Good morning from Surbiton.
It is raining.

Not heavy rain, but annoying. It was dry when I emerged around 9 this morning. Forecast suggests rain til around 3pm.

Semi-Finals Day

Robert Fulford v Harry Fisher

Paddy Chapman v Reg Bamford

As per, I spent a few minutes rootling around Statto's site last night.
Chapman has the best record v Bamford of anyone.
Three matches played, three won.
2008 NZ Open Y semi-final Chapman won 2-0
2013 World Championship semi-final (Surbiton): Chapman won 3-1 (2 TPs from Chapman, a rare TPO from Bamford)
And the 2018 World Championship final(Kelburn, Wellington, NZ) Chapman won 3-2 in a five TP match.

In fact only 8 players have a better win game percentage v Bamford than Chapman's 8/11:
Michael Taylor has 3/4.
And seven players have won their one and only game v Bamford.
I encourage you to guess their names - no cheating!
In fact of Reg's 306 opponents, only 16 have a better than 50% record against him.
And he may well have to beat two of them today and tomorrow to take the title.

Fulford and Fisher have played one game.
East Midlands Championship 2013 (Nottingham)
Fulford won with a TP.

OK it's 10am we should be starting.
Fulford and Fisher are practising on lawn 2.
Chapman and Bamford on lawn 4.

Lawns were mown this morning, new hoop holes too.

Conditions very different from 2019, as you will have inferred from the proliferation of letters in the scores.
One player described the hoops here as the easiest he has encountered in the Opens.
I'm sure this is not a criticism of the hoop-setters, just a reflection of this summer's weather.

This will be the first Super-Advanced game between Chapman and Bamford.

There's a rumour that one of the semi-finalists has a ticket for the football tomorrow.

Feel free to email and/or text me with any queries or clarifications.
Usual address / number, I'm in the CA Directory if you don't know.

L2G1T1 Fulford Black 9yN of IV
L2G1T2 Fisher Yellow just S of II

Yes I'm going to try to do lawn 2 in italics, to make it easier for you to distinguish.
I shall forget to do this many times.

L2G1T3 Fulford Blue misses Black from A-baulk. Replaced 1y N of Black.

L4G1T1 Bamford Red 9yN of IV
L4G1T2 Chapman Black 6"N of IV
L4G1T3 Bamford Yellow at Red from A-baulk. Hits

L2G1T4 Fisher Red misses Black and Blue from B-baulk

L2G1T5 Fulford Blue taps Black, rushes Red near Yellow, Yellow 6y WNW of 1.
Good approach, but fails short angled hoop.

L4G1T3 Bamford Yellow takes off to Black. "I think it's on." He has a rush.
Yellow makes 1 with rush back to 4th corner.

L2G1T6 Fisher is 7 yards from Blue, but cannot see much of it at all. Hits western wire, goes off just out of 1st corner.

L4G1T3 Bamford is thru 2, almost has a break.

L2G1T7 Fulford Blue runs 1 to N bdry. Roquets Red. Tries to approach 2 from W bdry, short. Back to mother.

L4G1T3 Bamford taking off to 3 from 6 or 7y North. Hits hoop, no good.

Patel v Death starting on lawn 3. Strong Plate this year. Indeed, all 6 members of the last GB Mac team played this week, only one (Mulliner) was too good for the Plate.

Bamford thinking.
Fisher thinking.

L2G1T8 Fisher Yellow misses Blue (27y).

Bamford retired to 4th corner.
L4G1T4 Chapman Blue misses Red / Black target from A-baulk.

L2G1T9 Fulford Blue thru 2 with a break.

L4G1T5 Bamford Red hits Yellow (~13y).

L4G1T5 Bamford Red takes off to Black, rushes it close to Blue (which is just out of 3rd corner.)

L2G1T9 Fulford Blue thru 5. I'm guessing he tried a POP of Red, but it didn't work out.
There is a 1-back pioneer.

L4G1T5 Bamford Red not making any hoops. My expert points out you don't want clips of 3 & anywhere.

L2G1T9 Fulford Blue has made 1-back and tucked Black to (just out of) 2nd corner.
Will it be 8 or 9 hoops?

L4G1T6 Chapman has 30+yarder. Misses.

Fulford's Blue ball is in 3rd corner. The Blue clip is on 3-back.

L2G1T10 Fisher's Red and Yellow seem both to be on the E bdry.
He ignores contact, tries to cut Red, snicks it, rolls to 1, fails optimistic hoop.

L4G1T7 Bamford making progress with Yellow.

Sorry first mistake of the day. Fisher did take contact from Blue, took off to partner.

L2G1T11 Fulford Black misses Blue.

L2G1T12 Fisher Yellow has 5y "rush" on Red. Hits it hard, wanting to get it near N bdry. Misses entirely.

Fulford should be able to set up standard sextuple from here. (ie First peel after (or before) 2.)

Second mistake of the day. Fulford is on a quadruple.

Fulford should be able to set up standard quadruple from here.

L4G1T7 Bamford Yellow's clip is on 1-back. Standard spread. Can't see E bdry from here, but it'll be a rush for Red.

Please renumber my mistakes. L4G1T3 Bamford was approaching 3 from the South, not the North.
Thanks to Rob E-W for pointing that out.

L4G1T8 Chapman lifts Black, shoots at Blue (by the peg) from A-baulk, missing to B-baulk.

It was the England Mac team, not GB. I'm not counting that as a mistake.

_L2G2T13 Fulford Black peels Blue well thru 3-back after 4.

L2G2T13 Fulford Black peels Blue well thru 3-back after 4.

My first italic mistake.

L2G2T13 Fulford Black peels Blue thru 4-back before 6.

L4G1T9 Bamford Red peels Yellow thru 1-back after 2.

This will be Chapman's last UK tournament for a while. He will be moving back to New Zealand next month.

L4G1T9 Bamford Red jawses Yellow in 2-back before 4.

L2G2T13 Fulford Black is making 2-back off Blue.

Bamford calls for an umpire as he rush-peels Yellow from around 8'.

L2G2T13 Fulford Black jawses Blue in penult before 4-back.

Bamford making 6 with two peels of sextuple done.

Fulford needs straight rover peel to win game 1.

Fulford wins game 1 +26qp.

Bamford Red peels Yellow thru 3-back, finishing 6y shy of 1-back pioneer. Copes.

Samir Patel beats Death +26 sxp

L2G2T1 Fisher Black 10y N of IV
L2G2T2 Fulford Red just S of II

Bamford's 3-back pioneer was at 4-back, natch, but insufficiently North, which lengthened the peel attempt.
Yellow hits 4-back, can't tell from here if it will rush-peel.

L2G2T3 Fisher Blue hits Black, takes off to Red, rolls Red to 5y W of peg. leaves rush for Black.

I completely misinterpreted Bamford's position.
He was able to peel Yellow thru 4-back before 3-back.
BUT he Christed off the 3-back pioneer.
So he has to approach 3-back from beside 4-back.
Four yard hoop...

Bamford fails 3-back.

L2G2T4 Fulford Yellow misses Red from B-baulk, ending up in or near 1st corner.

L2G2T5 Fisher Black rushes Blue into lawn, rushes Yellow into Red. Has he a corner cannon? No.

Sorry, it WAS a cannon. Doesn't play it too well, but Fisher's thru 1 with all the balls.

Chapman approaching 1 from 5y W. Longish hoop. Runs it by 1'. Ref is on. Snicks hampered 4-yarder.

L4G1T10 Chapman Blue has break. Oppo's clips are 3-back and penult. What to do?

Chapman aiming for a POP of Red thru 3-back, to make Bamford's potential finish more difficult.

L2G2T5 Fisher Black is making 1-back.

L4G1T10 Chapman Blue POPs Red thru 3-back before 4.

L2G2T5 Fisher Black has made 9. Blue is maybe 5y S of 2nd corner. Red 3y N of 4th corner. Yellow is 1y W of 4th corner. Black into 3rd corner.

Rob E-W is on the case again

L2G2T5 Fisher Black rushes Blue into lawn, rushes RED into YELLOW. Has he a corner cannon? YES.

L4G1T10 Chapman Blue has made 6. Spread with Yellow at the peg, Red nr W bdry.

Clips Bamford Red 4-back, Yellow penult; Chapman Black 1 Blue 1-back.

L2G2T6 Fulford Red takes croquet from Black, takes off to Yellow, no rush. Has leave near 4th corner.

L4G1T11 Bamford Yellow shoots at Black and Blue, unsure whence. Misses to near oppo's balls.

L2G2T7 Fisher Blue shoots at Black (25y). Hits!

L4G1T12 Chapman's hoop 1 is longer than it should be - 5 or 6', angled. Runs it well.

L4G1T12 Chapman Black playing big croquet stroke from E bdry going to Blue nr 2. Hits 6, snicks 4-yarder. Good little approach. May get posi for 1-back peel after 2...

L2G2T7 Fisher Blue has made 1, is taking off to Black from 5y for a rush to 2. Bit long, good cut required. Fair effort, to 5yS of 2.

Chapman's got the first peel of his sextuple.

Fisher is thru hoop 2.

Rob E-W asked about the Plate format (Draw & Process).
Those who do not qualify for the knock-out have 2 lives.
Those who qualify but don't reach quarter-finals have just one life.

It's stopped raining. I'm tempted to move my commentary position outside Mangler's tent. Which will make it start raining again.
Better view of lawn 4 now. Chapman lining up 2-back peel before 5.

L2G2T7 Fisher Blue is setting up delayed triple.

L2G2T7 Fisher Blue has long (4y) peel attempt of 4-back before 6. Ball hits hoop. It is not in the jaws, but is rush-peelable, says my runner.

L2G2T7 Fisher Blue does not manage to rush-peel 4-back before 1-back, jawses it in the croquet stroke.

Martin Murray presents me with glass of bubbly. It's his birthday. His sweater is 58 years old.
As everyone knows, it's also Dave Kibble's birthday.

Distracted there, but it seems plausible that Chapman peeled Blue thru 3-back before 1-back.

Finally Fisher's Black is thru 4-back.

Fisher will need straight double peel to finish this turn.

Chapman rolling up to 2-back from 4y. Copes. Red is v close to 4-back, but it will rush to 3-back. My runner isn't sure he can get peel and rush.

Fisher peels penult, peelee finishing peg-high.

Chapman tries to move Red after 2-back, but fails.

Fisher's rover peel is from 8'. Black sticks in front of rover. Quickly Fisher attempts the (half-?)jump. Black goes thru, Blue does not.

Chapman tries to move Red after 2-back, but fails.

Fisher's rover peel is from 8'. Black sticks in front of rover. Quickly Fisher attempts the (half-?)jump. Black goes thru, Blue does not.

Chapman needs a straight triple peel to complete sextuple.

Sorry for repeated comment, don't think that was my fault.

Chapman gets 4-back peel.

Fulford decides to POP Blue thru rover, picks up break.

Good bombard from Chapman.

Chapman's penult peel goes well so far as peelee is concerned, but Black has run the hoop. Very hampered on Red, may be able to see Yellow by 4-back.

Chapman's got the ref on.

This looks difficult.

Chapman looks at two kinds of sweep.
At last he tries to hit Red off the east wire of penult.
Clean shot, no roquet.

Clips: Chapman rover & rover; Bamford Red 4-back, Yellow penult.

Bamford may well try to finish here.

Bamford elects to play Yellow.
Two hoops and a powerful leave in store.

L2G2T8 Fulford Yellow has made 6 hoops. Black and Blue tightly cross-pegged, Red with a rush to them from the W bdry.

Clips: Fulford Red 1, Yellow 1-back; Fisher peg & peg.

L2G2T9 Fisher lifts Blue to B-baulk. Shoots at Red (17y). He cannot believe it's missed.

L4G1T13 Bamford Yellow has made 2 hoops. Blue and Black are cross-wired at 4-back. Red with a rush on Yellow from near 1st corner.

L4G1T14 Chapman Blue misses Yellow (30y).

L2G2T10 Fulford gets first peel of sextuple after 2.

L4G1T15 Bamford has trivial finish.

Bamford wins game 1 +4

L2G2T10 Fulford Red peels Yellow thru 2-back before 4.

L2G2T10 Fulford Red jawses Yellow in 3-back before 6.

All 4 balls are around 4-back.
Red is for 2-back.

looks like Yellow is thru 4-back.

Lawn 4 is lunching, as indeed am I. Surbiton hospitality excellent as ever.

L2G2T10 Fulford Red peels Yellow thru penult before 4-back.

Fulford wins game 2 +2sxp, leads Fisher 2-0.

L4G2T1 Chapman Black misses hoop 5. Oppo requests he place it in baulk. Chapman places it at end of B-baulk.

L4G2T2 Bamford Red rushes Black 9y westward. Red goes just W of 4th corner.

L4G2T3 Chapman Blue hits Black.

L4G2T3 Chapman Blue takes off to Red, Big roll to hoop 1. 4 yard hoop....

... rejected.

L4G2T4 Bamford Yellow hits Blue (5y).

L4G2T4 Bamford Yellow has picked up break. Six hoops and a spread no doubt.

Lawn 2 is lunching.

Chris Clarke asks when was the last time that the Opens semis did not contain a current member of the England/GB Mac team?
In fairness, Fulford would be in if available, and Fisher may be in the next one.
Which will be in November 2022 in Melbourne I think. The England team will be selected at the end of this season.

Guess what, Bamford made 6 hoops and has a spread.

L4G2T5 Chapman lifts Black from by the peg to B-baulk, is shooting at Blue (nr W bdry). The exoerts are confused by this shot choice.
Chapman hits!

L4G2T5 Chapman Black picks up break.

L2G3T1 Fulford Black 9y N of IV
L2G3T2 Fisher Yellow just S of II

L2G3T3 Fulford Blue hits Black from A-baulk._
Takes off to Yellow. 5 or 6y short. Waits for player on lawn 3 to vacate third corner. Hits Yellow.

Chapman looking to POP Red

Sorry, premature de-italicization.
That's not a word, is it?

L2G3T3 I think Yellow must have careened into hoop 2. It's now 4' E of hoop 2.

L2G3T4 Fisher Red hits Yellow (9y). Blue and Black 10y apart on E bdry.

L2G3T4 Fisher Red takes off to Black, does well to cut it within a yard of Blue.

Chapman was unable to achieve spread, so I think we could call this an OSL.

Clips: Chapman Blue 1, Black 1-back; Bamford Red 2, Yellow 1-back.

L2G3T4 Fisher Red has reached 3, not in full control just yet.

L4G2T6 Bamford lifts Red to A-baulk. Shooting at Blue (13y)...

Bamford misses!

L2G3T4 Fisher Red now has 4-ball break.

L4G2T7 Chapman Blue is thru 1.

Fisher making 1-back

L2G3T4 Fisher Red makes 9. Usual contact leave.

L4G2T7 Chapman Blue peels black thru 1-back after 2.

L2G3T5 Fulford Black nudges Red out of 3rd corner, takes off to Yellow, which is 2 or 3y S of 2nd corner. Good shot, 1' shy of yardline. Very good cut to hoop1.
(Yellow was not in the corner because Red caught an unexpected amount of wire at 1-back.)

L4G2T7 Chapman Blue peels Black thru 2-back before 5.
Chapman misapproaches 5! Looks tricky... nice jump!
The break survives.

L2G3T5 Fulford Black has made 2. TPO?

L2G3T5 Fulford Black tries to peel Red thru 4-back after 3, parks it on west wire.

Chapman fails to get position to try 3-back peel before 1-back.

Fulford has given up on TPO.

Chapman's 2-back pioneer is 2y S of hoop. Not ideal when you want to peel 3-back going to it.

Suter has just removd the blockage in the Plate, beating Nunns +26qp.

Chapman managed the 3-back peel before 2-back, so will need straight triple to complete sextuple.

L2G3T5 Fulford Black has made 6. Yellow is 5y N of 4, maybe a bit East of that. Red is on west wire of 2. Blue / Black nr W bdry, 12y S of 2nd corner. Blue has rush pointing NNE.

Chapman has ref on. He seems to have peeled Black thru 4-back by 18", Blue has also run hoop. Easy to hit Black, but of course he wants to hit Red. Does so.

L2G3T6 Fisher lifts Yellow to B-baulk, shooting at Black and/or Blue. Another close miss, he would have us believe.

More bombardment by Chapman gets peelee most of the way to penult. Nice irish peel of penult.

L2G3T7 Fulford Blue lining up 1-back peel as the second stroke of his turn. Ambitious, but jawsing would be good. No, it bounces off 1y E of hoop.

Another good irish peel from Chapman.

Chapman wins game 2 +19sxp, 1-1 v Bamford.

L2G3T7 Fulford Blue peels Black thru 1-back before 2.

L3G3T1 Bamford Red 10y N of IV
L3G3T2 Chapman Black 10y W of B-baulk, and in a bit presumably.
I vote this is called a northern tice.

L3? where's that come from??

L4G3T3 Bamford Yellow at Red from A-baulk. Misses.

L2G3T7 Fulford Blue peels Black thru 2-back before 4.

L4G3T4 Chapman Blue hits Black (10y).

L2G3T7 Fulford Blue peels Black thru 3-back before 6.

L4G3T4 Chapman Blue has made 1.

L4G3T4 Chapman Blue thru 2, one decent rush away from a 4-ball break.

L2G3T7 Fulford Blue jawses Black in 4-back before 1-back.
2-back pioneer is at 4-back.

Not sure if Black is thru 4-back yet, nice cut rush to 2-back.

Chapman makes 4 with all the balls.

Yes Black is now for penult. Making the game look easy.

L2G3T7 Fulford Blue jawses Black in penult before 4-back.

L4G3T4 Chapman Blue has made 6. Red and Yellow pretty tight cross-peg. Rush for Black to peg from West boundary.

Fulford has to negotiate straight rover peel to win the match.

Fulford wins game 3 +17sxp, and the match 3-0

Harry shall go to the (foot)ball.

L4G3T5 Bamford lifts Yellow to 1st corner. Shooting at Black (18y). Misses.

L4G3T6 Chapman Black peels Blue thru 1-back after 2.

L4G3T6 Chapman Black jawses Blue in 2-back before 5.

More from Chris Clarke (on the absence of current England / GB Mac players in the last 4)

That's like saying Wylie would have been picked or Mulliner would have been picked - the fact is they weren't. I not sure it has ever happened in the past 70+ years.

Not sure what your point is. Clearly the best 3 players reached the semis, two of whom aren't English, and one happened to be unavailable in 2017.
And the fourth is an improving young player and future international.

Chris adds: Shame they aren't using the CA's Atkins to make it slightly trickier.

This seems a pertinent point to me. With new hoop-holes for the semis and the final tomorrow, we could at least have had them for the last 2 days.

Chapman has reached 2-back with three peels of his sextuple done.

L4G3T6 Chapman Black peels Blue thru 4-back before 3-back.

L4G3T6 Chapman Black irish peels Blue thru penult. Blue halfway between peg and rover (and a bit East).

Nice stop shot peel of rover.

Chapman wins game 3 +26sxp, leads Bamford 2-1.

L4G4T1 Chapman Yellow goes thru hoop 5 by 2 yards. (with some wire!)
L4G4T2 Bamford Black peg-high on west boundary.

L4G4T3 Chapman Red misses Black from a yard or two east of 1st corner. Comes on 8y N of Black.

L4G4T4 Bamford Blue shoots at Yellow from A-baulk (12y)...

...Bamford re-stalks...

... Bamford misses!

L4G4T5 Chapman Red misses Black (8y).

L4G4T6 Bamford Black at Blue (25y). Misses.
Bamford now joined up in B-baulk.

L4G4T7 Chapman Red misses Yellow (17y).

L4G4T8 At last, a roquet!

L4G4T8 Bamford Blue picks up break.

L4G4T8 Bamford Blue makes 6 hoops, has a spread.
Not the most exciting quarter-hour.

L4G4T9 Chapman lifts Yellow from near W bdry to A-baulk. He's shooting at Black (18y)...

... Chapman misses.

What to discuss during Bamford's turn?
The wiener schnitzel at lunch was excellent, the blueberry crumble with custard yummy.
The Opens schedule has varied for uncertain reasons. We should have been at Hurlingham this year, but instead we'll be there in 2022.
Then 2023 Nottingham will host the event, for the first time I believe.
We then think back to Surbiton for 2024, then Cheltenham in 2025.
Next year Mike Town will be Managing. He's been giving Samir considerable help this week, also keeping us updated via croquetscores.

L4G4T10 Bamford Black peels Blue thru 1-back after 2.

There's been some discussion of conditions, hoops etc. on the Nottingham Board.
Stephen Mulliner posted the following re Atkins
Nah! Bidencopic 3 19/32 inch - that'll make sextuples a bit more challenging.
Someone please explain this allusion.

Whoa, excitement on lawn 4. Bamford's croquet stroke after 4 left his ball 3" in front of 1. Luckily peelee was 18" due North, and he was able to roquet it through the hoop.
L4G4T10 Bamford Black peels Blue thru 2-back before 5.

On lawn 3 Suter has made another quadruple to win the Plate Process.
Plate Draw final is on lawn 1, Nunns v Burch.

L4G4T10 Bamford Black peels Blue thru 3-back before 1-back.
Now more excitement as after 1-back he rolls Red (his 3-back pioneer) behind 4-back.
Makes 2-back of Yellow, rushes Yellow also to 4-back. Wants to bombard Red with Yellow, but is he stymied by Blue?
My expert now suggests a double bombard: Yellow onto Blue onto Red.
"What could possibly go wrong?"

Burch beat Nunns. Burch v Suter in Plate play-off tomorrow (best-of-3).

Bamford lost in contemplation.

Bamford Black bombards Blue with Yellow, but Red is unmoved.
Black cuts Blue in front of hoop, then Black dislodges Red!
Except that Yellow is exactly where Black wants to be to rush Red to 3-back.
Black peels Blue thru 4-back, leaving cut rush on Red.
Cuts Red 3y SE of peg.
8' hoop....

...failed into middle of 3-back.

Crowd reckons that between 2-back and 3-back, every ball hit every other ball, apart from Red and Yellow.

Crowd thinks Bamford was uncharacteristically hasty over his last two strokes.

L4G4T11 Chapman Yellow taps Blue, takes off South of Black to rush-POP it. Good rush of Red to 1 and he has break.

Chapman takes too much wire running 5, ref is on, but not too tricky.

Blue and Black are cross-pegged. Red has rush into lawn from west boundary.

Clips: Chapman Red 1 Yellow 1-back; Bamford Blue penult Black 4-back.

L4G4T12 Bamford lifts Blue to B-baulk. Hits Black!

L4G4T12 Bamford hit Black centrally to 6y S of rover.
Deliberately plays Black into rover as he goes to Red and Yellow.

L4G4T12 Bamford Blue makes penult off Yellow. Sends Yellow to 4-back, in hope of another cross-wired leave (as in game 1).

L4G4T12 Bamford Blue makes rover off Black. Rushes Black north-east so he can croquet it toward 1st corner. Black is 2yW of hoop 1.
Red is perhaps 2y SW of 3rd corner. Yellow is 2y SW of 4-back, seems happy with the cross-wire.
Leaves rush for Black.

L4G4T13 Chapman Red misses Black / Blue.

L4G4T14 Bamford has trivial finish.

Bamford wins game 4 +20, tied 2-2 with Chapman.

L4G5T1 Bamford Red 10y N of IV
L4G5T2 Chapman Black 10y W of B-baulk.

L4G5T3 Bamford Yellow hits Red from A-baulk.
Takes off to Black, hits it. Rolls Black peg-high nr west bdry. Leaves rush for Red.

I have moved nearer the lawn in order to benefit from the insight of various experts.

L4G5T4 Chapman Blue shooting from A-baulk... Hits Red!

An expert now favours Chapman. This is the sort of insight I was after!

Chapman picks up break.

Nick Parish has been in touch.
To correct an earlier post, Opens are back to Cheltenham in 2024. I think Surbiton has the Men’s & Women’s that year.
In answer as to why, a lot of the reasons may have to do with the AC Worlds being at Hurlingham and Surbiton in 2023 (originally 2022 but delayed by the pandemic). Neither club wanted to host the Opens in 2023 for that reason

You will not be surprised to discover that Chapman is setting up a tight cross-peg. Examining things very closely. An old peg-hole involved?

L4G5T4 Chapman Blue has made 6 hoops. Red and Yellow tightly cross-pegged. Black in middle of west boundary with rush into lawn.

One expert reckons that the shot along the west boundary hills off to the west.

L4G5T5 Bamford lifts Red to A-baulk. Shooting at Yellow...

... misses between Yellow and peg into B-baulk.

L4G5T6 Potentially match-winning turn for Chapman.

L4G5T6 Chapman Black makes 1 with useful rush.

L4G5T6 Chapman Black fails to peel Blue thru 1-back after 2. Blue bounces off just to the East.

Alison Maugham wanders off lawn 3 to ask Joel if it's OK to move a ball out of a hole.
"It's fine by me but maybe you should ask your opponent."

L4G5T6 Chapman Black having second go at 1-back peel before 4. Peel goes well but he's 5 or 6y short of Red. Misses!

Crowd reckons it hilled off.

My expert has revised his opinion as to who's favourite.

Yellow and Blue are close.

Yellow rushes Blue north, takes off to Red, rushes Red near Black, rushes Black near 1 and he's away.

L4G5T7 Bamford Yellow will be making 6 hoops and having a spread.
He's reached hoop 4.

Blue is very close to the peg, Black near W bdry. Red has rush on Yellow from E bdry.

Clips: Chapman Black 4 Blue 2-back; Bamford Red 1 Yellow 1-back.

L4G5T8 Chapman lifts Blue to A-baulk. Shooting at Red (18y)....

... Chapman misses. Close.

Now it's Bamford chance to win the match with a sextuple.

L4G5T9 Bamford makes 1 without a useful rush. Big shot from near 1 sees Red nicely on Blue, but Black is nearer 3rd corner than 3rd hoop.

L4G5T9 Bamford Red peels Yellow thru 1-back after 2. Good croquet stroke yields rush on Black to 3. Blue is by 4 (unusually for a sextuple).

L4G5T9 Bamford Red attempting to peel Yellow thru 2-back going to Blue at 4. Looks like it might be rush-peelable next time.

L4G5T9 Bamford Red rush-peels Yellow thru 2-back before 5.

After 5 Bamford rushes Black off S bdry. Tries to croquet it to 1-back but peg intervenes.

Bamford Red peels Yellow thru 3-back going to 6. Red excellent on Blue.

Bamford Red peels Yellow thru 4-back before 2-back.

Red rushes Blue to 2-back. Misses the peg, he's 4y shy. 4' hoop run to the boundary.

Bamford fails to get forward rush after 3-back. Pretty good croquet stroke.
Red peels Yellow thru penult before 4-back.

Just a straight rover peel between Bamford and the final.

Crowd debating whether you rush peelee to rover and take off back to penult, or rush peelee north and stop it to rover.
In these conditions it matters not.

The sun comes out for the first time today.

Irish peel goes well.

Bamford wins the decider +16sxp.

First match win for Bamford against Chapman (three losses before today).

See you 10am tomorrow for Fulford v Bamford.
Have they played before?
Cheers, Andrew