Phyllis Court beat Backworth 4-3

[<<] [>>] by Christopher Roberts
9 Aug (GC - Federations' Shield)

Phyllis Court's Federations Shield (Advantage) team scored a memorable semi-final victory at Backworth on Sunday to qualify for the handicap competition's National Final.
Backworth is a former mining town, 5 miles north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and, at 301 miles away from Phyllis Court's Henley Oxfordshire) home, and the team set a new distance record for the furthest away team match played in England by the Club.
Phyllis Court set their stall out early, when doubles pair Chris Roberts (handicap -2) and Frances Colman (3) opened with a succession of firm clearance strokes and deft positional play that blew away their game opponents Lindsay Bramble (6) and David Whaling (9) in quick time 7-1, 7-2.
On the adjoining court of two excellently presented former bowls greens, that sported pleasingly true and fast playing conditions, visitors Carol Huntington and Martin Sloots were in singles action.
The pair made the five hours plus car journey specifically for this match, which was terrific effort to join Roberts and Colman, who happened to be in Newcastle with a family commitment.
Huntington (3) was untroubled by the hosts' Julie Scott (10) and won comfortably 8-4, 8-4, whilst Sloots (8), debuting for Phyllis Court at this level, drew the short straw against Backworth's number 1 player Jim Forster (3), and the Henley player was always chasing the match and lost 3-9, 4-9.
Phyllis Court took an encouraging 2-1 team match lead into the lunch break with four head-to-head singles matches to come in the afternoon session.
Huntington was unable to defend Bramble's small target score and theirs was the first match finish, 3-5, 1-5 to the Backworth player and it was a similar tale soon after when Colman lost to Whaling 4-7, 4-7.
Backworth's lead was short lived however, when Sloots bossed Scott out of their match 8-4, 8-6, which tied the team match at 3-3 with only the match between the two number ones still in progress.
By this time, Roberts had disastrously peeled is opponent (croquet's equivalent of an own goal) and blocked himself on a second occasion, to gift Forster the first game 5-4.
The team match now resting on this final rubber, Roberts smashed his opponent 8-1 in the second game and soon had a lead to defend in the third.
Forster then repaid the peeling compliment mid-way through that deciding match and, with that decisive error, Roberts romped home 8-3.
Phyllis Court will play the winner of Brodsworth Hall (Doncaster) v Swanage (Dorset) in the National Final next month.