East v West of Scotland 2010
5-6 June 2010, Meadows
After the usual flexible allocation process (many East-resident players having West qualifications) there were six players for the East and five for the West on the first day of this year's match, and nine on each side on the second day. As in recent years, the match was a mixture of Association and Golf Croquet, with each AC game counting for two points and each GC game for one point. All games were played to handicap rules. A 10am start on each day, the non-counting of games for handicap points and plenty of food and drink contributed to the relaxed atmosphere of the event. An additional sense of occasion was brought by the flying of the Scottish saltire from the Meadows Club's two newly installed flagpoles, and the Meadows Festival supplied background music and some passing spectators.
Saturday began in warm sunshine with two Association games on lawn 3 and Golf Croquet on lawns 1 and 2. Two rounds of GC were scheduled in parallel with one round of AC. The manager disappeared after the first GC round (to a family celebration of his nephew's second birthday), but left the order of play written up on the whiteboard in front of the pavilion so that the contest could continue unabated. On his return at 4pm, the weather was still warm and sunny, and the West had established a lead, despite losing the morning's two Association Croquet games, by winning all the Golf Croquet games completed thus far. But some changes were in the offing...
The first change came when Jola Jurasinska and Matthew Woodward achieved the East's first GC win, at the 13th hoop, in a game against Brian Cosford and George Anderson which finished a little after 5pm. The second followed as Rod Williams and Charlotte Townsend were completing a win over Fergus McInnes and George Geis to add another GC point to the score for the West: a few heavy drops of rain were felt, soon followed by a lot more! The one game now in progress was Association Croquet between Alasdair Adam (East) and Alan Wilson (West), and as the rain grew more intense they joined the other players taking shelter in the pavilion. Puddles appeared, and as they spread to cover wide swathes of ground it was agreed to abandon the game and to leave the day's two remaining Golf Croquet games unplayed. Thus ended Saturday, with the score at East 5, West 16.
Sunday dawned cool and damp, and light rain continued for much of the day. The courts were slower after Saturday's downpour, but perfectly playable, and the 18 participants proceeded to play on them till early evening - completing six Association Croquet games and 19 of Golf Croquet. With its infusion of new players, the East made up much of its deficit, winning almost half the GC as well as most of the AC, but still it could not quite catch up, and the final scoreline was East 24, West 28. (It appeared on the whiteboard as 24-27, but the transcription of the results for this report revealed that one GC point had not been included in the total.) The trophy was not presented, being still held by one of last year's West team, but another tradition was honoured, namely the visit to the pub, where members of the winning side bought drinks for some of the opposition.
Fergus McInnes
Results
(East names first; players' AC or GC handicaps shown after names)
Day One:
Association Croquet:
Alasdair Adam (18) beat Rod Williams (3.5) +1T
Jola Jurasinska (14) beat Alan Wilson (3.5) +15
Alasdair Adam lost to Charlotte Townsend (4.5) -10
Golf Croquet:
Gavin Bolus (10) lost to Charlotte Townsend (5) 3-7
Fergus McInnes (2) lost to Brian Cosford (5) 3-7
Matthew Woodward (6) lost to George Anderson (6) 6-7
Gavin Bolus lost to George Anderson 0-7
George Geis (7) lost to Brian Cosford 1-7
Jola Jurasinska (5) lost to George Anderson 4-7
Gavin Bolus lost to Brian Cosford 1-7
George Geis (7) lost to Alan Wilson (3) 4-7
Matthew Woodward lost to Rod Williams (5) 4-7
Gavin Bolus lost to Rod Williams 1-7
George Geis (7) lost to George Anderson 6-7
Jola Jurasinska lost to Brian Cosford 6-7
Matthew Woodward lost to Alan Wilson 5-7
Jola & Matthew beat George A & Brian 7-6
George G & Fergus lost to Rod & Charlotte 5-7
Day Two:
Association Croquet (18-point games):
Janice Duguid (12) & Fergus McInnes (4) beat George A (7) & Brian (18) +2T
David Houston (20) & Robert Inder (10) lost to Hamish Duguid (14) & Rod -3
Janice Duguid beat George Anderson +18
Robert Inder beat Alan Wilson +18
Janice Duguid beat Alan Wilson +18
Robert Inder beat George Anderson +5
Golf Croquet:
George Geis lost to Joan Marshall 6-7
Jackie Shannon lost to Kay Lucas 5-7
Vivien Wightman beat Mattie Meiklejohn 7-5
Gavin & Jola lost to Charlotte & Alan 2-7
Jola Jurasinska lost to Kay Lucas 6-7
Gavin & George G lost to Mattie & Alan 3-7
Jackie & Vivien beat Joan & Charlotte 7-6
Gavin Bolus lost to Hamish Duguid 3-7
Jackie Shannon beat Brian Cosford 7-5
George G & Vivien lost to Mattie & Charlotte 6-7
David & Jola beat Joan & Rod 7-6
Fergus & Jackie beat Hamish & Kay 7-3
David & Vivien beat Joan & Mattie 7-2
George G & Jola lost to Brian & Charlotte 5-7
Gavin Bolus lost to Kay Lucas 4-7
Jola Jurasinska beat David Houston 7-6
Jackie Shannon lost to Alan Wilson 5-7
Fergus & Vivien beat Hamish & Joan 7-2
George G & Janice beat Brian & Mattie 7-5
Final scores:
East 24 (AC 14 + GC 10), West 28 (AC 4 + GC 24)