This match will be going onto lawn 2 in about 10 minutes

The players are practicing

T1 K 11y narrow supershot

T2 R just S of C2

T3 U shoots at R..................hits in the middle.

Rolls red 2 yards N of the peg and ends up with a 6 yarder on K pointing South

The first sign of a breeze

Hits it on the correct side rushing 3 yards E of hoop 1

Good appraoch..... he has a straight 2 foot hoop.

Runs it 5 yards past K...........more wind

U hits K in the middle

Should go round from here, he's played two good strokes

After 1-b, Aaron opts to send K 5y E of hoop 1. Is he stopping at 3-b?

This is quite aggressive. It's an anti-sextuple pop.

He's jawsed U in hoop 1 after 2-b and is rushing K to 3-b.

U has made 3-b and has a 6 yard return roquet. You can see why these Kiwis were struggling with the extra seconds pace at HP.

Hits in the middle again.

It's a 3 ducks leave....good turn from Aaron

T4 Y shoots from A-baulk................hits K in the middle.

Big roar from Hilditch and polite applause from the crowd. The Bunny has croquet.

I'm expecting 2 pops on K and U in hoop 2, but there are also some sextuple leaves available for hoop 2 that are quite good as well.

Has slightly hampered 5 yards after hoop 1 - hits in the middle

It's a 1-b leave.

K is 4feet NW of C4.

U is 1yard NW of hoop 4, wired from K

R is behind hoop 2

Y is 1 inch in front of 1-b

T5 Aaron thinks.................

..........and thinks

..........and thinks..........

..........and thinks..........

U plays 9 inches N of C1

R goes at Y gently and doesn't peel it - that's poor

Takes off in front of hoop 2 and gets angled hoop. Makes it look straight. Rushes to C4 and will try and pick up a delayed TPO

We're trying to decide whether he will peg two out or just 1 if he gets the TPO and peels Y to 2-b.

Hits his hoop 3 stroke straight into the near wire - wow that was unexpected.

Probably a gust of wind :-)

That was off Aarons backward ball and Aaorn should finish

I've just had the pleasure of the company of one of the greatest lady players of all time - Debbie Cornelius. Good to see her again - she was part of the last GB team that won the Mac on home soil.

Aaron needs to approach hoop 1 from C1 for a standard TP - very good, 3 foot straight

My 8 year old godson has just said "apparently Rob didn't do a very good shot - was it as bad as me?" The crowd is discussing the question

Fails 4-b peel after hoop 3. It's delayed now

Grovels through hoop 5 and has a hampered shot - it looks tricky

It's a 7 footer and he's looking at a sweep.

Digger says "he can't hit this" - so he almost certainly can :-)

Diggers changed his mind

He's now looking at a left handed sweep through the hoop

Now he's looking at a hampered shot at U at 4-b. Looks like he's taking it.

misses by a foot on the right. Yellow has a 5 yarder at U

Actually it was closer to 3. Hits - now what?

Yellow has rushed to 1-b and now has to make 3 hoops and a good leave. It's not easy to do from here. Fortunately Aaron's clips are 6 and 4-b

Robert has made an NSL with K at hoop 4

K lifts and is shooting at U from B-Baulk................hits

He's made hoop 6

Aaron is on 2-b and is setting up to peel 4-b before 3-b

Aaron fails to peel U before 3-b, but has coped with his rush and made 3-b. It will have to be straight now

Peels 4-b, but hasn't got a very good rush on peelee to penult

4 yard straight peel coming up

Peelee bounces off penult and finishes 4y SW of the hoop. It's going to be a leave now - another shot for Rob

Aaron send Y into the front of hoop 6 after penult. That's a decent place for it.

UK are laying up level with hoop 6 on the W boundary.

R is 9y N of C4

Good leave from Aaron

U's rush on K is 3 yards and points at the peg - that's less good

R lifts to B-baulk and shoots at U........................misses

Westerby takes the first +15

Game 2

T1 R 15y narrow supershot

T2 K dribbles at R from C1................misses, hitting the peg in the middle

Rob should have a target

K actually bounced off a foot E, so it may not be a double.

Y at R and K.......................shoots hard................

.................hits

T3 (cont.) Y has made hoop 1 and has a break

Defensive spread for Rob

T4  U shoots at R from A-Baulk.........................misses

That's his first miss of the event that I can remember other than his hampered 18 yarder

Rob is on 1-b and has the first 2 peels done

Fulford wins game 2 +26TP

Game 3

T1 K 12y narrow supershot

T2 R misses on the left to 5 yards W of the end of B-Baulk

T3 U shoots at R..............hits in the middle

T3 (cont.) Manages to get R to hit hoop 2 and it bounces 6y E. U has a 3y rush S on K.

Heavy rain

U rushes K well - it finishes within 4 feet of hoop 1

Aaron has failed a 4 foot straight hoop 2. The ball is almost through, but not quite

Took loads of wire at speed, but hasn't quite made it through.

Y has a 6yarder at R

.............Hits in the middle. I think we'll see some serious popping this turn

Runs hoop 1 to 1 inch inside the North boundary - has a 9 yarder at the ball at hoop 2

.............misses

U shoots at K

............snicks it, that's a 3-ball break

Aaron is on hoop 5 with a 4ball break

So, Aaron has now made 1-b and there have been no peels on Y.

Aaron has made a diagonal spread with R at the peg. UK are laid up 10y N of C4.

Fulford lifts Y to A-baulk and shoots at U.........................misses

Aaron has tapped U and is taking off behind Y - well short

Needs to approach hoop 1 from 7 feet E

2 foot straight hoop is blobbed. That had to be pressure.

Rob made sure of the roquet on K, so no immediate pop is available

Rob said earlier that there was no chance that he would still be playing at 7pm.

There is certainly a chance now.

This is going to be another 1-b leave identical to the one he did in game 1

UK are now in the same place as game 1. He rushes poorly to 1-b and it's going to be tough to get R into a good place from here

His last shot is from yard straight. It looks like it is 1 inch in front.

This time Aaron has decided to play K at Y. Why is this different?

K narrowly misses Y.

Fulford peels 2-b before hoop 4

Rushes R into the jaws before 6 - this isn't ideal.

He's looking at either irishing it or taking off from it. U is 6 yards NNW of 3-b

Opts to peel R leaving a 5 yard rush to hoop. Rushes to 3yards E of 6

He's got a straight 1 yard hoop 6 and smashes it through to the boundary.

Setting up to peel 4-b before 2-b

R is peeled through 4-b and Y has a good rush on U to 2-b

Overhits the rush which finished 7 feet past 2-b

1 yard hoop is smashed to the boundary with lots of wire

4 yard return rush

Good rush - it's just a delayed double now.

rushes R 9 inches NNW of penult making the take-off to 3-b tricky

He's looking at leaving at 4 yard rush to 3-b

Takes off inside the E boundary leaving a straight 4 yard rush to 3-b. Hits it on the wrong side and may not get a forward rush now.

I wouldn't dare dribbling through this hoop......and neither has Rob. A big roll to peelee at penult coming up

Great shot

Peels R through penult getting a rush on U to 4-b which needs a bit of a cut

God cut finishes 7 feet in front of 4-b

A spoonerism?

R is 1 foot in front of rover as he makes penult

Fulford wins game 3 +17SXP

A good day for GB who extend their lead to 8-4. Doubles again tomorrow and the winning post is coming into view.