By Casey O'Connor
Three disciplines of Croquet were played in Stanthorpe last week. A smaller group played Association Croquet last Tuesday (10 Aug). The formidable combination of Grace Howard and Jenny Tunbridge got off to a good start and lead throughout their game against experienced players Joy Newman and Heather Widderick. Howard and Tunbridge each had two runs of two hoops in a row and it was Howard who pegged both balls out for their win. The final score 26-18.
Pegging out is the last play of the game. When a ball has scored through all 12 hoops in sequence, it must then hit the pole in the middle of the croquet court for the last play of the game. It is then removed from the court. When both balls of one team are pegged out, the game is over.
Golf Croquet
This week Stanthorpe Mallet players welcomed John Colman, a keen and very experienced exponent of several Croquet disciplines including Golf Croquet, Ricochet and Gateball. He will be in the district for several weeks and joined the Golf Croquet group for the first time last Wednesday (11 Aug).
In the first game two teams of three players hit the greens for some exciting play. Di Wren (3), Liz Ellway (6) and John Colman (4) had a narrow win over Shirley Page (4), Shirley Evans (4) and Bev Sullivan (2). John Colman scored a great jump shot and Ellway was in top form scoring the highest number of hoops in this game. A jump shot is a very difficult manoeuvre. When a players ball is in front of the hoop blocking the next player from scoring the second player can make his/her ball jump up in the air and go through the hoop. Well played John.
Two games were in play before the break. Shirley Page (3) and Judy Locke (4) played well unfortunately their opponents Di Wren (7) and John Colman (2) played a little better. Di Wren found her form in this game scoring seven hoops.
Shirley Evans also played well in her second game scoring 11 hoops to win her game against seasoned opponents Bev Sullivan (5) and Liz Ellway (4).
Players were back on the court on Thursday (12 Aug) for games of Ricochet.
John Colman chose to play solo against Carol Verwey and Sharyn Roser. Verwey and Roser got off to a good start, despite losing the toss to Colman who elected to start second. Roser scored two hoops in a row in the opening stages. With little to no experience on the smooth and fast Stanthorpe greens Colman proved deadly with his long shots and very accurate judging length. Despite his formidable tactics and scoring two runs of two he was beaten 26-13. Carol Verwey played very well and also had two runs of two hoops in a row.
Gateball was the disciplines of choice on Friday 13.
Les Williams, Grace Howard and Sharyn Roser played the White balls against Heather Widderick, Joy Newman, Jenny Tunbridge and John Colman playing the Red balls. In the final few minutes of the game and won 13-7.
Whites got off to a slow start and trailed throughout the game. Reds scored an ‘Agari’ in the final few minutes of the game and secured a 13-7 win.
An ‘Agari’ is the last play of a ball. After it has been through all three gates, it hits the centre pole and scores double points. The ball is then removed from play.
From the outset the second game was much closer. Whites missed a few crucial gates at the back end of the game while Reds scored two ‘Agaris’ putting them in front 10-8 when the time in the game ran out. Gateball games are timed – 30 minutes per game.
In the third game Williams, Roser, Howard and Colman play the red balls against Widderick, Newman and Tunbridge playing the white. Reds proved too strong in this game, managing to send the white balls off court on numerous occasions. Widderick played very well. She scored a gate and touch on gate two and clawed back some points, but it was not enough, and Reds sealed an 11-6 the win.
The fourth and final game was also close. Roser scored a gate and touch on gate two adding much needed points, but Whites won the game 11-8.
