The Sussex County team of Rachel & Richard Pointon. Jo Crosby & Nira Scutt travelled to West Chiltington on Tuesday to play a South East Croquet GC Handicap League match.
Black clouds were gathering around the croquet lawns, and a few rumbles of thunder heard, but fortunately the rain held off and Sussex County won a closely fought match 5-4.
Thanks to West Chiltington for their hospitality and an excellent tea! This match followed an earlier 8-1 win at home to Cheyney in the same competition.
The Murphy Shield is a knock out GC competition organised by Croquet England.
On 31st August Sussex County hosted Guildford and Godalming in the semi final and our team of Simon Ancell, Vincent L’Estrange, David Dickens and David King put us in a very strong position after the morning’s play by streaking into a 3 – 0 lead.
However, the afternoon’s play was not quite as straightforward as Guildford and Godalming began to stage a comeback with some tenacious play. Despite this rally, the lead was just too much for them to overcome and Sussex County held firm and ran out winners 4 -3.
Well done the team and thank you to all who represented us in the earlier rounds to enable us to get to this position.
The final will be played at a neutral venue following the playing of the other semi final between Watford CC and Chester CC.
David King, David Dickens, Simon Ancell and Vincent L’Estrange, Murphy Shield Semi Finalists
Thanks to Brian Aikens for organising our team in this event.
It is with much sadness we report the death of Alan Theobald on Wednesday 28th August having suffered from deteriorating health in recent years.
Alan was a respected and active member who contributed much to the club including his lengthy service as a member of the Management Committee. He was also competitions secretary from 2008 until about 2011 and a member of the Academy coaching team.
Fellow member Gerald knew him well and said Alan had spent his childhood in Hove, attending Hove County Boys School. He became an industrial chemist of some renown and had three daughters.
Gerald visited him often in his nursing home in Hove for enjoyable chat and coffee.
He was an original 'hut buddy' - cleaning and painting them every year.
He played both AC and GC codes of croquet and won a number of club tournaments: his first were the High Bisque Salver in both 1997 and 1998. Later he took up Golf Croquet and in 2004 he won the GC Doubles Cup with Sharon Wood, later to become his wife. He followed this with two wins of the GC Singles Cup in 2008 and 2011. He maintained his AC involvement and in 2011 he won the Castell Soda Syphons with the then Chairman Alan Rew. They came second the following year. (The Castell Soda Syphons was an alternate strokes AC competition; the trophies were donated by Elizabeth and Paul Castell.)
Longer serving members of the club will remember him with fondness. Once such, Frances, commented:
Alan was a loyal and respected Club member. He played AC when I first encountered him. He was playing in a SECF tournament. He joined SCCC and got married to Sharon. Alan took to GC very rapidly and developed into a good player. He represented the Club and acted as GC handicapper.
He was always helpful and happy to pass on his skills via coaching. Condolences to Sharon. Happy memories of Alan in his playing days.
Fellow member David goes further back:
I remember Alan from my schooldays as we both attended the same grammar school in Hove. He was a bit older than me being a sixth form prefect whilst I was still a third form boy.
The only reason for us coming into contact was that he demurred from giving me a half hour “cap and shoe” detention for not wearing my school cap because his older brother John, also a former prefect, was going out with my best friend’s sister.
He was also my partner once during the Shine Salvers competition, and during a couple of other inter club matches. We also attended the same bridge tuition course at Brighton and played regularly each week with our wives at his and Sharon’s house. I was sad to learn of his demise.
Picture shows (L to R) Elizabeth Castell, Alan Rew, Paul Castell and Alan Theobald
Paul Green, Organiser of the team writes:
They did it!
Members from Guildford & Godalming, who were at our club, for a Murphy Shield match, brought the news that their club lost the last R-League match they had to play. As they were the last club who could draw level with us, we are now certain we have won the R-League (though the result is still unofficial).
This league consisted of 14 teams from 13 clubs.
I would like to thank David Dickins, who played in all 4 matches, and was the staff around which the team did so well. He also chauffeured the team on our two away matches. Francis Ainley played in three games and brought in excellent results. Ray Hall played in two matches and brought in a disproportionate number of wins for his position as the highest handicapped player in the team. Thanks to Linda, who brought home the winning game against Ealing. To Robyn, thank you for playing against Surbiton. Finally, to Andrew Stewart who, with David Dickins, won the hardest fought doubles match I have ever seen at Ealing, winning the Golden Hoop in the third game. Well done team, we made a little bit of history, together.
Thanks to Paul Green for organising the team and arranging the fixtures; it's not an easy job.
A lovely afternoon’s croquet on a delightful end of August day saw 4 blocks of four players vying for bragging rights (although Linda assures me that the prizes will be delivered to the respective winners. All the blocks were hard fought, and the matches were very close, as you would expect given that the handicaps were well matched in each block.
In Block A Paul Green, Jim Mander and Sam Holder all won 2 games. Paul managed to clinch the win with +4 net hoops compared to +1 for the other two.
Everybody in Block B recorded a victory, but Diana Rolfe claimed the win with +6 net hoops. Paul Griffiths was second with +1.
Block C was the tightest of all; Pat’s Mechen and Harden and Rita Dona all won two games. The Pat’s were also level on net hoops, but Pat Harden was awarded the win as she beat Pat Mechen in the head-to-head. Notwithstanding, I think they both deserved to be in the photo!
Finally, Martin Avis was the runaway winner of Block D with 3 wins. Sue Kilby came second with two wins.
Thank you to all the participants for making it a pleasurable afternoon.
And thanks to David Dickins for managing the event.
| Block A | PG | SH | GD | JM | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Green | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| Sam Holder | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | |
| Gavin Dancy | 4 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| Jim Mander | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 |
| Block B | DL | PG | SC | DR | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Larkin | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 4 | |
| Paul Griffiths | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| Susan Caufield | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| Diana Rolfe | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Block C | AJ | RD | PM | PH | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angela Jones | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| Rita Dona | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
| Pat Mechen | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| Pat Harden | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Block D | MA | PG | AA | SK | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Avis | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | |
| Peter Goldsmith | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| Angela Avis | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| Susan Kilby | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
30 out of a maximum 32 players took part in this year's Annual Tournament, 10 in the A class, 14 in the B class and 6 in C class.
Ideal weather for AC, pleasant sunshine to enjoy if you wish, but warm in the shade, and a light breeze to refresh, whilst you watch your opponent go round to 4-Back!
The event was played on the Club's new Quadway hoops; this may have contributed to the lack of TP's and length of games in the A class, and the nearly half of all games in the B class which went to time rather than peg-out!
In the A class, which was played as a flexible Swiss, the lower handicapped players in the group rose to the top of the table on the first day, with the exception of Jim Field who had a clearly off-form 1/3 wins; Adam Swinton, newly down from h/c 3 a month ago to 1.5 (congratulations) made a strong start with 2/3 wins.
By lunchtime of the second day the Manager was rather fearful of a tied and not easily resolved ending, with 4 players on 3/4 wins. However, wins by two of the four, Neil Coote and John Daniels, in the last match gave a clear win to John, as he had beaten Neil in an earlier round. This was John's second time taking the Abbey Challenge Trophy as he previously won in 2022.
With a large entry of 14 players in the B class the Swiss proceeded with little difficulty, other than the number of games going to time previously noted. The spread of handicaps was 1.5 to 8 and by the end of the first day the lower handicapped half of the draw had largely established themselves at the top of the table. The winner was David H Boyd who won all his games, ahead of Peter Thompson who lost only to David.
The C class of 6 players played a five round block and quietly got on with their games over the two days, for which the Manager was very thankful. Only 2/15 games went to time which is a very good standard. As in the B class, the winner, Steve Chapman, won all his games; Christine Rice, second placed, lost only to Steve. Steve also gained his Silver Merit Award and reduced his handicap to 7 so double congratulations to him.
Thanks very much to Rachel Pointon, ably assisted by Richard Pointon, Elizabeth Bell, Angela Price and Jo Mander for the excellent lunches each day, and to the various cake makers as well. AC players enjoy their lunch (and cake)!
It was great to see such a large number of players taking part and I hope next year will be as well attended.
John
| A class | Games | Wins | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Daniels | 5 | 4 | S.Allen +2,A.Cottle +15,G.Hewitt -11,N.Coote +15,P.Castell +8 |
| Neil Coote | 5 | 4 | A.Cottle +22,J.Field +13,A.Swinton +4,J.Daniels -15,S.Allen +4 |
| Paul Castell | 5 | 3 | G.Hewitt +2,A.Swinton -15,J.Field +9,R.Wood +15,J.Daniels -8 |
| Stephen Allen | 5 | 3 | J.Daniels -2,L.Farrow +4,A.Cottle +17,G.Hewitt +13,N.Coote -4 |
| Guy Hewitt | 5 | 3 | P.Castell -2,R.Wood +3,J.Daniels +11,S.Allen -13,L.Farrow +26 |
| James Field | 5 | 2 | L.Farrow +26,N.Coote -13,P.Castell -9,A.Cottle +5,R.Wood -6 |
| Roger Wood | 5 | 2 | A.Swinton -4,G.Hewitt -3,L.Farrow +13,P.Castell -15,J.Field +6 |
| Adam Swinton | 5 | 2 | R.Wood +4,P.Castell +15,N.Coote -4,L.Farrow -17,A.Cottle -2 |
| Alan Cottle | 6 | 2 | N.Coote -22,L.Farrow +24,J.Daniels -15,S.Allen -17,J.Field -5,A.Swinton +2 |
| Liz Farrow | 6 | 1 | J.Field -26,A.Cottle -24,S.Allen -4,R.Wood -13,A.Swinton +17,G.Hewitt -26 |
| B class | Games | Wins | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| David H Boyd | 5 | 5 | T.Dutton +20,P.Thompson +2,R.Peperell +19,S.Turner +1,D.Houston +1 |
| Peter Thompson | 5 | 4 | J.Low +3,D.H Boyd -2,D.Houston +6,S.Wingrove +2,S.Turner +10 |
| Richard Peperell | 5 | 3 | C.Merrington +3,S.Wingrove +20,D.H Boyd -19,D.Houston -5,M.Rice +3 |
| David Houston | 5 | 3 | M.Hamilton +21,C.Rolph +3,P.Thompson -6,R.Peperell +5,D.H Boyd -1 |
| Jonathan Isaacs | 5 | 3 | S.Wingrove -2,S.Turner -1,T.Dutton +23,T.Elliott +16,M.Hamilton +22 |
| Stephen Wingrove | 5 | 3 | J.Isaacs +2,R.Peperell -20,S.Turner +3,P.Thompson -2,C.Rolph +18 |
| Mark Hamilton | 4 | 2 | D.Houston -21,J.Low +24,C.Merrington +10,J.Isaacs -22 |
| Christopher Rolph | 4 | 2 | T.Elliott +15,D.Houston -3,M.Rice +13,S.Wingrove -18 |
| Mike Rice | 5 | 2 | S.Turner -13,T.Elliott +12,C.Merrington +19,C.Rolph -13,R.Peperell -3 |
| Tim Dutton | 5 | 2 | D.H Boyd -20,C.Merrington -24,J.Isaacs -23,J.Low +1,T.Elliott +16 |
| Simon Turner | 5 | 2 | M.Rice +13,J.Isaacs +1,S.Wingrove -3,D.H Boyd -1,P.Thompson -10 |
| John Low | 5 | 1 | P.Thompson -3,M.Hamilton -24,T.Elliott -3,T.Dutton -1,C.Merrington +4 |
| Chrissie Merrington | 5 | 1 | R.Peperell -3,T.Dutton +24,M.Rice -19,M.Hamilton -10,J.Low -4 |
| Tony Elliott | 5 | 1 | C.Rolph -15,M.Rice -12,J.Low +3,J.Isaacs -16,T.Dutton -16 |
| C class | CR | AN | DG | SC | RP | KN | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Rice | 15 | 26 | 20 | 26 | 26 | 4 | 2 | |
| Adam Newbould | 14 | 26 | 12 | 26 | 26 | 3 | 3 | |
| David Gillett | 9 | 24 | 18 | 26 | 26 | 2 | 4 | |
| Steve Chapman | 26 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 5 | 1 | |
| Richard Platt | 6 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 5 | |
| Karen Newbould | 11 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
The perry made from the Club’s pears has won an award this year at the Brighton & South Downs Beer and Cider Festival. Samples of this year’s vintage will be made available in Spring of next year for members to try!
For once the weather forecast was correct and the rain moved on to allow us to play in dry weather from the start.
There were 5 blocks and we were pleased to see a number of players from other clubs who joined us for the first time.
Steve Chapman was the clear winner of Block A with 5 wins.
In Block B, David Dickins had a closely fought final game against David King with both in contention to win the Block. It resulted in David Dickins winning Block B as he won hoop 13.
Francis Ainley won Block C with 4 wins.
There were a number of new players to Southwick tournaments who played in Block D. It was a closely run block with Sam Holder (Hove Beach) and Jim Mander both winning 4 games but Sam had +12 net hoops against Jim’s +5.
Again there were new faces in Block E. I think it was a record that hoop 13 took 25 minutes for one of the matches! Three players Peter Hill, Paul Brown and Helen Wilson all had 3 wins so it was down to net hoops and Peter Hill won with +8.
Well done to all the winners.
A big thank you to Marion King for very kindly coming to sort out tea and cake and for all the clearing up she did.
Fiona Phillips
And thank you to Fiona for managing the event.
| Block A | BA | RB | SA | SC | TJ | BC | KY | AW | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Aikens | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Richard Brooks | 1 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 7 | ||
| Simon Ancell | 6 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Steve Chapman | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Tony Jolly | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Bob Clark | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Konstantin Yudintsev | 5 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Andrew Wilson | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Block B | DK | DS | DD | RW | VL | MJ | AS | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David King | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | |
| Douglas Shand | 7 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 4 | |
| David Dickins | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | |
| Robin Wootton | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 7 | |
| Vincent L'Estrange | 6 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |
| Michael Jay | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | |
| Andrew Stewart | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Block C | GT | FA | JP | GT | SN | PG | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gavin Taylor | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | |
| Francis Ainley | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |
| Jane Powell | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |
| Graham Tucker | 4 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 5 | |
| Sue Nicholas | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| Paul Green | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| Block D | Jl | SH | GD | AG | JM | AT | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John low | 4 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
| Sam Holder | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |
| Gavin Dancy | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Alan Grundy | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Jim Mander | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | |
| Alex Turner | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| Block E | PB | SC | HW | PH | KM | CM | Wins | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Brown | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |
| Stephen Collett | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5 | |
| Helen Wilson | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Peter Hill | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 1 | |
| Kathy McColgan | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 4 | |
| Christopher Mabley | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 6 |
Sussex County entertained East Dorset in the semi-final of the Longman Cup (CqE's national AC handicap knock-out competition) on Thursday 22nd August hoping to reverse the result of last year's equivalent match.
Strong winds and rain made the weather the most unpleasant for some time. In the morning session, Steve Chapman suffered a rare defeat and Chrissie Merrington & Simon Fenn-Tye also lost in the doubles. David Gillett was in play as time was called but could not overcome a three-point deficit.
An excellent lunch provided by Liz Farrow was enjoyed by visitors and hosts alike.
Sussex needed to win all four of the afternoon singles to progress to the final. The first game to finish was a defeat for David and so the match was lost. However, there were wins for Chrissie, Steve and Simon, who hit in as time was called and pegged out. This gave a more respectable result of 3-4 in the match.
A marvellous cake baked by Liz was consumed afterwards. Sussex Ciounty wished East Dorset good luck in the final against either Southport or Boden.
Thanks to Chrissie for captaining the team in all four matches.
Report by David Gillett
The Editor would like to thank all the players and correspondents who submitted match reports this year. It keeps the whole Club abreast of national and other competitions. Please continue next season and indeed, more please! Photos are also very welcome.
After representing the Sussex team for eighteen years and having the honour of being the Captain/Organiser for the last six, Richard Brooks has decided now is the right time for him to give up his leadership role.
After relegation in 2018 Sussex bounced back to Division 1 in the following year and have remained a Division 1 team since then. This year we needed to win our last match to retain our place at Southwick in 2025. Fortunately we achieved that vital win.
Richard said: "I would like thank the club members who were watching and encouraging the team on Sunday afternoon.
I also thank the team members past and present who have supported me during my time as Captain. I’m now pleased to hand over the captaincy to Peter Dowd, wishing him and Sussex every success in the future."
Thanks from the whole County to Richard for all his hard work and the successes he has brought to the County - and good luck to Peter.