By John Thomson
On Monday 28 April, the Lilydale Croquet Club Division 1 level play team played host to the Mornington club. This week’s team was Craig McCracken and Murray Howlett.
First game as normal was the doubles. Craig and Murray started well and were taking their opportunities to run the hoops and controlled the pace of the game to go on and have a comfortable 7 hoops to Mornington 2 hoops.
Murray Howlett played in the first singles game. Mornington started well and had the first three hoops on the board before Lilydale got off the mark. Murray slowly worked his way into the game and eventually took the lead and went on to win 7 hoops to Mornington 5 hoops.
Craig McCracken played in the next game. Craig got off to a good start and was able to put his opponent under pressure which caused his opponent to make some crucial errors, Craig went onto win 7 hoops to Mornington 3 hoops.
At the break, the scores were Lilydale 3 games 21 hoops to Mornington 2 games 10 hoops. With two games to play Lilydale had already won the day. Murray Howlett played in the next singles game. Murray got off to a good start and controlled the game with some steady well thought out plays and went on to have a comfortable 7 hoops to Mornington 3 hoops win.
Craig McCracken played in the last game. This game was possibly Craig’s best for the season so far, everything Craig did from running hoops, clearing balls or jumping balls all came off and he had a dominant 7 hoops to 0 win. The final scores were Lilydale 5 games 35 hoops to Mornington 0 games 13 hoops.
With two weeks to play, Lilydale are in fourth position two wins behind the ladder leader in Kew, so it is going to be a close finish to the season.
The Lilydale division 2 level play team of Alan Jones, Kerri McCracken and Mick Crawley travelled to Kew Croquet club.
Kerri McCracken and Mick Crawley played in the doubles. This was a very close game with both teams going hoop for hoop and after the twelfth hoop had
been played the scores were 6 hoops each with the thirteenth hoop to be played to decide the winner. Both teams set up reasonably well but it was the Kew team that was able to run the hoop and win 7 hoops to Lilydale 6 hoops.
Alan Jones played in the first singles game. Both teams started ok but then Alan missed a couple of hoops that he would normally have run which let in his opponent and Kew went onto win 7 hoops to Lilydale 3 hoops.
Mick Crawley played in the next singles game. Mick got off to a good start but the Kew player started to peg him back a bit, then Mick steadied and took the win 7 hoops to Kew 4 hoops.
At the lunch break, the scores were Kew 2 games 18 hoops to Lilydale 1 game 16 hoops. With two games to play, both teams still had a chance of winning the day.
Kerri McCracken played in the first game after lunch. Kerri got off to a flying start and really did not let her opponent settle into the game at all and in the end had a comfortable 7 hoops to Kew 2 hoops win.
This win to Lilydale put both teams on 3 wins each with Lilydale holding a 3 hoop advantage, so it was all down to the last game to decide the winner on the day.
Alan Jones played the last game. As you would expect for a deciding game things were tight, with both players not giving an inch and after twelve hoops had been played the score was six hoops a piece, with the thirteenth hoop to be played to decide the winner. The thirteenth hoop, like all the rest was a close affair but in the end it was the Kew player who came out on top. Kew 7 hoops to Lilydale 6 hoops.
The final scores for the game were Kew 3 games 27 hoops to Lilydale 2 games 29 hoops.
With two weeks to play, Lilydale sit on top of the ladder from Kew, both on 5 tests each, but Lilydale hold the lead by 7 games and 33 hoops, so the run home is going to be close.
Thursday saw the start of the Round Robin between the four top teams and the club that finishes on top after the round robin will be the season’s winner. Lilydale was playing at home this week against the team from Sandringham.
The last time these two teams played one another,r it was a marathon match that did not finish until 5pm, hopefully this will not be a repeat of that day.
This week’s team for Lilydale was Murray Howlett, Mick Crawley, Kerri McCracken, Andrew Pawley and Murray McLean.
Mick Crawley played in the first singles game, both players were on the same handicap so neither player had an advantage. Mick started strongly and had the first three hoops on the board before his opponent was able to run his first hoop. Mick continued to control the game and went on to win 7 hoops to Sandringham 2 hoops.
The two Murrays, Howlett and McLean, paired up for the doubles. Lilydale were starting with a one-hoop disadvantage while Sandringham had a one-hoop advantage. Lilydale had made up their disadvantage at the first hoop, then it was just a matter of clearing their opponents away from the hoops so that Lilydale could set up and run the hoops. Lilydale 7 hoops Sandringham 4 hoops.
Drew Pawley played in the next singles, Drew was starting with a one-hoop disadvantage. The game was close all the way with both players playing some good and not-so-good croquet, but in the end, it was the Sandringham player who came out on top 7 hoops to Lilydale 6 hoops.
Mick Crawley and Kerri McCracken played in the next doubles game. Both teams were on the same handicap, so neither team had an advantage. Mick and Kerri quite often team up well in their doubles and this game was no exception as they controlled the game to go on and have a comfortable 7 hoops to Sandringham 2 hoops win.
At the break, the scores were Lilydale 3 games 27 hoops to Sandringham 1 game 15 hoops. Sandringham have their work cut out for them if they want to win with just two games to play.
Kerri McCracken played in the last singles game. Kerri was starting with a one-hoop disadvantage. Kerri unfortunately missed a couple of hoops she would normally have run and this was all it took for the Sandringham player to win 7 hoops to Lilydale 5 hoops.
Again, it was the two Murrays, Howlett and McLean that teamed up for the last doubles game. This was one extraordinary game. Lilydale were starting with a 2 hoop disadvantage. Sandringham got off to a quick start, while Lilydale just could not buy a hoop. At one point, Sandringham were 5 hoops and Lilydale still had 1 hoop in disadvantage, then a complete transformation in the game happened and Lilydale then just controlled the play and scored the next 8 hoops to go on and win 7 hoops to Sandringham 5 hoops.
The final scores for the day were Lilydale 4 games 39 hoops to Sandringham 2 games 27 hoops.
This win puts Lilydale on top of the ladder by one game with two games to play.
There is no games next week due to the Australian Open competition at Victorian Croquet Centre at Cairnlea.
