Welcome to overcast cairnlea for this best of five five final between the two form players of the competition
game one Greg b and k
Dwayne r and y
Greg won toss
K to super shot 2y n of 5
Y 6" c2
B shoots y misses south close
R hits

R through 1 all balls ahead
H2 run stayed tuned for a leave

H3 run return roquet on k missed into b baulk behind h3
B at k 10 yards centre ball
K to 10 yards south of 2
Rush on y to peg rolling 1
3 yard hoop one off west wire

Y hits blue 18" hoop one all balls in front
Some work to do until break is secure

H3 run all balls ahead
Stay tuned for a leave

Nine run loose osl
B shoots for peg hits y centre ball
Rushes r end of a baulk
Rolls for hoop one short
Returns to k 7 yards short c2

R shoots at k misses
B at r 8y centre ball

R to 2 cut rush on k to one 3y north of c1
Rolling hoop in front 3'
Hoop and roquet all balls ahead

Nine run nsl r loose 10 y south c2
Y 1' from hoop four wired position
Rush pointed at r

R lifted to a baulk shooting a what looks like an edge of yellow with k in the background
R is hoop 4 ball red misses
Divot now needs repairing end of a baulk

K rush red 2y w c4 r to h2
Rush on y to h1

Hoop one blobbed standard triple ahead
Y shooting at b hits to East boundary
Y to r rush south
R to c1
K popped to 2
K south h2

Y returns r no useful rush

K at b near hoop four misses

Y to 4b coming to k
K to 5
Rush on b to 4
Backwards take off for position
Delayed triple for a finish in game 1

R sticks in h5
Standard triple for finish for k

Recap k h2 b4b
R h5 y 4b
K in turn for standard to finish

K through 1b b rushed through penultimate
Approaching 2b under complete control

All peels completed
game one +13 tp GF

Game two McCormick with choice r and y
Y 9y ne c4
K 6" c2
R b baulk at k in c2 hits
K to 2y East 5
R peg high east boundary
B shoots at k misses

Game two McCormick with choice r and y
Y 9y ne c4
K 6" c2
R b baulk at k in c2 hits
K to 2y East 5
R peg high east boundary
B shoots at k misses

Y hits k to b baulk loads 2 7y short blue to four 7y short
Backward take off 4y to h1
2y hoop grovels with forward rush all balls available
One would expect nine off this

y NSL k at loose position se of h2
B hard on west wire hoop 4
B shoots at r and k misses
R rush to k loads 2 with y
Black to near c4 rush b to h1
Rolls and runs h1 to north boundary

Shoots at y at hoop 2 dribbly and misses
B 2y off a baulk directly in front of one k 1y nw of c4
B at and k misses

R at y hits to north boundary
Y load 3
R no rush on b
Backward take off to h2
Short !
Retreats to east boundary level h3

B at y hits to peg high east
B to k for rush to h1
Rushed 2y dead in front
H1 run rush south

Take off to yellow good rush to red
Some good grafting required here to secure this break

Blue through h2 3bb secure
Stay tuned for the leave

B to 4b OSL
K 2' n c4
B 2y further on
R shoots from a baulk hits

R loads k to 4
B to 3
Rushes y to
3y north of two backward take off coming up again
Has 2y hoop rejected to 2 yards north of hoop six

B shoots at r hits

B leaves red 1y nw of h2
Y to 2y n h1
Retiring onto east boundary with rush to y / h1
Peg high

R shoots at y misses
Should be a standard tp to finish

Straight rover peel goes bad with b being peeled and k settling on the western upright unrunnable.
K retires to 10y north of corner one
R hits yellow from rover side ball to deep ball loads three
Rush b to k needs rush to 2

Rush to 2y north of peg high

Rolling 18" dead in front
Rush to blue
standard tp to finish

Simon has gone to lunch so this is Substitute Si stepping in.

Dwayne croquets out off north boundary behind 3 with striker's ball after 5 - while loading 7 and trying to get a rush behind peelee to 6. (1 peel already done)

Greg shoots at double? with his rover ball (Black) from 1Y SE of 6. Misses

Dwayne croquets Black to 3yE and 1N of 6 and gets a good rush on partner.
Not quite back on time for the tp as he's rushed partner back past penult after 6. Puts Penult ball (Yellow) in front of its hoop and continues break.

Load on H8 is a bit short. Peg-high.

Jawses Penult on the way to the aforementioned short load and gets a good rush. Crummy hoop approach leads to an angled H8

Thumps at it (as has been usual this morning) and comes through 2ft. Receiver near by. Break continues.

Another crummy approach and Dwayne fails a 2ft, 30 degree H9.

Surprising he didn't make it - hoops are very loose - they have been all comp.

Greg lifts rover ball and takes lift from end of A-Balk - shooting at Red which is sitting 3in in front of 9. Misses.

Greg has been hitting very well for most of the comp. Must have wanted to finish his lunch.

McCormick hoops and roquets at 9. Black is on E.Boundary - 3y N of 4. Yellow still in Jaws of Penult.

Takes of leaving Blue 3yN of 9, gets a good rush and plays it to 1yS of 10 (4-Back for those of you who can't count past 6).

Puts receiver on the East side giving a rush back towards C4. Only gets it to middle of East Boundary

Croquets Black to Rover and gets a rush on Blue back towards Penult.

In other news, Trevor Bassett has played well to beat Malcolm Fletcher in 3 games (Bo3) for 3rd place. Robert Fletcher has beaten Callum Hyland in straight games to win the Z in style. Dropping 2 hoops in 4 games.

Doesn't get the rush. Equal rolls to penult and pulls up short. Snicks yellow and peels it by 1cm - takes croquet from the back and puts Yellow 2yN of Penult getting good Penult position with Red. Runs Penult.

Wow.

Dwayne tries to get a rush on Yellow to rover. hits it 4 yards and peels Yellow to 2ft through rover going to escape ball out the side. Looking grim for Greg in this one unless there's a hoop and roquet.

Sneaks through Rover and hits the 4y shot at Blue out the side.

Dwayne McCormick pegs out to finish Game Two 26tp-23. 1 Game all.

The first two games haven't been the speediest seen this week and a reliable informant tells me that there's 3hr16min left for Game 3 (after a spot of lunch).

Dwayne is playing faster than Greg but his breaks haven't been as tight. So far though, he has been shooting well, running hoops well, and playing his big shots quite well this tournament.

On the other hand, Greg has also been shooting well and has been very consistent with his breaks and triples throughout the tournament - including the doubles.

Lawns look like they're running at about 10.5seconds and the hoops haven't been moved since the AC President's 8s so there haven't been a lot of break-downs from the top players. Roquetting is key.

Correction - last game was just 26-23 - no tp as Dwayne had done the 1st peel before croquetting out. My apologies.

Having said that, he did make up for it with his 12y peel of Rover.

Game three thanks Callum for your insightful comments
Greg b and k
Dwayne r and y

B to super shot 3y past hoop five
Y to 6" out of c2
K shooting from B Baulk misses

R to B Baulk shoots at y and k
Hits this should be a break to four back

Having said that people red misses after hoop in break
K shoots at b and hits
B to 2 cut rush on yellow peg high rolling hoop one

Angular hoop 1 rejected straight back
Y at k to east boundary 5 yards from r
B at two as pioneer

Has rush to one maybe a break to four back this time all balls ahead now

Stay tuned for a leave

Y failed to approach one back
K shooting at r and y 3 to 4y north of hoop one after a saving shot at one back
Recap y 1b
R 3
B and k 1

R at y hits
What now ???

Rolls both balls off north boundary r in c2
Y 7y east
K shooting at b misses

R hits y one yard off east boundary
R goes off whilst loading 4 next to b and k
Surely this will be a ball to four back !

B bombards red into black to promote into lawn with yellow loose near h4 every chance of a break to four back

One yard backward take off to h1
Runs hoop one and away
Back with a leave in twenty

B goes to 4b with NSL y at loose 2 position r at 4
R picks up goes to B Baulk and tries to run hoop 3 rejected off wire
k rushes b to r tries 4b peel secures good rush to y and then onto one
Standard TP to finish

Game three to Greg + 18TP
Two games to one Greg Leading

Game four

Same Colours
Y 9y ne of c4
B 6" south c2
R shooting at B missed
k shooting at B and K hits b no break yet
Has rush to one

Hoop 1 run rush loaded 3 3y short taken off to b near 2 makes this and he is away
Fails to approach h2 retires to c2
R hits blue cuts into corner 2 for a cannon

Plays cannon going to y near hoop four on east boundary

Fails to get rush on y b and k both loose in the court rolling off the south boundary with no useful rush

B shoots at K and misses
Y with no assured turn in front of him

Y has a 5' hoop 1 for a break crawls through ref has been called should be straight forward hits and is away
Will be back with a leave later

Y to 4b NSL pointing at b loose of h2
K picks up from four and shoots from B Baulk misses

R hampered at h1 ref called easy loading three delayed triple available for a finish

R Misses after 3b giving b and k the world
K taking play this should be a ball to four back

Back with a leave soon

K to 4b OSL
B 1y north c4
K 2.5y further north of b
Y loose at two 2y from w boundary
R loose peg high 9y east boundry

R lifts to A Baulk hit
Goes to peg leaves k in back of penultimate
B loose near 1 15y north east one

B shooting at k rear of penultimate hits
Delayed Tp to finish

4b peeled all going as planned k to load at 2b B on 1b in turn

B hampered at 3b made it look easy

Down to straight double peel all balls in great positions

Slightly angular peel on rover at 2'6"

K peeled to a few inches b jumping clean just a mop up now for peg out

Handled close bombard and now for a rush to the peg and a maiden open victory

WHAT A MAGNIFICENT DAY FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA

That's all from cairnlea in bright sunshine an end to a very well run tournament

Match Score

Greg Fletcher 3 games to 1