Morning all. Welcome to an overcast yet warm day at the NCC.

On lawn 9, we have Greg Fletcher v. Mark Avery.
Avery playing Blue and Black, Fletcher Red and Yellow.
Black to EB, 9y N of C4
Red to duffer position, 4ft E of Penult.
Blue down EB, to 6in West of C4
Greg shoots Yellow from B balk at Red, rushing it to SB between 4 and 5

On lawn 10, we have Samir Patel v. Stephen Morgan
Patel playing Blue and Black, Morgan playing Red and Yellow.
Patel to EB, 11y N of C4,
Red to duffer position - though rather deep - 2y SE of 6
Yellow down at Red from B, also hits, but not as convincingly - rushes to 3y West of peg.
Black down EB to C4 (or very close)

The matches today are Best of 3, untimed games.
Conditions have been slowly speeding up from the rain late last week, and the hoops on most of the lawns have been moved. Should be some more challenging conditions to the ones we've had so far.

Bit dissapointed with what the conditions have been really, given that Superhoops are being used, adn the lawns are pretty good. The hoops have been widening throughout the day, and given the difficulty of resetting Superhoops, and the fact that games have been double banked (meaning that a lawn is rarely completely free) has meant that they haven't been reset as often as could be.. Oh well, can't have everything everytime.

On Lawn 9. Greg has rolled his Red to half way between 4 and EB, croquetted Blue to 2, and failed to get a rush behind black to 1. He has rolled to one, but striker has hit the hoop. now has a slightly hampered retreat to EB. Comes ok, and has a 4y rush to just north of 1. No doubles for Avery.
Avery shoots Black to Blue and misses.

On Lawn 10, very similar things have happened to Stephen Morgan. Now laid up on EB, 2y S of peg with a 3y rush. Blue 5y east of 1, Black up at 2.
Patel shoots Blue at R + Y and hits Y (the back ball). Should be an easy start for him.

Comparing the players - so far this tournament Greg Fletcher has been playing well, both in his single ball strokes and his break play. He's completed basically every peeling turn he's started which bodes well for him if the conditions are anything less that tough. He has lost a couple of games to opponents who have played well, and made a couple of mistakes, but overall looks to be in very good form.
Mark Avery on the other hand hasn't lost any games, but has had more cough-ups from opponents to gime him the game. Over a Best of 5, I'd be tipping Fletcher for consistency, but in a Bo3, anything could happen.,

Speaking of which, Greg has just under approached H1 from 2y to the side, thumps at the hoop and stops 8in dead in front. and easy roquet for mark and he's away, although his h1 was rather angled too...

Patel nearly gets into an awkward position after running h2 to within a few mm of the boundary, leaving himself a 6 y return over rough sandy ground. Copes alright and has just made 3.

On the Patel v. Morgan matchup, Patel is of course the strong favourite given his record of high class play over the years, and is of course very experienced in big events. Having said that, Stephen morgan has been playing well this tournament. While not completing any peeling turns yet, he has certainly shown himself to be a dangerous player, and is more than capable of a good roquet and digging out a break to get going. Watch this space!

Play is proceeding on both Lawns 9 and 10 in a particularly boring fashion, so, a couple of updates on other games within eyesight:

On Lawn 8, we have Ben Rothman v. Jose Riva. Rothman has just made a 9 with a neat looking diagonal spread. Riva picks up the westward ball and shoots down EB, missing to C4. Rothman hasn't been playing his best this week, but the potential is obviously there if he can keep his focus. Lets see what his morning play forebodes...

Lawn 7, we have the master of fluidity James Death, v. Danny Huneycutt, the solid American.
After a bit of interraction at the start, which resulted in a red and a Blue clip both ending up on 2, Death is in with a 4ball break with Red, and is going round nicely.

Back to Lawn 9, Mark Avery is just finishing off a neat 2/4 leave, with both balls within a foot of their respective hoops (neither look open from the near balks), and is setting a 3ft rush to a point 3y N of 1.
Greg has been shooting well, so I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the short shot from A balk. He doesn't, but picks up Yellow (which was at 4) and comes down the EB. Looks like he's going to make Mark work for it early in the day.
Misses to just outside C4.
Avery rushes partner to 1. gets within 1y, and also under approaches. Must be a hill there as they've both done that now. Fails the hoop, and Greg shoots Red from 2 to the balls at 1.

Patel has set an even neeter 2/4, putting each ball within 2in from each hoop, but still with a rush to 1 with the 4 ball if it's left. Not so with the 2 ball.
Morgan picks up the 4 ball and is taking the short shot at Patel from A balk.
Also misses. Should be a tp for Patel, but we'll see.

p.s. my interet is dropping in and out, so apologies if there are gaps...

Updates: everyone who I said was in a moment ago, is now out.
Greg Fletcher hit from 2 to 1 and is now 3 balling it around very happily.

Samir Patel did an attrocious rush from the EB to 1 and didn't get position. Retreated to C4. There have been a couple of shots to and fro since then, both players trying to hit, but Samir is now in with a 1ft roquet on EB near C4. Red is still hard up against 2, and yellow is up at 3 and will be rushed to 1

Huneycutt his Death's leave, and is now in a 4ball break around.

Rothman seems to have decided to stop after 2 hoops and to let Riva have a go, which he is now doing, presently approaching 5 with a 4ball break.

Lawn 10, Petel fails to get a rush to 1, but rushes to 2, cannon's Red off the leg with Yellow, and rushes to 1. Very nice.

Further afield, Sam Murray is playing Gavin Carter on Lawn 11, Sam has played out of his skin all tournament and seems to be doing so again. He has 1 ball (red) around to 4back, and is on his way to 3back with his Yellow. Gavin has made 1 hoop.

Thankyou Stephen Morgan for rescuing my internet. Hotspot is a great thing

Lawn 9, Greg Fletcehr set a loose 2/4 (the 4 ball being about 5y SW of 2) and Mark Avery picked up the 2 ball (his h1 ball) and took the short shot from a balk. Missed. Greg now rushing to 1.

Lawn 10, Patel on a nice tp seems to have come to a stop in the middle of penult. Calls referee to check if the ball jammed... 2 peels done, so he will be hoping it's a jam.
Referee rules no. Stephen Morgan has a 2y roquet at the ball in penult, which he hits, popos it to 2, and goes to the t balls sitting at rover. tally ho!

From looking around the grounds, the hoops seem to be putting up very little resistence to the players and their breaks. I.e. they're all either doing excellent hoop shots, or the hoops are easy. You pick.

Lawn 6, Stephen forster has just taken game one off Jeff Soo. Bother have been playing consistently this tournament, but in these conditions, Forster should have a higher % of peeling completion, so unless Jeff can hit a few good roquets, that looks glum for him.
Lawn 7. Death hit Huneycutt's leave, and is now tripling. Seems to be irish peeling rover from 1y.

Lawn 11. Sam Murray has managed to keep his opponent to 1 hoop, and is now making the final 3 to take Game 1.

Back on 7, Death has irished Rover, but seems to have only just passed the plain of the playing side of the hoop with the striker, and is still in the jaws. Has a 5y angled roquet, through the hoop to proceed with dignity.

I stand corrected. He had an 8 y shot at his partner, and missed. So, to balls near SB and Huneycutt can do what he likes. Let's see if he fares any better with his tp.

Lawn 9. Greg Fletcher is up to 3 and has everything set for an on time tp. I suspect that will be good night Mark for Game 1...
Murray takes Game 1 off G Carter. 26-1
Huneycutt going round. State of play is 4back and break, v. Death, Peg and Peg.
Stephen morgan going round. 1 and break, v. Patel Penult and Rover.
Rothman going round. peg and break v. Riva 2 and 4back.

All as was. Standard. Stephen Morgan is still going round, and looks like doing a diagonal spread. I will be keen to see if he seriously attempts to peel if Patel misses. I'm yet to see what he's like as a peeler, as he's only tried a couple this tournament and hasn't had success. However, givne the conditions, today should be a perfect opportunity to prove his worth in that department.

Huneycutt still going round, Fletcher still peeling, Rothman still going round. Looks liky Dwayne McCormick has taken game 1 off Chris Williams. 26-9, not sure if it was a tp, but again given the conditions probably.

Dwayne is another player whose skills suit these lawns. He's a good roquetter, but can twitch a bit at long or angled hoops, which means that if they get harder, he won't have the advantage his roquetting gives him.

Lawn 10. Stephen Morgan does a nice diagonal, setting up with Black (penult) 1ft ESE of peg, and Blue (rover), 6y S and 3 W of 2 Patel is thinking... Good to see.

Rothman takes Game 1 off Riva, 26-10.

Down on Lawn 7, Huneycutt seems to have done 2 peels, but have just snuck through hoop 8 (2 back for those of you who can't count past 6), and is shooting through the hoop at receiver, much as Death did before, only 7y shorter. Hits

Lawn 10. Patel picks up Blue from h.2 and takes the short shot from A balk at R + Y on EB. Misses.

Lawn 8. Riva does a supershot with Black to start. Putting it abotu 3y North and 2 west of 5. Rothman dribbles at it with Red from C1, and misses to 3yN and 2 E of peg. An angly opening. Riva shooting at red from end of B balk, hard. Misses to 4y West of C4. 9 or 10 yarder for Rothman to get going.

Clapping from the distence. Sounds like someone does something well. Can't see what it is, and don't have access to fottage form Sherif's drone, which I have seen hovering over that part of the complex. He at least seems to be enjoying being a spectator!

Rothman misses 10 yarder. Looks like Riva will get the jump in Game 2.

Lawn 10. Morgan has made h.1, croquet oppo black to 4y S of 3, and rushes oppo blue to EB level with 3. Red is 3y SE of 2, so will have to be some good play to get an on time tp.
Lawn 9. Fletcher has done his 3 peels and is 4 balling it around. Angly hoop 9 (3 back), and fails the hoop. Possibly swears. Definitely looks unhappy, unquestionably a poor hoop approach.

Avery hasn't got it easy thouugh, since Black is his h.1 ball, and is sitting up at 4back. Nothing shorter than a 9y lift. Blue, which was the 3back pioneer, is wired from Yellow (the 3back ball), but has a 5yer on Red mid lawn to get in, which he takes and hits. Croquetts Red to Penult, going to black at 4back, and will be going to peg to take Red off.

Stephen Morgan has made 3, but no peel. Leaves Red up there and carries on with Blue and Black. Will probably attempt to peel before 6.

Lawn 7, Huneycutt completes an easy tp to beat Death 26tp-24. Interesting.

Lawn 9, Avery looks like he's thinking hard - abotu leaving Fletcher's Yellow ball in front of h9. It's less than a ball width out, and on about a 30 degree angle. Decides to shift it.
Lawn 10. Stephen Morgan fails h.5, with Samir's penult ball as receiver. The other 2, Stephen's 4back ball and Samir's Rover one, are 4ft apart up at 4back

Patel is doing a lot of thinking. Not sure why it's taking him so long to decided to play penult ball, rush partner to N boundary and croquet it to rover, getting a rush on oppo to penult, peel rover and finish. Not confident of doing 1 peel?

Lawn 9, Avery, after rover, croquetts Fletcher's Yellow to EB, and then attempts to rush his partner to WB, then take off back to peg and take Red off. However, partner only makes it 1y, when h5 brutally interposes itself between the moving ball and it's destination.

Rolls both balls up to C2, setting an odd looking rush across the corner, leaving Red very much on the lawn but 2y from peg. Fletcher picks up Yellow and takes it to B balk. Will be taking the short shot at Black which is a couple of feet E of C2.

Lawn 10, Patel decides that 2 hoops and 1 peel is beyond a player of his caliber and plays his rover ball! I despise such negative play. Hope he gets punished for it.

Lawn 9. Greg Fletcher middles black. Should be no problem to get a 3 ball break going with a ball sitting in the middle of the lawn.

Lawn 10, Patel makes rover and sets up on SB with a rush towards Rover. Yellow is wired from him, just North of 4, Red is by H2. Yellow plays at red and just misses. Patel has 2 hoops to finish.

Lawn 9, Fletcher comes through h.9 and is every so slightly hampered, and has a 5y roquet. Misses... Yellow (4back( is now on EB, 2y north of peg. Red (peg), 5yNNE of 4. Blue (peg) 3y SW of 3. Black (h1) is 1y of WB, just north of 2. Blue fires at Black and Misses. Yellow fires at Red and hits. again.

On other lawns, Riva has made 9 in Game 2 against Rothman, Rothman missed lift and Riva has just failed 3 on a 3ball break.
Patel seems to be finishing just fine, which looks like a 26-13 win in G1 over Morgan.
Huneycutt v. Death - some tos and fros, no score yet, but Death shooting from 1 to 2 and misses. Huneycutt laid up in C3.
G. Carter has made 9 and is now approaching 2 in Game 2 v. Murray, who hasn't scored this game yet. Long roll approach, leaves himselv a 2y, 20 degree angled hoop, which he sneaks through, and will be hampered.
Mulliner in and starting an on time tp against C. Carter in G2
Openshow in against Hopgood, can't see the clips form here.
McCormick in v. Williams. Williams has made 9, and McCormick is on break 1 with an angled hoop 2. Makes it just fine.
Forster has beaten Soo in 2, both games 26tp-0

Fletcher pegs out to win Game 1, 26-12.
Patel does the same to win 26-14
I'm off for a snack. Stay tuned.

Fletcher v. Avery GAME 2.

Fletcher Supershot with Black
Avery dribbles at Black with Red, misses to standard duffer position, although about 3y E.
Fletcher hard from B balk with Blue at Red. Misses to 3y west of C4
Avery makes double from A balk with Yellow Misses to NB between h3 and C3
Fletcher plays black from mid-lawn at blue. Misses.
Avery plays Red from near 6 at yellow. Misses.
Both players now joined up.
Fletcher rushes Blue to 1, makes 1 and is hampered. Ref called.

Morgan v. Patel GAME 2.

Various bits of interraction at the start, the most recent one of which was Stephen Morgan taking off from EB level with 3, to Patel's 2 balls down near C4. Takes off out. no score there either.

Fletcher misses hampered stroke after 1. Should be an easy start form Avery, having a rush along the NB, and 2 balls a few yards N of 1.

Rothman v. Riva game 2, Riva has made 9 and 2, Rothman I think something similar.

Back to Patel and Morgan. Patel has decided that he can't get going with blue or black, so has had a go at playing yellow instead. Didn't get very far. Nice try though.

Fortunately for him, both players agree that no illegal stroke had yet been played, so he proceeds with blue. Still a long way to hoop one.
Yellow, which has been used, is 4y NW of 4, Black, also used, is now 4y S of 2. Red is sitting about 2y north of 6, and Blue has a 2.5 yard rush on it directly west. Doesn't take the rush - funny that - and merely roquetts it and croquetts it to just out of C1. Didn't even try to roll for position at h.1. Not sure about this guy. Lays up next to partner at h.2, leaving Morgan a through-shot with either of his balls,

Avery going around happily and approaching 5 with 4 balls under controll.

Down on Lawn 7, Death seems to have missed a 1y something, leaving Huneycutt's Black down by h.1 withh Red 1y away, and Yellow now on WB level with h.2, having made 6 hoops. Blue near C1.
What I suspect happend is that Death, having crosswired Huneycutt at 1, was cut-rushing up lawn with partner to set for a sextuple, or NZ tpo (Huneycutt's black having made 9), and missed the cut.
Huneycutt plays black onto red and will be setting a leave.

Still no score on Lawn 10. Patel is setting leaves, and Morgan missing long roquetts. Fun fun.

Another miss from Stephen. He is now together just N of C4. Patel with a 3y rush poinging in lawn from C2.

2 new matches have started,
Simon Jenkins v. Jeff Dawson on Lawn 6 - Jenkins is in and heading for 3.
David Maloof v. David Walters on Lawn 5. Maloof in and for 2.

Lawn 9. Avery sets loose 2/4, Fletcher picks up the 4 ball and comes down EB. Hits the Boundary ball.

Lawn 10. Patel seems to have missed a 5y roquet atMorgan's balls in C4. Stephen trying for a cannon.

Lawn 8, Rothman seems to have done 2 peels, and is currently approaching h8. Partner is sitting 1y in front of Rover, but the 3back load is 6y NW of its hoop. Won't be peeling on the way to 3back.

Lawn 10. Stephen morgan makes H1 and we have our first score in Game 2. All the balls are in lawn and it should be plain sailing for his first break.

Lawn 8. Huneycutt set a leave, Death Missed, adn Huneycutt is now approaching H1 from 7y E for his second break. Good approach, makes H1 and has an on time tp to finish..

Up on Lawn 9, the hill around H1 is making itself known again, having just sprung up to spoil another of Greg Fletcher's h1 approaches. 45 degrees +, 6in out. I think he'll be retreating. Oppo red (for 4 back) is 7y S of 2, and Yellow is about 5y S of 4. Greg sends Blue of WB level with 1, covering a shot from yellow.

Avery shoots Red from 2 to 1 at Black. Hits. Nearly hits me too. Villainous Poms!

Lawn 8, Rothman seems to have come unstuck. His Red clip is now on Penult (I guess he missed a short shot mid lawn), and red ball on B Balk, and his Yellow partner is still stitting 18in in front of its hoop - rover. Riva is on 3 and 4back, so should have a good chance at finishing. An on time tp shouldn't be that difficult to get organized from here.

Avery sets leave in C4, putting Greg's H1 ball 2y East of 3, and his H2 ball 10y NNW of 1. Greg shoots Black (the one down nearest 1) at Blue. Hits. This is getting monotonous.

Lawn 8, Riva is attempting 1st peel on time, longish, but with these hoops he's got a good chance of at least jawsing it.
Peels.

A comment on the Superhoops in comparison to Atkins Quadways: while both are made from similar material, and each have bastly different leg construction, the biggest difference I have found is with the rebound factor. The quadways have thinner shafts (which may well make them springier) and seem to have far more bounce back from poorly hit hoops or peels, whereas with the Superhoops, there seems to be a deader quality to the result of a misjudged hoop. I.e, you're more likely to jaws a peel or hoop attempt with the Superhoops than with the Quadways, which seem to spit the balls back and out at angles more often..

Lawn 10, Stephen Morgan is setting a diagonal spread.
Lawn 9, Greg Fletcher has just made H2 and it will be interesting to see what he does. My guess is an NZ tpo, (crosswiring oppo at 1 after 6 hoops then tpoing with the 2nd ball and pegging both off with a 6+ hoop advantage), but that's just a guess.
Lawn 8. Riva approaching 6 with 1 peel done.
Lawn 11. G. Carter has taken Game 2 and Game 3 has started. Carter to EB, standard position. Murrray down EB to just W of C4, Carter to C2. Murray makes a double down EB and ... hits Carter's ball, rushing it staight into C4. Disjointed cann potential to get to 1?
Lawn 5, Maloof looks like he's on break to 4back

Lawn 8. Huneycutt fails h7 with 1 peel done. Failed it with his partner ball as receiver and looks like the hoop is runnable. Death's h.1 ball is about 8 or 9 y N of 1, and his 1back ball is about 3y SE of 6. Choice of 11 to 13 yarders for either ball as is, or 9y lift at ball sitting just in front of 1back. Death looks like he's going for lunch instead of taking the shot. Fair enough.

Lawn 10. Patel misses lift, Morgan crashes h1. Patel shoots from 5y south of 2 at Morgan's h1 receiver - only about a 10 or 11 yard shot, misses to SB. Yellow is jawsed in 1 so Stephen should be able to run it and rush to 2, or rush back to Samir on SB. Takes the latter option.

Lawn 8. Riva approaching 4back with 2 peels done, under controll. Should be 1 game all soon.
Lawn 12. Williams has equalized with McCormick, 26tp-9

Lawn 10, Morgan rushes to SB, and attempts to rush Patel's ball along towards C4. Not sure whethe rhe meant to make the distance, but if so, stopped wofully short (7y), although it was a straight rush. Croquets Patel's black to halfway between 1 and 2, going to Blue near C4. Croquetts Blue to H2 and retreats to his own ball near C1

Lawn 9. Fletcher going for 6. both his partner and oppo are at h1, so I suspect my prediciton may be accurate. See above (quite a way).

Lawn 10. Patel shoots from 2 at Morgan's balls near C1. Misses. Good chance to get a break going for Stephen now.
Lawn 8. Riva has a 6y pegout to finish Game 2. Does so. 26tp- 21. Match equalized.
Lawn 9. Fletcher has crosswired Avery at h1 and is rushing partner up towards C3 for his leave. Score update: Avery (Y + R) on 1 and 4 back, Fletcher (BL + BK) 1 and 1 back.
Lawn 11. 2 hoops only scored - by Sam Murray. Carter having a shot at h1. grovells through. Laid break ahead.

Lawn 9. Avery shoots with his h1 ball (obviously) and misses. 1 NZtpo coming up.
Lawn 5. Walters is in. Not sure what happened to Maloof, but ther eseems to be a dark clip on 3. Anyway, Walters is approaching h4.
Lawn 7, Death v. Huneycutt are still lunching.

Lawn 9: Greg fletcher is still on his tpo, having done 1 peel and is approaching 5.
Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan abbandoned his peeling attempts after not getting position before 6, and is taking his back ball to the peg. A good safe option if he's not completely confident with continual attempts at a delayed tp. Patel is still on 1 and 1 after all.
Lawn 5. Maloof is on 4back and break, and I just saw him do a brilliant roquet after h4, deliberately shooting striker into the leg and bouncing it back onto receiver for the roquet. The stroke was completely hampered otherwise and he couldn't see any other ball. Good effort.
Lawn 8. Riva is on break 1 in Gamd 3 v. Rothman
Lawn 12. Williams and McCormick have also started Gamd 3.Willimas is on break 1 with Red.
Lawn 4. Hopgood has taken the 2nd to win in 2 over Openshaw.

Lawn 1, Bamford defeats Beard in 2, meaning that Essick v. Trimmer can now start.
I haven't seen Essick play mutch but it certainly sounds like he has potential to be U.S. no.1 in a few years if he keeps improving. Pete Trimmer started the tournament slowly but has put in some good solid croquet since. Should be a good match. I might go and watch that one after one or both of the Lawn 9 & 10 matches are finished.

Lawn 7, Death took the short lift short at Huneycutt and missed. Huneycutt now continuing around. He has a 6y sideways hoop approach for 2back, and even if he gets it, his partner (which he's left up between h2 and WB is still for penult, so 2 peels to do, so it's not a gimmie finish. Fails 2back conceeding a lift. Y (for 1 back) just of SB and R (for 1)over at H4. Death picks up Red and will probably be sextupling.
Lawn 8. Riva dribbles through 2back and can't hit receiver so hits the 3back pioneer instead. Takes off back to 2back pioneer and rushes it perfectly to 3back. all good.
Lawn 9. Fletcher has finished his peels andis approaching 3back which is where he came unstuck last time. Under approaches it again, but nowhere neer as much. Makes the hoop comfortably.
Lawn 10: Patel misses leave. Morgan has 3 hoops to go to take a 26-0 victory - one of the biggest game wins in his career so far I suspect.
Lawn 11: Carter has made 9, Murray is in and approaching 5
Lawn 12: Williams still in, approaching 7.

Lawn 10: Stephen Morgan's rush to 4back is a bit short, about 5y south of the hoop. He rolls up to 2ft position and runs the hoop, but not by more than 6in. Receiver is pretty much dead straight infront but 3.5y away...

Ref is called and Stephen Morgan seems to want the shot filmed for its faultyness. Referee agrees and goes in search of one of his colleguesf to help in this technologically advanced enterprise. Never seen this before.

Samir Patel looks a little quizzical at the whole thing, but offers no complaints. Tournament Referee Stephen Howes (who has been doing a good job) is approaching. Quite a party on the lawn now. Slow mo video is a great idea, but may be impractical at a club level for every hampered shot - especially during timed games.

While they're debating, on lawn 7, Death is doing some peels, but how many? is he peeling oppo too?

Lawn 8, Riva fails 1 on break 2, not sure what Rothman does but it seems to have been ineffectual, as Riva is back in and going around.

Lawn 10, debate over slow motion revereeing still going on. Both players and referees have disperesed, probably to consult with various authorities over "clarification" of something or other.

Lawn 9. Greg Fletcher does a tpo, taking himself off as well. Leaves Avery's yellow near EB and his partner in 1back.
Avery takes croquet from the H2 side of 1back, putting Greg out about 5yNNW of hoop. Tries to take position at one with continuation stroke, hits h1.
Fletcher now taking position at 1back. goes too far... Avery position at 1. Hill there agaain takes it aside a bit.
I'm needed in videoing. Back soon.

So, the rulebook was brought out and both ref and oppo agreed to film. I assisted in said operation, but since the ref. called a clean storke, and it was a clean roquet, the footage was not needed. Lets hope I filmed it ok anyway :s

Back on Lawn 9. After Avery took position at 1, Fletcher took position at 1back. Avery hit through 1 stright and got a 2ball break going. Under approached 5 and hit at the hoop in a very unconvincign fashion, hittingn the outside of the near leg and leaving hsi ball 2y NNE of 5, and oppo 6y north of that. Fletcher misses the 6 yarder, only managing to hit the water cabinet, causing enough vibrations to send a cup of water off the nearby table onto the floor and all over me. That's actually quite pleasant in these hot humid conditions.
Avery hits 11y shot at Fletcher on SB and again pulls up short of H5. Better position though and makes the hoop by a foot. Hampered at Black by the peg.