News
Success for Sussex County in Longman Cup against Hurlingham
Sussex County went to Hurlingham for the second round of the Longman Cup, Croquet England's national knock-out handicap AC event.
The Hurlingham Club is "a green oasis of tradition and international renown bordering the River Thames in Fulham set in 42 acres of magnificent grounds". Preparations were under way for a tennis tournament and a sign appeared during the day on the door of the gentlemen's loo "Professional tennis players only". Facilities included a BBQ area about the size of our club kitchen.
The club does, however, lie underneath the flight path to Heathrow and so it is quite noisy.
Steve Chapman got us off to a good start with a convincing win but David Gillett lost. Chrissie Merrington and Simon Fenn-Tye staged a late rally in the doubles to give us the lead at lunchtime.
Steve won again but Chrissie lost. Simon overcame a forest of bisques to secure the match for Sussex County. In the final game David and his opponent were level when time was called. The opponent hit in and scored a point. David also hit in but failed to get in front of the hoop.
Sussex meet Roehampton or St Albans in round three.
Report by David Gillett