Sussex County beat Peterborough 6-5

[<<] [>>] by Nigel Billingham at Watford
21st September (AC - Short Croquet Inter-Club)

Today a team comprising David Dickens , Steve Chapman , Rob Harper and Nigel Billingham represented Sussex County CC in the final of the CQE National Inter-Club Short Croquet Competition 2026 against Peterborough CC . The match was hosted by Watford CC ( as approximately midway between both clubs) and we won this nail biting match 6-5.
The morning session was won by us 3-0 , with our doubles pairing of Nigel and Rob beating a strong Peterborough pairing by +7, with both Steve and David winning their singles by +14 and +11 respectively .
After a great lunch , play resumed and Peterborough won the first round of singles 3-1 , with only Rob managing to win his match .
Going into the final round of singles , we were 4-3 ahead , needing to win a further two singles match. Luckily Nigel won his match in quick time ( +12) which just needed one further win. Peterborough won the next two tight matches ( +2 and +1) leaving the match all square with Rob to finish . He won his match +2 which sealed the win for Sussex .
The trophy was awarded during afternoon tea ( along with bubbles - alcohol free of course) and we all made our way back around the M25 content with a good result for the club.

Specific results were :

Round 1
Nigel / Rob beat Adrian Kirby/Keith Hughes 12-7
Steve beat Stephen Cornelius 14-0
David beat Justin Beaumont 14-3

Round 2
Adrian beat Nigel 14-12
Stephen beat David 12-9
Keith beat Steve 14-3
Rob beat Justin 11-8

Round 3

Adrian beat Steve 13-11
Nigel beat Justin 14-2
Keith beat David 9-8
Rob beat Stephen 10-8