2014 Association Croquet Club Champions Day

The first event on the EACF 2014 Summer Calendar the Association Club Champions Day was again held on the well prepared Hunstanton lawns under glorious sunshine and attracted 20 entries from 12 of the regions clubs. It was split into three blocks Advanced, Level 'B' Advanced and Handicap and was managed by Terrey Sparks.

Advanced: This block consisted of 6 entrants, and a winning start was made by Jeff Race, Simon Hathrell and Duncan Hector. In the second round Simon and Duncan kept up the pace by both recording their second win, with Duncan finishing his game with a 'Triple Peel', the first in the 12-year history of the event. This in effect meant we had a final round between Simon and Duncan fighting it out for the winner's slot, with Simon narrowly running home the overall winner +6 to retain the shield he won the previous year.

'B' Level Advanced: This group attracted 8 entrants and was decided on a straight knock-out basis with a consolation Swiss run for the first and second round losers. In the first group of games Tim Brewer, Terrey Sparks, Bryan Saddington and Jeff Farrington were all successful in winning their first games and proceeded into the next round which both turned out to be close fought affairs, both running down to a timed finish. The winners Tim Brewer and Jeff Farrington then met in a final play-off in which Tim managed to secure a comfortable win of +12, again retaining the trophy he won last year.

Handicap: This block also attracted 6 entrants, and it was played as 18-point games due to the fact that the games had been reduced to 2.5 hours in length. John Smallbone, David Haslam and David Matthews all made the early running by notching up first round wins. However, after the second round of games we were left with only two players David Haslam and David Mathews on 100% wins, and they both met in what turned out to be the final play-off. In the final game between the Davids, which was always in the balance until the last moments, Matthews just managed to overcome Haslam +12 to run out the winner of the group.

Despite having to travel to the extremities of the Federation boundaries this opening event of the summer continues to attract a maximum entry and has turned out to be one of the EACF's most popular events of the year.