By John Thomson
This week the Lilydale section 1 team travelled to Monash to take on the second Monash team after having played Monash’s first team last week.
The first game, the doubles was a very tight game. Lilydale’s team of Murray Howlett and Glenn Crook were locked in a tight battle with the more experienced Monash team, the game going hoop for hoop before Lilydale set up well at the 13th hoop and was able to run the hoop and win the game.
In the first of the singles games Lilydale’s Glenn Crook was playing well but the better credentialed Monash player was able to just run a couple of crucial hoops and get away to a win.
In the next singles game Murray Howlett of Lilydale got off to a flying start and never looked back.
At the break, the scores were Lilydale 2 games 19 hoops to Monash 1 game 17 hoops.
The first singles after the break saw Murray Howlett again play very well, the game was close all the way but Murray was able to take a couple of chances that came his way and eventually came away with the win.
Glenn Crook played in the final singles and again the game was tight but in the end the Monash player prevailed.
The final score for the day, Lilydale 3 games 31 hoops to Monash 2 games 29 hoops, marking Lilydale’s first win in section 1.
The Lilydale section 2 team hosted Ivanhoe this week, the day started in wet drizzly conditions but cleared as the day went on. With Lilydale’s captain Alan Jones away this week, it left Craig McCracken and John Thomson to play all the games.
In the doubles, Lilydale got off to a flying start and never let the Ivanhoe team get into the game.
In the first of the singles, the Ivanhoe player was determined to make amends for the loss in the doubles and won the first two hoops and, at the end, that was the difference.
In the next singles, Lilydale’s Craig McCracken was playing superbly and kept roqueting his opponent’s balls away and not letting his opponent get into the game.
In the reverse singles Craig again was playing a superb game and did not give his opponent a look in.
Although Lilydale had won the day the Ivanhoe player was not going to just lay down in the last of the singles games. John Thomson of Lilydale got off to a good start but the Ivanhoe player fought back putting pressure back on John but in the end he was able to hang on, the final scores for the day, Lilydale, 4 games 33 hoops to Ivanhoe, 1 game 18 hoops.
On Thursday, Lilydale hosted Mornington Croquet Club at Ringwood as Lilydale only has one court.
This season Lilydale has a new member of its handicap team, Mike Gilsenan. Mike has only been playing socially at the club but has been improving all the time and has now stepped up to play in competitions.
The first game was a singles game and Lilydale’s Craig McCracken played. This game was tight all the way through with both players going hoop for hoop, the 13th hoop was extremely hard fought but finally Craig to his chance and ran the hoop to take out the game.
Next game was a double and Mike Gilsenan for his first game teamed up with the very experienced Murray Howlett. Lilydale got off to a very good start and was up by four hoops before Sandringham had won a hoop.
Mike under the guidance of Murray was playing a very steady game and had a great feel around the hoops and Lilydale went on to have a comfortable win.
In the next singles game, Murray Howlett was giving away three extra strokes to his opponent and that made this a very tight game, and
once again, after six hoops, the scores were even. Fortunately for Lilydale, Murray was able to set up his first ball in a good hoop running position and win the game.
In the next doubles, the regular duo of Alan Jones and Craig McCracken teamed up for Lilydale, but the Sandringham pair got away to a good start and were 4 hoops to 1 up early in the game,
Alan and Craig started to work themselves back into the game and eventually were able to tie the game up and then were able to take their chance and win.
In the last singles game for the day, Alan Jones played and once more this was a battle royale with both players up at different stages of the game before it was all level after 12 hoops. Unfortunately, this time Lilydale’s luck had run out and Mornington took the points this time.
The last game was a double and Craig McCracken paired up with Lilydale’s new team member Mike Gilsenan. Craig’s experience was helping Mike and the two of them played a very steady game and win. The final scores for the match were Lilydale 5 games 41 hoops to Mornington 1 game 32 hoops.
Although Mornington only won one game, four of the games went to 7 hoops to 6 with Lilydale winning three of these tight games, so the final score does not reflect how close the match really was.
