[<<] [>>] by Ian Lines at Southport Croquet Club
17 Apr 2011 (AC)

Ian Lines beat Dave Nick to win the Jubilee Tankard at Southport.

A field of 14, half of them minus players, gathered to compete for the Tankard. The weather was glorious sunshine all weekend long, though still a little chilly on Saturday. The early season lawns were quite a bit more challenging than usual, running at only about 7 to 8 seconds due to recent sand treatment and the grass being slightly long, with some patches of dead moss and a few slopes near hoops (set at 1/16" to 1/32"), all of which made it pretty difficult for players to create breaks, except for a certain Quarryman who didn't seem to have any difficulty at all. However, the difficult conditions did lead to plenty of interesting interactive games and close finishes, and made triples a bit of a struggle.

Matt Holmes (handicap 3.5, and only in his third season) played very well to get 60% wins, including his first win against a minus player, and Lee Hartley completed a very good triple (only his 8th, and one of only two in the event).

In the main event best of three semi-finals, Dave Nick won in two against Bob Burnett, to take him 32-31 ahead in their lifetime head-to-head record; and Ian Lines beat David Barrett in two (although the first could easily have gone the other way).

In the final, both Dave and Ian made a few errors in the first two games, but Dave's uncannily accurate shooting helped him win the first, and almost win the second, till he rather surprisingly failed rover on a relatively straightforward finishing turn, allowing Ian back in to win the game +3 after a few turns. In the deciding game, Ian hit on turn 4 and had a good leave. Dave took (another) agressive 28 yard shot and hit (again!), but his break broke down at 1 back due to taking a slight slope on the hoop approach, and Ian finished with a tightly controlled 9, 12, 5, with Dave's shooting finally eluding him.

The Consolation Swiss event was won by Alan Mayne with 4/5.

Many thanks to the Southport club for the fantastic catering and for putting on such an enjoyable tournament.

Detailed Results

First Round

Ian Lines beat Matt Holmes +11
Alan Pidcock beat Jerry guest +15
David Barrett beat Brian Story +7
Ray Lowe beat Lee Hartley +23
Alan Mayne beat Carol Lewis +20
Bob Burnett beat Peter Wilson +14

Second Round

Ian Lines beat Alan Pidcock +24tp
David Barrett beat Ray Lowe +5
Bob Burnett beat Alan Mayne +24
Dave Nick beat Paul Rigge +11

Semi Final (Best of 3)

Ian Lines beat David Barrett +3, +19
Dave Nick beat Bob Burnett +3, +23

Final (Best of 3)

Ian Lines beat Dave Nick -15, +3, +20
(17 games)

Consolation Event (Swiss)

Matt Holmes beat Carol Lewis +25
Peter Wilson beat Lee Hartley +26
Paul Rigge beat Brian Storey +2
Dave Nick beat Jerry Guest +1
Matt Holmes beat Peter Wilson +9
Lee Hartley beat Carol Lewis +13
Alan Mayne beat Alan Pidcock +3
Brian Storey beat Ray Lowe +10
Peter Wilson beat Carol Lewis +16
Lee Hartley beat Paul Rigge +17tp
Jerry Guest beat Carol Lewis +24
Brian Storey beat Alan Pidcock +20
Paul Rigge beat Ray Lowe +11
Bob Burnett beat Matt Holmes +13
Alan Mayne beat Peter Wilson +4
Dave Nick beat Lee Hartley +11
David Barrett beat Jerry Guest +16
Matt Holmes beat Lee Hartley +19
Alan Pidcock beat Carol Lewis +15
Brian Storey beat Bob Burnett +25
Alan Mayne beat Ray Lowe +7
Peter Wilson beat Paul Rigge +11
(22 games)

Summary

Ian Lines (-2) 6/7 1 tp
Dave Nick (-1) 6/8
Alan Mayne (-0.5) 4/5
Brian Storey (-1) 3/5
David Barrett (1.5) 3/5
Matt Holmes (3.5) 3/5
Bob Burnett (-0.5) 3/6
Peter Wilson (1.5) 3/6
Alan Pidcock (1) 2/5
Paul Rigge (-0.5) 2/5
Lee Hartley (-0.5) 2/6 1 tp
Jerry Guest (0.5) 1/4
Ray Lowe (1.5) 1/5
Carol Lewis (3.5) 0/6