lawn 5: trimmer misses 3rd turn in to corner 4, in contact with black
chapman hits the balls in corner 4, no cannon so leaves trimmers ball a yard west of corner 4 and rushs partner to yellow which is between 1 & 2, easy chance to get going now

lawn 4: death has a supersot ball with blue
maugham shoots from near corner 1, missing to peg high ish on east boundary
death misses 3rd turn from b baulk to corner 4

lawn 4: maugham shoots at partner from the end of b baulk. looks interested but it misses, reaction to both his shots have suggested he thought he was hitting.
death shoots at maughams ball on the east boundary, hits red
puts red near hoop 3, rushes to 2 yards west of corner 4, takes off in to corner 4 to get a rush on partner to hoop 1
good rush to a yard or less in front, makes hoop with rush back to corner 4 so should be round

lawn 5: chapman has failed to approach hoop 3 on his 3 ball break
goes to just north of corner 2
trimmers balls at hoop 4 and a yard west of corner 4, chapmans other ball at hoop 3

nope, trimmer was at hoop 3 and corner 4, chapmans other ball at hoop 4
trimmer joins up (shoots?) at partner at hoop 3
chapman misses with his hoop 3 ball from corner two at trimmers ball at hoop 3 leaving trimmer a choice of 7 yarders

trimmer opts to shot at chapmans ball on east boundary for a easy chance of a break
sadly misses though so chapman now has an immediate 4 ball break

lawn 4: death has gone to 1back with a diagonal spread, im too far away to see if hes put the ball on the peg in a bad spot but it might not rush to hoop 1
lays up with his hoop 1 ball

just north of hoop 4 on east boundary, 1 back ball in corner 4

maugham shoots from the peg at partner, hits, takes off to deaths hoop 1 ball, leaves a 5/6 yarder.......misses leaving james a rush in to corner 4

death has a corner cannon, strikers ball for hoop 1, partner for 1back
rushes partner well to hoop 1, other ball to peg high between 3 and 4
makes 1 with a rush to west boundary where yellow is
puts partner to behind 2 and rushes to 2
runs hoop past partner so can rush in to peeling position
peels it rushing to red between 3 and 4, clubs rush to 3 off north boundary but makes hoop now looking a standard position

lawn 5: chapman has made 6 and is continuing

lawn 4: death has a go at the peel before 4 but no good
cant get it before 5 either
leaves his 1back pioneer at 2 back, makes 6 with 5 peels to do
gets peel before 1back
2back pioneer at 3back

lawn 5: chapman makes 2 back without a 3 back pioneer, has all the balls up by corner 2
leaves oppos ball across corner 2, big cut rush to try and get rushes partner to corner 3, plays very good shot getting it within 3 yards, croquets it in to the corner, goes to corner 4

lawn 4: death under hits his rush to peeeling position at 3 back, leaves it in front and rushes to 2back
gets peelee in front of 3 back for striaght quad, peels it going to his 3back pioneer
peel goes to within a yard of 4back
peels 4back and makes it, no cannon though so rushes to miles in front of penult

lawn 5: chapman and trimmer seem to be re-marking black in corner 3......dont know why
trimmer lifts to take contact from chapmans 3back ball in corner 4
hands on hips.......is it off the north boundary???? yes!
so chapman has a 3 yard roquet to make pointing at corner 2 where trimmers other ball is

lawn 5: chapman rushes to 7 yards along thenorth boundary, not great
looked up and trimmer is on the lawn so chapman either took off off the lawn or missed

lawn 4: death finds the jaws, roquets pioneer, dont think he attempted a cannon, plays excellent half jump through penult
organises a deep ball at rover but no side ball for peel
jaws the peel again and again half jumps through the hoop rushing partner off the south boundary
rushes deep ball to ball between rover and peg, rushes to south boundary
rushes to peg to peg out +26sxp for the first game
very good turn

lawns 5: trimmer thick take off from black in corner 2 to partner which is on the boundary in front of 3
rolls off to corner 1 and 4 yards east of corner 1

lawn 4: death off to the hut, toilet break or beer??

lawn 5: chapman misses trimmers ball in corner 1 with his 3back ball from the west boundary by hoop 2
trimmer plays the ball not in the corner to try and get a corner 1 cannon, makes roquets but moves the other ball out of the corner so quite ugly position now with chapmans hoop 1 ball on the south boundary a couple yards out of corner 4

lawn 4: im nearly dying of shock....!!!!!!! death reappears with a pint glass but......its filled with orange juice and lemonade!!!!

lawn 5: trimmer gets the croqueted ball in contact with partner for a promotion, it goes to somewhere near peg high just off the west boundary, rushes to a yard or 2 north of corner 4, takes off to chapmans hoop 1 ball for a rush to 1, which is ok

lawn 4: death hits hoop 5 with black, bounces just to the west
maugham shoots gently, centre balls it rushing to peg high
looks at take off to hoop 1, turns it down and puts black to corner 2, not sure of exact position, yellow goes off in corner 4, his reaction suggests he wanted to be just north

lawn 5: trimmer is struggling, making hoop 2 without a hoop 3 pioneer

lawn 4: death hits maughams ball in corner 4, plays massive roll putting it between 1 and 2, going to black in corner 2, another big roll trying to approach 1, putting balck in the middle of the lawn, no good though so joins up, very aggressive from death there

lawn 5: trimmer still struggling, gets a ball to hoop 4 but has to take off from partner in the middle of the lawn to chapmans hoop 1 ball a yard in from the east boundary, poor again and rushes to near corner 3, ok approach, putting all the other 3 balls between the peg and hoop 4, grovels through hoop 3 so leaves himself a 11 yarder which may be hampered

lawn 4: maugham missed 4th turn
not sure what happened but death ends up approaching hoop 1 from by corner 4!, deals with it, got a hoop 2 pioneer

lawn 5: trimmer misses
chapman decides to play his 3back ball, make three aiming for
a cross wire at 3back laid up in corner 2

make 3back*

lawn 4: death goes to 1back with a diagonal spread

lawn 5: chapman gets his cross wire goes to corner 2, trimmers hoop 4 ball is south east of the hoop but only adding 2 or 3 yards to the shot

lawn 4: maugham leaves the ball on the pegs, lifts the other ball, shoots from b baulk towards corner 4, hits,
he usual play is to go to 4back, which i think he will do now, maybe 3back? imagine he will be looking to get a couple of pops on deaths hoop 1 ball too

lawn 5: trimmer does some stretching before shooting with his hoop 1 ball, very smooth swing doesnt hit it hard, takes ages to get there, misses so great chance for a standard tp for the first for chapman

the semi finals and final will be playing on lawns 10 & 11
new hoop holes tomorrow, poor old david magee has to be here very early to organise that
also the hoops will be replaced with the
prez cup version

lawn 5: chapman looking a bit dissapointed with his position, its absolutly fine but could be tighter

lawn 4: maugham is going for popping deaths hoop 1 ball before 4, gets it with a good split to hoop 4 pioneer

lawn 4: maughams hoop 6 pioneer goes to 1back in the hope of popping 2 before 6

avery has wondered in to the hut having not taken croquet against reg yet, he comments that hopgood is looking good 'off the lawn' ....not sure what he is talking about, andrew gregory asks if there is a bro-mance emerging

lawn 5: chapman up to 6 with a standard position on his tp

lawn 4: maugham got the peel before 6, making 2back without a 3back pioneer

lawn 4: maugham stops at 3 back giving contact, leaves
blue (1back) in corner 2
black (hoop 3) a foot off the east boundary, maybe level with hoop 6
yellow (3back) in corner 1
red (hoop 1) in corner 4

lawn 5: paddy makes 3back off partner, tries to rush in front of rover but is short so assume he has 1 peel to do, leaves in right in front of rover

lawn 4: death lifts blue (1back), thick take off from yellow in corner 1 to red in corner 4, yellow goes 6 yards up the boundary, takes off from red to partner to try and rush to 1back, no rush though so
lays up for black in corner 3

lawn 5: chapman fiddles about with his mallet before taking off from rover to penult pioneer

lawn 4: maugham meanders back from the hedge. long stalk of red at blue and black. bit of heading shaking a shoulder stretching. strikes it well, quite hard, leans to the right once it leaves his mallet, misses black (hoop 3) in corner 3

lawn 4: death got a much better stop shot on him than those of us with pidcocks so gets red all the way to 4, makes 3 off partner. not convinced but looks like he may having been playing to rush in front of 1back but didnt get close to it so partner goes to 5 and he goes to collect yellow from the west boundary by hoop 1

lawn 5: chapman pegs out to win the first game +23tp

lawn 4: death jawses daves yellow in 3back after hoop 4 so going after the qpo

lawn 4: death tries to rush peel 3 back after 5, bounces miles out, goes for the peeling going to hoop 6 but bounces off outside of the wire, doesnt seem to have a 1back pioneer so now standing in the middle of the lawn trying to figure out what he wants to do with this turn

lawn 5: chapman approached 1 3rd turn, not sure of the opening, he failed what looked like a 3 yard hoop, stuck on the wire
trimmer now has a 7 yarder, hits it with a 4 ball break laid ahead of him. just what he needed to get in to the match

lawn 5: death has made 1back, partner (1back) at 2back and yellow (3back) at 3back, plays a few shots which make it look like he was interested in peeling yellow before making 2back. not sure though

lawn 4: bit suprised that trimmer went for a pop - it looks like he has jawsed it-
on chapmans ball after making 1, now made 2 with with hoop 3 pioneer by 6. thought he would be wanting to get a tidy turn under his belt

lawn 5: death makes 3 back and lays up it corner 4 with a rush up the line for his 4back ball

leaves yellow on the east boundary somewhere half way up
leaves red between hoops 1 and 2

lawn 4: maugham lifts red, shots from the end of a baulk at blue in corner 4, misses. lofts of reaction from maugham again so perhaps he is getting a little unlucky with his shooting?

lawn 5: trimmer gets his pop before 4, now making 5 off partner which is in the hoop for some reason

lawn 4: death plays with his 1back ball, am certain he
will be trying to finish with a tp from here

lawn 4: death puts his 3back pioneer to 4back, partner goes up towards 4back too, rushes to 2 back from north east of 3back...promotes partner further to 4back with the strikers ball having made the roquet.
makes a long angled 2 back, puts a ball between penult and 4 back
rushes partner to 4 back
peels it very deep getting a rush to 3back which points halfway up the east boundary
good cut rush to 3back though enables him to get a forward rush

lawn 5: trimmer has made 6, puts partner to 2back and looking for 2nd pop on red before or after 1back

lawn 4: james plays an excellent croquet stroke from the east boundary getting a rush on partner pointing towards penult, leaves it in front before making 4back

lawn 5: !!!!!!!! trimmer calls on paddy to watch his hoop stroke, presumably to watch if he gets hoops and roquet.....bounces off the inside of the far wire handing the innings and 4 ball break back to chapman. i dont think he should have been trying anything fancy in that turn, he needed a solid turn to settle the nerves and get in to the match. poor decision in my opinion

lawn 4: death finishes his straight double without much hassle to win the 2nd game +16tp
now leads 2-0

lawn 4: chapman now looking for a pop on trimmers hoop 1 ball, leaves it in front of hoop 1 while taking off to hoop 3 pioneer

lawn 4: 3rd game
death, black, hits hoop 5 again
maugham, yellow, shots and misses to just north west of hoop 6
death, blue, hits yellow and should get going

lawn 5: chapman gets his pop before 5, no hoop 6 pioneer though

lawn 5: chapman makes hoop 6 off blue which he popped through hoop 1. he is stoping at 1 back

lawn 4: death runs 1 back on his 3rd turn break, bit suprised, maybe he is taking it seriously?

lawn 4:
death gets to 3back
black (hoop 1 ) in corner 4
yellow halfway up the east boundary
blue (3back) corner 2

lawn 5: paddy has a cross peg, looks to be laid up well well south with a rush on the east boundary

lawn 4: 4th turn, maugham takes croquet from black in corner 4, takes off to yellow. when i look up again he is walking off the lawn with his two balls a yard apart on the east boundary.

lawn 4: death misses with black at maughams balls in to corner 3

lawn 4: maugham rushes up the east bounday, gets corner 3 cannon. plays good cannon rushing in to corner 2 for another cannon. less good this time, leaving a 10 yard backward take off from blue. gets in front. grovels through and cant hit blue. shoots at partner a few yards south west of corner 3.....so 30+ yards....misses

lawn 5: thought paddy got the pop in his first break but having walked up there trimmers clips are still on 1 and 1back. trimmer lifted his 1back ball and shot at partner missing to 3 yards east of corner 1

lawn 4: death hits from corner 2ish at blue, rolls blue to hoop 2 going to maughams balls in corner 3. average rush to hoop 1 leaving a 3 yard backward take off to 1. doesnt look phased. through 1, no rush but is away on his quad for the 3rd game and match

lawn 4: death leaves himself a 6 yarder at partner at hoop 2 but copes. maughams balls at 3 and 4
.

lawn 5: chapman runs hoop 2. starting a sxp. blue at 3, needs to peel 1back going black which is a couple of yards east of 2back

avery back in the hut, writing his name up on the z availibilty list now as resigned to losing to reg without taking croquet

lawn 4: death gets the 3back peel after 4. delayed tp position set up

lawn 5: chapman gets his 1back peel. leaves black at 2back which will be his hoop 4 pioneer

laawn 4: death gets 4back peel before 6, balls looking like they are doing exactly what he wants them to

lawn 5: chapman rushes brilliantly to peeling position at 2 back, gets peel and a rush to hoop 4

lawn 4: death making 2back off partner

lawn 5: chapman makes 4 but has a rush to corner 4. croquet stroke sends hoop 6 pioneer west of the hoop. peele to 3back but a yard short, makes 5

lawn 4: death rushes partner to peeling position at penult after 2 back, gets peel. rush on escape ball hits tje peg, leaves it between peg and rover, makes 3back, gets a penult pioneer, gets partner to rover, rushes to 4back from between peg and rover

lawn 5: chapman gets his 3 back peel going to 6

martin murray and mike todorovich have been distracting me with regard to super advanced laws so i have missed how death broke down on his rover peel, ends his turn with all the balls south of rover on peg and peg

martin murray went from hoop 5 to peg when his other ball was on 1back, he made a lift leave.....when giving away a contact... and then couldnt understand why he had conceeded a contact. these old people!!!

chapman has made 1back with his 2back pioneer at 4 back, leaves his 3back pioneer there too.

lawn 5:
chapman now has a straight double to do

lawn4: maugham has gone to 1back and made a spread, leaving a rush for his 1back ball. so hoping death i going to miss 2 lifts

lawn 4: chapman has to rush in front of rover from a yard south east. does well

lawn 5: death missed the short lift at maughams balls on the east boundary. maugham considers playing his hoop 1 ball.........

ohhhhh no, hes for hoop 2 isnt he?!

anyway plays his 1back ball, puts deaths ball to 3back

lawn 5: chapman pegs out to win the 2nd game +20sxp (or +19sxp if he did the pop) now leads 2-0

chapman and trimmer head off to lunch

just asked chapman and he has said he didnt get a pop so it was +20sxp

lawn 6: todoorvich pegs out to beat martin
murray

lawn 5: maugham making 3back, balls in position for a spread
death for peg and peg and maugham for 2 and 4back
big shot coming from death in a minute or two

lawn 5: death puts the paper down
strides out on to the lawn
lifts the ball near the west bound
heads to b baulk for the lift

maugham walks back to the hut, not watching at all, only turns round to look once death has missed

i have told him that everyone is willing him on! should be finishing from here id say

death comes back to the hut, reads the commentary over my should and is dissapointed that everyone is willing dave on. he goes off to lunch, it will be interesting to see if any beer is involved. ill keep my eye on that situation

maugham does some management and scribbles on the board before heading back out to lawn 5

maugham puts partner to 3, makes 2 and gets a rush pointing at corner 4

takes it to corner 4, other ball not quite in corner so cant only nudge black out a bit while getting a rush on blue up to hoop 3 where partner is waiting for the standard tp

can*

maugham makes 3, jawses the peel. gets a rush pointing at corner 4, takes it very well again

definatley favourite to finish now. will he peg one of deaths ball out for a +1tp to save the match??

rushes too close to hoop 4 so cant get a ball to 5, no dramas tho as plays a good straight drive to get a ball to 6 and a rush to 5

gets a rush north which he takes to the north boundary east of corner 3, puts black to the north boundary behind 6. rush peels partner red through 4 back, blue is at 6 as pioneer

blue goes 2 yards west of 6, runs the hoop to north boundary to black, puts black to 2back getting a rush on partner red in to peeling position at penult

andrew gregory winging about caps lock.......a concept im unfamiliar with ;)

maugham is through 1 back with 2 peels done

i have been given a game in the plate now, on lawn 11 vs vincent so once maugham finishes this turn i will have to leave andrew to it to try and cover both matches at once

maugham makes 2back, all very ordinary now, goes for peel before 3back

gets peel, just needs to avoid the famous maugham error now

really hoping he remebers to peg one of deaths balls out

partner goes to penult before 4back, has got an early rover pioneer

hopgood and avery continue flirting, hoopy tell mark "if you put your hand in my right pocket.......you'll find something interesting"......turns out it was a twix bar that avery ordered a couple of hours ago

booooooooooooooooooooooo, maugham doesnt peg out one of deaths balls so wins the third +2tp, trails 2-1

lunch