bamford & rothmsn vs chapman & maugham starting within 10mins on lawn 3

This is best-of-3, SuperAdvanced

Ben K 10y N IV
Dave R just S of II
Reg U at K from A-baulk, hits, cutting it 5yN. Ignores Red, leaves rush for himself to Red.
Paddy Y shoots from III. He can't believe it's missed, but it has, into IV

Reg Blue rushes Black 4' S of Red., rushes Red 5'W of Yellow, cuts Yellow 8' NNE of 1, take-off approach leaves angled hoop, squints at it, fails into middle of hoop.

The sun is shining, it's really quite warm.

Paddy Y hits U, makes 1, rolls 3 to U getting rush on K - good shot.
Has break, consulting with partner.

Actually Paddy chose the easier shot of rolling U to 3 rather than the other way round.

Paddy Yellow is looking to POP Blue (Reg) thru 1 before 5, has done so.
Looks like he'll be conceding contact. Setting up to POP Reg thru 2 after 1-back.

More consultation drags the Manager away from worrying about the Y Doubles.

Paddy attempts to leave Black in 1st corner, but has he moved it too much in the take-off?
Paddy has made 2-back off Red. Rushes Red near Blue (behind hoop 2). Stops Red toward II. Rushes Blue 7y S of III.
Takes off to Black. Makes sure it is in 1st corner. Yellow off in 4th corner.

Apparently Goacher hasn't made a hoop for 3 days.

Ben picks up Black, wanders over to Red. Reg is standing near the middle of the W bdry, Red goes a bit further S of that.
Black hits Blue, rolls toward III, leaves rush for Blue to 3.

Long consultation. This is why Doubles takes so long.

The decision is Red at Yellow (28y). Dave misses.

Wiil Reg go for the QPO (starting from hoop 3)?

Who will emerge from the hut? Long discussion.

Here comes Reg.

Sorry for the interruption, had to get further refreshment. And then was waylaid by some American not knowing the rules.

Anyway Reg (Blue) is now approaching 5 off Red. Yellow is almost thru 3-back. Black is 5y NW of 3.
Reg rushes Red to IV after 5.

Reg has peeled Yellow thru 4-back before 2-back.

He now peels penult going to his pioneer at 3-back.

Reg has to do straight rover peel to finish QPO.

I'm being distracted by the suggestion of some bridge.

Black is rushed off 7yN of IV.

I'm being urged to test whether my laptop will work outside.

Blue is off in II.

Dave Red tries to roll off 1 from Black, the red ball hits hoop 4. Takes 8' posi at 1.

Ben Black retires to IV.

Dave runs hoop to N bdry. 9-yarder at Blue: misses.

Reg Blue takes off, but into hoop 4, goes off 4' W of Red.

Dave shoots, misses between the balls. Comes on in contact with Black.

Ben Black rushes Blue 10' SSW of 1. Makes 1, has Northward rush. Good rush. Makes 2, rushes Blue 5y W of IV,
Rushes Red to 7y from 3.. Underapproaches. Partner on lawn.

Black retreats to near 1st corner. Manager has to be fetched.

Plays to the end of A baulk

Reg moves Blue into IV, Red has choice of 13yarders

Dave shoots Red at Blue...

misses on the north side

correction, south side balls in contact

Black and Blue laying up nr 1st corner.

Dave Red misses 35-yarder.

Ben rushes Blue to 3, makes it, has Westward rush.
Cuts it to 12yN of i.
Croquets Blue to 5, but can only rush Red to end of A-baulk.
Rolls to hoop, sending Red 5yE of 4. Gets 7' posi. Makes hoop.
Hits 8-yarder at Red. Now has break.

Ben makes 5 without rush. Reasonable roll has Blue 3yS of 1-back. Makes 6. Makes 1-back, again without rush.
Approaching 2-back from 8', copes.
.
Finishes, game 1 Reg & Ben+12qpo(B)

Game 2
Ben Black 11yN iV
Dave Red near II
Reg Blue misses Black from A-baulk.

The Red Arrows fly overhead.

Paddy makes double from B-baulk, misses.

Ben Black stops Yellow into the lawn, rushes Blue to Red, Red to 4y SW of 1. Makes 5' hoop. Cuts Red to nr IV.
If he can make hoop 2 he'll be away.

By the way James and I won the rubber. And my battery's holding up. Wifi drifts in and out.

Ben, Black has Blue as his hoop 2 pioneer, but it is still more or less in 2nd corner.
He now tries to roll off 2 from 2nd corner. Poor shot leaves 10' hoop. Runs it to boundary. [Sigh]

Ben now has break established, so calls partner on. Can't be anything other than 6 hoops and spread, surely?

Todorovich has beaten Higgins +1(T). Might be a wind-up, but I'm assured not.

Still 4 or 5 other games going on on other lawns.

Ben has made 6 hoops. The spread looks pretty tidy. Red is at the peg.

Paddy lifts yellow to 3rd corner, misses into 4th corner.

Pete Trimmer is attempting a nontuple in the Z.

Reg strides on to the lawn.

A large hot-air balloon has just taken off from not far (geographic) North of here.

After 1 Reg rushes Red 2yN of Yellow.

Pete has had 2 attempts at the hoop 5 peel, neither of which has troubled the hoop. He has now rush-peeled the first peel of a standard TPO.

Reg stops Red 5yW of 4, hits Yellow. Hogan roll coming up.... Good enough shot. Jawses 1-back peel - it's just through - going to Red.
Makes 3 off Yellow, now has roll from by 1-back to Red near 4. Black has gone 5yS of 2-back! Hoop 4 is made off Red.

Reg still manages to peel Black thru 2-back before 5.

Meanwhile in the comedy section on lawn 6, Pete is having his sixth attempt at peeling hoop 5. On the plus side he's had all 3 peels of the TPO. (He is currently for 3-back.)

Reg is approaching 6 off Red. Red has gone a bit deep. Blue sticks in 6!

So Black is near 3-back (its hoop), Yellow is near 1-back, Red near B-baulk, Blue in 6.

And Paddy lifts Yellow (SuperAdvanced, remember).

Pete has broken down after penult, trying to rush partner in front of 1-back for the 7th peel of the turn. So oppo has a lift to position.

Paddy picks up break.

Having rushed Blue out of 6 to pick up break, Paddy is now trying to POP

Having rushed Blue out of 6 to pick up break, Paddy is now trying to POP it through. Does so.

Only 2 games left now: the Doubles final, and the sideshow on lawn 6. Pete's oppo is Robert Wilkinson, who has entered into the spirit of the game by attempting the SXPO.

Paddy is making 6 hoops and having a spread.

Clips: Reg Blue 1-back, Ben Black 3-back; Dave Red 1, Paddy Yellow 1-back.

The spread is near horizontal. The rush is for the forward ball (Paddy). Black is at the peg.

Ben lifts Black to B-baulk. Misses to 4th corner.

Paddy and Dave discussing leave. "NSL" i hear.

I'm still outside. This laptop battery is pretty good.

Paddy makes 3 hoops. NSL as required, with Blue at hoop 4.

Tremendous applause as Wilko hits hampered shot after 3-back. 4 peels of SXPO done.

Dave watches as Paddy adjusts Black nearer the W bdry. Leaves rush for Red to Black.

Reg lifts Blue to A-baulk. Centre-balls Red. Reg is now shading his eyes from the setting sun. It's a beautiful evening.

Can Reg finish from 1-back and 3-back??

Wilko has completed the SXPO! He now has a 7-yard peg-out to try to win the game. Gets it! +2SXPO. Fantastico!

Reg makes 1-back off partner, rushes Black so he can attempt 5-yard peel of 3-back. Doesn't get it.

Apparently there are still a few people watching the Doubles final, but Wilko (and Pete) understandably hogged the limelight. Much of the crowd is wandering off now, as
Reg is attempting straight QP.
Irish peel, peelee ends up 3y NW of 4-back.

Reg's straight 4-back peel goes through. Key shot coming up...

Reg is going for the bombard. Not bad, not great. Black is now 4y NNE of penult.
Rushes Black to maybe 1y 15 degrees. Attempts Irish peel, Black goes through but Blue bounces to the side.

Yellow is 1y NW of 4-back, Black by the peg, Red by penult. Blue retires to 4th corner.

Dave lifts Red to B-baulk. Misses Yellow. And Black.

Ben Black misses Blue. Balls in contact.

Dave Red has 18-yarder at Black. Close but misses. 3-ball cannon for Blue or Black.

Yellow is still by hoop 3.

Reg plays. In the cannon senda Red 4yW of rover and rushes Black between 3 and III. In the croquet stroke Blue goes too far but stops on wire of 3, to still yield an OK rush.
Reg makes penult. Black is 3yN of rover.

Reg needs a straight rover peel for the Doubles Championship. Yellow is the deep ball. Black is rushed 3' or 4' in front of hoop.

A club member is patiently collecting balls.

Peel goes through by a yard. Blue jumps over Black to the boundary.

Bamford & Rothman win +12qpo(B) +17.

Good night folks. Off to Cafe Rouge I understand. See you at 10 tomorrow for the Singles semi-finals. Clarke: I expect a detailed preview in my inbox!