 3yds through. I really don't think I'm in much danger of putting the commentator's curse on Jim by saying he'll finish from here

Rolls peelee down to rover after 1b and it lands plum on the western wire. Has an opportunity to rush it across to 3b back for the peel after, but elects to leave it by rover

Very technically, Jim has to leave the lawn briefly to change his hat and photo sensitive glasses as the sun, which has been shining for an hour or so, goes back in. Tilly is swapped for baseball. Very courteously informs opponent before doing so

Gets away with a very close & angled rolled Irish rover peel with only one, shallow ball nearby. U goes through far enough and K ends up in the jaws

Finishes.

Beard lost to Bast -26tp

Test Score
	4	6

Match Score
	0	1

GAME 2

======

1 R to E boundary 9 yds N of C4

2 K Duffer tice

3 Y misses R by a yard on the incourt side

4 U hits Y from end of A baulk

Latest football result:

Dalian Shide 3 Qingdao Janoon 2

The Shide pulling a surprise victory over Qingdao in the China Super League there

Competant pick up making 1 off the Duffer, perfect 4 ball break as he approaches 3

Duly arrives at 4b and is laying a spread, Y will be the peg ball

5 Kevin lifts Y and centre balls the short lift at K. Runs 1 with a 2 yd rush S. Lots of oohs and aaahs as Y is clubbed towards K, pulling up in the nick of time within a balls width of the E boundary.

Makes 2 and pumps the oppo 4b ball down to the S boundary to put it to 4, so no tpo. Laid 4 ball break now

Goes to 4b with an NSL, U on hoop 4, K 2yds SE of the point on the W boundary level with 6

6 Jim lifts K and misses the long lift into C4

Rather disappointing crowd for the Saturday of a world class sporting event which comes around once every 14 years: 15 people. Not including officials and players of course. Or the eagle or croc

7 Kevin needs to get a good rush on U to 1 as it's a bit tight on the hoop. Fails to get this, and fails to roll it off from 12 yds, retiring to Y on the E boundary at maximum position

8 Jim misses 25 yarder at Y to E boundary 3 yds S of R

9 R sends K to 2 and rushes Y to midway between 5 and the peg. All there for a standard tp

Chill wind whipping up from the east means it's time to don the jumper again. Though I say it myself, today I'm wearing a rather fetching white and green Carrickmines number today

Rushes Y too close to hoop 2 pioneer and can only get it as far as 6. But rushes it well to 4b after 2 and the 4b peel sails 3 yds through

Everything still shipshape as the penult peel glides to 1 yd NW of the peg

Rover peel jawsed going to 3b

Peelee ignored after 3b. K sent S of rover before penult and no forward after penult. But a good roll gets peel completed before touching K. Finishes

Beard beat Bast +17tp

Test Score
	4	6

Match Score
	1	1

GAME 3

======

1 K supershot

2 R to maximum position on the E boundary

3 U misses R from B baulk to 3 yds N of C4

4 Y takes 13 yarder at K from A baulk. Jeff says he's not surprised. I say I am. Anyway, he misses to middlish N boundary

5 U misses 13 yarder at R into C3

6 Y misses R from middle N boundary

7 U hits 19 yarder at R from C3, and finally we will see a croquet stroke

Croquets Y to 5 yds SSE of 3 and rushes Y nearby. Sends Y to 2 and is now approaching 1 from 5 ft to the side. Poor hoop stroke grovels through leaving him a good rush to the E boundary by R for a 4 ball break

Leaves a 6 yd return after running 2 to within 2" of the boiundary but hits it solidly enough

Approaching 3b heading for a spread

Y 4 yds off W boundary 2 yds S of the line of 6. U&K a yd off E boundary 11 yds N of C4

I had commented locally that it didn't matter that much that the balls weren't on the boundary and DKO pointed out that it did as it made the long lift flatter. Turned he was right as...

8 Kevin lifts the peg ball and hits the long lift. Overhits the croquet stroke sending K to within a yd of the N boundary and hetting a rush to the middle of the S boundary. Rushes to the boundary in front of 1, rolls up to 2 ft angled position and runs it comfortably. All the balls now

Runs 3 too cleanly and clips the return on oppos 4b ball leaving a 3 ft angled peel for the tpo. Chooses to play it with split to get a rush on the escape ball, rather than straight and roll down to 4. Peel clangs and the rush is pointing at the middle of the W boundary

Abandons the tpo

There was some discussion here along the lines of "Well, he probably wasn't that worried whether he does a tpo or not". Which would beg the question of why make any attempt at all

Another NSL leave from four balls at 3b. Has found another ugly variation of this tactic as he gets stymied from the escape ball. Puts the oppo 4b ball on hoop 4, hitting it hard into the wire so that it springs S so must be open from A baulk to some extent. Rushes the other oppo away and stops to 2 yds off W boundary 3 yds N of the line of 6, R ending up hampered from Y by the ball on 3b. (I did say it was ugly).

On returning from refereeing the succesful roquet Jeff informs us U is completely open from A baulk. Y is croqueted to the E boundary to guard the shot at U from A baulk, and R runs off to C2

9 Jim lifts K from W boundary and centre balls R in corner 2. Plays an aggressive pass roll out of C2 putting R to 4 yds E of the peg, but just going off the E boundary 3 yds N of Y. The consensus is that he was trying to roll R into 2, and consequently had to take a more dangerous line with K

10 Y puts K onto the wire of 6 in sending it to 2 and it stays there. Gets a good rush on R to 1, but elects to cut it to the S boundary to send it to 2 since K is not rushable to 2. Puts R a yd in fornt of two, but has no rush on U to 1

Rolls to good position at 1, runs it cleanly and hits the 8 yd return. Excellent rolling sends U to 3 and lands a yd E of K. Puts K to escape position at 2 so he can rush it to the N boundary after and send it to 4 getting a rush on partner to 4b. Standard tp for the match now, to main AUS chances of sharing the singles

Slightly long 4b peel is jawsed after 3 and ignored after 4

Rush peels going to 6 and sets up for the Wylie method for the penult peel

K is in a position where penult is in play for getting the rush to 1b. But an excellent rush on partner to peeling position and perfectly judged roll completes the peel and gets a perfectly playable rush to 1b

10 minutes ago "Phew what a scorcher" was the DKO proclamation. The heavens have just opened.

Peelee is croqueted to 4ft SE of rover going to 2b. If he completes this turn, which he most certainly should, it will have been an excellent comeback from game and break down in the second

Rover peel goes 3 yds through going to 3b

Finishes, great comeback

Beard beat Bast -26tp +17tp +17tp

Test Score
	5	6

Match Score
	2	1

Now down to Ian Dumergure to prevail against Doug Grimsley to level it all up after 3 days