Finals Day (in the rain!)
As we only had four matches to play, Finals Day was scheduled just for the afternoon. The forecast was not good, but the rain held off until mid-afternoon, and seven hardy members (Jon Savage, Thomas Cullis, John Greenwood, Chris Barham, Jim Flanagan, Robert Hassell and Dave Grimshaw) turned up to compete, supported by a handful of spectators.
Lustau Cup
Proceedings started at 1 pm with Jon against Chris on lawn 2 for the Lustau Cup (advanced play with bisques). The early start was to allow time for Jon to play his second final, for the Kitching Rose Bowl. Before long Chris had reached peg with his first ball. However, at this point he attempted to snatch defeat from potential victory by accidently pegging his ball out whilst setting up the leave! Some discussion about the rules, but it was clear that Law 43 did not apply in this situation.
Whilst it looked all over for Chris, he somehow managed most of the hoops with his remaining ball in a three-ball break leaving him at penult. Jon by this time had used his only bisque, and reached peg with his first ball, but Chris was able to bide his time and eventually pounced with a long roquet and completed the remaining two hoops and peg to win +12.
Spa Salver
At 2 pm the Spa Salver, our advanced competition, was contested on lawn 1. Thomas, on his first turn with four balls on court, stop shot a ball from corner IV ball to mid court getting his rush on ball near hoop 4 towards hoop 1. He took his break to 4 back with a diagonal spread leave. John failed to hit the long double from B baulk after which Thomas set about his attempt at a triple peel.
The 4 back peel was duly made and it came to needing a straight double peel to complete the triple. A stop-shot Irish peel put partner ball through Penult and two yards SSE of Peg but the rush to place it closer was overhit. The ball was initially heading to the jaws of Rover but it drifted to the side and finished a few inches past the hoop so denying Thomas his triple.
John hit the lift shot but wasn’t able to take the resultant break past hoop 3 and a hit in with his next shot saw his break stop even earlier after a failed angled attempt at hoop 2 with Thomas’s ball nearby. Thomas with the innings regained then went on to win the match a couple of turns later.
Golf High Bisquers
Meanwhile on lawn 3, Jim and Robert battled away for the Golf High Bisquers. Robert won the first game 7-5, but Jim immediately came back with a whitewash in the second, leading to the decider, which ultimately was taken 7-4 by Robert.
Kitching Rose Bowl
The last game of the day was the Kitching Rose Bowl, the golf knockout trophy, which followed the Lustau in increasingly wet weather on Lawn 2. It was a hard-fought match, with the advantage on many hoops swinging back and forth before resolution. Dave made long clearances accurately on many occasions, recovering seemingly lost hoops, but Jon eventually found some hoop running form, running several from distance and this proved to be the difference in the end, with Jon winning 7-4, 7-5.