Reigate Priory Croquet Club snatched victory with the tightest of margins in this 3 day, Handicap Association Doubles event, hosted in Southwick.
Giving us a brilliant start, the Friday team of John Bristow, John Hyde, Martin Peacock and Lorna Jenkins managed to hand over top position, winning 5 out of their 6 games (it was supposed to be 8 games played, but the weather decided otherwise).
On the Saturday, Andy Gray, John Knight, Simon Ling and Chris O’Byrne managed 3 out of 6, which was also the Sunday team’s result, provided by Lucy Beach and Doug Dykes, with Geoff Gunton and John Knight stepping in as last minute replacements/saviours!
The results were incredibly tight, with Caterham also winning 11 matches, and who beat whom also being equal over the 3 days! The next step was to compare net hoops, giving RPCC victory care of their 192 hoops compared to Caterham’s 180.
When the celebrating Sunday team decided to stop off at the Fountain Inn (made famous by being the pub in McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Time” video!), the publican took interest in the trophy, and ended up filling it with champagne for the team – see the pictures in the gallery below!
Particular thanks to John Knight for organising so many people, and making it all possible for us to participate!