Morning all. It's a little chilly in the shade. Expected top of 23" C, Chance of showers but not more than 2mm.

The lawn is looking a little fluffy and slow. Purely from looks I say 9 seconds.

The final is best of 3 and due to start at 8am. See you then.

Alan won the toss and elected to go first. Stephen has choose Red & Yellow.

Game 1

Alan Black & Blue v Stephen Red & Yellow

1

Alan plays Blue to just north of H4 and a good 2.5 yards from boundary.

2

Stephen plays Yellow into C2.

3

• blacK roquets B.
• Take off to Y only gets to H2 but confidently hits yellow.
• Y rolled 3 yards from peg.
• K lagged to B is short, 3 yards apart.

4

R misses K from A baulk

5

• Alan plays in field K onto B.
• Flirts with boundary to behind R
• Reasonable rush to Y
• Good load on 2
• Rush to h1 a little long
• Approach to h1 a little short.
• Makes hoop without forward rush.
• Awful croquet stroke. Strikers not far past peg high.
• Excellent recovery, cuts pioneer h2.
• Close to laid break before h3.

5 continued

• Runs h3 a little long and take safe option to hit pivot.
• Good take off back to h3 reception ball followed by good rush.
• Alan's run h5. Has the balls under control but doesn't have pace of lawn quite right yet.

Turn 5 con'td

• Alan's approaching 3b from nice & close. Y & B near peg. Doesn't get forward rush.
• R is 6 yards from boundary, 2-3 yards north of peg high.
• Y is close to peg.
• Good rush on B to ensure it doesn't move K
• B on yard line 2 yards north of h4.
• K 1.5 yards further north on boundary.
• B at peg could hit blue hence the leave of both balls on boundary.

Turn 6

• Stephen lifts Y at peg to c3.
• Creates double.
• Hits B the back ball.
• Good great position on black to rush to h1 but body language suggests he wanted rush to R.
• Rush to h1 a little short.
• Approach results in straight h1 but a litle long.
• Terrible attempt at hoop.

Turn 7

• Alan has tap on with K, 4b ball.
• Y 3 yards SW of h1, R 2 yards E of h2.
• Lag to B short but makes roquet. B & K sort of hiding behind h4.

Turn 8

• Y shoot at R. Stephen was watching for a long time. Narrow miss.

Turn 9

• B rushes K to 3 yards west of h6.
• K goes towards 3 while B towards Y on boundary.
• Good roll to load h2 and get rush on R.
• Excellent rush to h1.
• Makes h1 without forward rush.
• Plays good equal roll to K at h3.
• Has balls in excellent position for on time TP before h2.

Turn 9 cont'd

• Croquet stroke after h3 gets excellent rush on R but Y is 4-5 yards short of h4.
• Hoop & roquet at h3.
• K is probably not quite in jaws of 4b but certainly can be rush peeled.
• Good play to load h5 and hold rush on Y but rush isn't the best.
• B gets perfect wick out of h4 for rush to peelee. Rush is 2-3 yards to long.
• B a little long and sidey for rush peel. Easy but should be easier.
• Peelee goes through by less than 1 yard.
• Good take off to h5.
• Really needed rush after h5 but I don't think he tried for it.
• B has rush on K towards h6, albeit 3 yards apart :-)

Turn 9 cont'd

• Roll puts K a little short for ideal peeling.
• Makes h6.
• Funny style while attempting peel. Peelee to side of hoop.
• Load at 2b is 5 yards short.
• Makes 1b.
• Is looking at death roll. Really shouldn't give the poor 2b load.

Turn 9 cont'd

• Blue goes past Y. Peel attempt no where close./
• 5-6 yard roll to 2b is good. Straight & less than 1 yard.
• Makes 2b to boundary.

Turn 9 cont'd

• K in good position for peel but Y is 1-2 yards to far north.
• Good roll after 3b.
• Excellent jaw of penult before 4b.

Turn 9

• Down to straight double.
• Peel of penult sends peelee to 2.5 yards short of rover.
• Rush on peelee goes to close and unpeelable.

Turn 9 cont'd

• I hope Alan remembers this is a final and not a friendly game against me. i.e. Hope he sets a good leave instead of attempting posthumous peel. He listened :-)

Turn 9 cont'd

• R is 5 yards from west boundary, 1 yard north of peg.
• R is 2 yards from peg 1-2 yards south.
• K is east boundary 2 yards north of h4.
• B is 3 yards further south.

Turn 10

• Stephen lifts Y to A baulk. Hits B.
• Good take off to K.
• Rush to R is south of R.
• Good load at 2 and position for rush.

Turn 10 cont'd

• Rush to h1 is 2 yards short
• Makes h1 with rush to B on east boundary.

SIDE NOTE: Alan walked off from turn 9 saying he didn't have balls to attempt rover peel. Wrong Alan. You had the brains not to attempt it.

Turn 10 cont'd

• Stephen has reasonable break before h2.

Recap

• Game 1
• Alan rover & peg
• Stephen 1 and break after h3.

Time to rest the arm.

Turn 10 cont'd

• Good break by Stephen.
• Spending some time setting leave as B did not get perfect position on back of 3b.
• K 2-3 yards from W boundary, just north of h6 line.
• R yard line E bound 2 yards north of h4 line. R has easy rush on Y to K.

Turn 11

• Alan lifts B to C3. Just misses R.

Turn 12

• Excellent rush on Y to K. Just misses peg.
• Another good rush to h1.
• Fails h2 while attempting tp get rush.

Turn 13

K from h3 at Y at h2 misses.

turn 14

• R plays good hampered shot to get near K.
• Croquet shot doesn't get good rush on Y. Approaching h3 from boundarry. Good roll.
• Makes 3 to south boundary to pick up ball in c4.

Turn 14 cont'd

• Good roll to send B to h5 going to K
• Take off from K to Y near h3 is good.
• Rush to h4 a little short.
• Cruel wick for hoop and roquet at h4.

turn 14 cont'd

• Plays % shot with take off from south boundary to K near h3.
• Take off to h5 is long leading to backward take off and angled hoop.
• Good hoop 5.

Turn 14 cont'd

• Hoop 6 made with rush to south boundary and pick up Y.
• Loads 2b well but gets poor position on Y.
• Take off to poor 1b pioneer is a bit long.
• Backward take off to 1b is little long. Stephen taking great care over hoop attempt. Very poor attempt.

Turn 15

• Peg ball B has tap on.
• R now near c2, Y, east boundary 2 yards sourth of h6.
• B looking to rush K south of h1 wired from Y.
• Excellent leave. Wired from R & Y.

Turn 16

Stephen watches R at Y for a long time. Very close.

Turn 17

Should be an easy finish for Alan. Only has to make rover..

• Take off from Y to R bit long.
• Rush on R to rover is short.
• Croquet shot to rover leaves very angled hoop.
• Lucky to end in jaws.

Turn 18

• R hits Y. Good 20 yards.

Recap

• R in hand from 1b
• Y for 4b
• K in jaws of rover for rover.
• B for peg

Turn 18 cont'd

• Stephen taking time to sort out what to do.
• Y to 2b. R runs into B near peg.
• Good take off to get position to rush K from jaws of rover to 1b.
• Rush was unlucky not to get ricochet to 1b.
• Rool to 1b is pretty good. little angly.
• Good 1b.

• Balls under control.
• Y to 4b for potential straight peel.

• Doesn't get Y in to peeling position.
• Has made 4b with good load at penult.

• Stephen has asked for time remaining. 35 minutes.

Blue hornets fly by for Australia Day presentation.

Stephen now waiting for 21 gun salute.

Play resumes after Australia day interruptions :-)

Turn 18 cont'd

• Stephen's made rover.
• B & K are each 4-5 yards from peg but wired from each other.
• Y on east boundary couple yards south of h4 line with rush on R to B near h5.

Clips

• K rover
• B peg
• R peg
• Y 4b

Turn 19

• Alan lifts K to A baulk. Hits R & Y to make sure.

• Take off from R to Y is long but rush should be good enough.

• K runs rover for nervy 4 yard return roquet

• K nicks Y.

Game 1 Alan beat Stephen +5

Game 2

• R to standard
• B to longish tice
• Y misses R
• K misses B

Turn 5

• Stephen fails to get in front of 1

Turn 6

• B to C4

Turn 7

• R rushes Y into K near c2
• Cuts position to rush to h1 but strikers climbs back of K.
• Retires

Turn 8

• Alan shots at Y & R in C2. Not close.

Turn 9

• R rushes Y to side of h1.
• Makes h1 with rush pointing to h3. Rushes to boundary north of h3.
• Makes h2. Should get break together.

Turn 9 cont'd

• Stephen has break under control heading to h6.
• Best break of the match.
• Tight NSL

Turn 10

• Alan lifts K from h4 to c3.
• Misses Y. Crosses boundary level with h4.

Turn 11

• Rush on B to h1 is wide
• Roll to h1 puts Y north of h1
• Retires to north boundary.

Turn 12

• Alan plays super aggressive shot at R. Hits. A miss would have given Stephen an easy on time triple.

Clips

Stephen

• R 4b
• Y 1

Alan

! & 1

Alan won first game of best of 3.

Turn 12 cont'd

• Alan plays a couple of good shots to get nicely in front of h1.
• Runs h1 long but nicks the return roquet.
• Sort of loads h3 going to Y on east boundary.
• R in in a couple of good yards from c2.
• B is well short of getting behind R.
• Good take off to h2. Now has break.

• Runs h4 long and misses return roquet. Some distraction by crowd due to plate finishing.

Turn 13

• Stephen nicks 3 yarder.
• Fails to get rush on R to h1.
• Good roll from end of A baulk to h1.
• Fails h1.

Turn 14

• K from near h2 at R near h1 misses.

Turn 15

• Y taps R
• Take off to K on south boundary
• Fantastic load & hold for 6 inch h1.
• Good croquet stroke from east boundary to send peelee to 4b.
• Hoop & roquet on peelee after h3.
• R through 4b by 2 feet. Great load at h4 & rush on escape ball.

Dogfooding Report

• First time I've witnessed a lost post. Others have reported it before.
• Editor to automatically continue lists.
• Editor to show current turn

Turn 15 cont'd

• R (peelee) & B near h6
• Approach is a bit side on.
• Failed h5.

Turn 16

• Alan has 2 easy roquet to choice from. Easy choice because blue is laid break.
• Will he attempt DPO?

Turn 16 cont'd

• h6 was a little angly and wisely ran hoop firmly giving up chance of peel after h6.
• Good diagonal spread. I'd like to see Alan get the h2 ball closer to the boundary.

Recap

Alan won first game.

Alan K for h1, B for 4b.

Stephen R for penult, Y for h5.

Turn 17

• Stephen lifts Y to C3. R is next to peg.
• Y misses into C4.

Turn 18

• Rush is h1 is a little short and to side.
• h1 is again run long.
• Croquet shot after h1 leaves red closer to h6 than h3. Doesn't get rush on B.
• Good roll to h2 and slam through to boundary.

Turn 19

• Made h3.
• Gets long rush to h4.
• Rush finishes between h4 & h5.
• Takes off to Y in C4.
• Fair croquet stroke to send Y along south boundary, gets 1 yard in front of h4.
• Runs h4 nicley to boundary.
• Send Y to h6 going to R which is perfect pioneer at h5. Stuffed if I know why he didn't go to B first.

• Alan's doing well to confuse me. Makes h5 of R, Roquets south. Loads 3b with R going to B.
• B to 1b going to h6.
• Break is under control with limited chance of TP and reduced chances of DPO.

• Makes 1b off partner.
• Sends B to 4b with thick take off after 1b. B finishes 4 yards short of 4b.
• Makes 2b off Y
• Rushes Y peg high between h1 & h2.
• Big roll to send Y to 4b going to B. K nearly hits h6 and short of B.

• R is nicely at 3b. Good takeoff to it.
• Y is in good peeling position at 4b but its B he wants to peel :-)

Recap

• Y h5, R penult
• B 4b, K going to penult

Turn 19 cont'd

• Alan missed relatively simple hampered shot after penult.

Turn 20

• Stephen has tap on with Y for laid break starting at h5.
• Makes h5.
• Stuffs rush on pivot R. Put R in long penult peeling position.
• K finishes close to h6 leaving it in dificult position to set as escape ball.
• Attempting 2 yard 45 degree penult peel. Fantastic shot. Peel through by 6 inches.
• R & K are close to each other. Y hits K & R. Nice result as it gets R away from penult.

Turn 20 cont'd

• Y makes 2b off K. R near E boundary h4 height. B 2 yards SE of 3b.
• Ignores opportunity of attempting to get rush on R after 3b to rover.
• After 3b croquet R from near E boundary to 2 feet east of rover.

• Big rejection at 4b

Turn 21

• Alan lifts B to north boundary for 2 yard roquet.
• Alan (correctly in my mind) chooses harder turn in attempt to finish game. Rushes K towards rover then sets to peeling position. Plays a couple of reasoable shots but over hits hoop shot and sticks in jaws.

Turn 22

• Stephen hits 7 yarder and he now has opportunity to finish.

• Makes penult with R already near rover.
• Rushes R to 18 inch peeling position
• Very good irish peel
• Good rush to peg

Game 2

Stephen beat Alan +6

Game 3

• K to standard east boundary
• Y to C2
• B hit K, short take off to Y but hit. Y 2 yd SW of peg, good lag to K.
• R hit Y

Turn 4 cont'd

• R taking croquet from Y near peg. Defensively rolls Y to SE H4 going to K & B near E boundary south of H4.
• Rushes B to south boundary.
• Short load to h2 while running into K.
• h4 hinders rolls to h1. Lags back to partner.

Turn 5

• B hits Y centre ball.
• Makes h1 with balls well in from boundary but far from perfect position.
• Backward takeoff to h2 a little long. Runs hoop to boundary.

• Misses return roquet.

Turn 6

• R hits 5 yarder.
• Good rush to h1.

Recap

Same colours throughout match. Alan R & Y, Stephen B & K.

Turn 6 cont'd

• Stephen under good control going to h4.
• Stephen going to 1b under control.

2 hours 7 minutes on clock. 1 hour 42 minutes left in battery. Arm very sore. Which will finish first.

Turn 6 cont'd

• Another tight NSL. K on back of 3b.

Turn 7

• Alan lifts K to C3. Poor shot and finishes 2 yards south of Y.
• Alan now in club house blaming the lawn.

Turn 8

• Y onto K.
• Y rushes R to h2.
• Excellent take off to B.
• Rush to h1 2 yards short.
• Y through h1 to 2 yards north of h2. Why use a reception ball :-)

Turn 8 cont'd

• R to h4. Y doesn't get desired rush on B to K.
• Rushes K to worse than death behind h3.
• Good croquet & hoop shot to make h3.

• Y taking croquet from K near C3. Excellent shot to load h5 with rush on B towards R at h4.
• Takes off from B to R. This leaves B behind h4. Better option was to stop shot B north going to R. He then would be in better position to setup delayed tp.
• Hoop and roquet on R at h4.

Turn 8 cont'd

• The Ice Man has turned on. I think Stephen is unlikely to make a mistake now. Alan will need to hit the list.
• Stephen's going to 2b. Not looking to peel.

• Leave is a loose diagonal spread.

Turn 9

• Alan lifts K from near peg to B baulk.Hits R.
• Rushes Y to B.

• Rush to h1 2 yards short.
• Makes h1 with 4 yard return roquet. Makes it.

Recap

Stephen - Y for peg, R for 4b
Alan: - B for h3, K going to h2 with balls in reasonable control.

Turn 9 cont'd

• Unlucky break for Alan. K turned off short roquet

Turn 10

• Lucky break for Alan. Stephen missed 7 yarder than would have given him game.

Turn 11

• Alan turned on 6 yarder and missed. Stephen has sitter of break to take the match.

Turn 12

• Stephen's made 4b with reasonable load at penult.

• Makes rover.

• Simple 2 yard peg out.

Game 3 - Stephen beat Alan +22.

Match - Stephen beat Alan -5 +6 +22

Congratulations Stephen.

Stephen has now won the Canberra Open 4 times. 2 clear of many contenders.

Finally, Thank you Stephen for the beer. Should help the arm.