By Casey O'Connor
Stanthorpe Mallet players introduced a new player to the game last week. Pauline Smith had never played any form of the game previously and joined the group for a game of Association croquet keen to learn about the game and its different formats. Pauline surprised herself playing with good accuracy and says she will be back for more after up receiving some coaching from one of the most experienced club members, Grace Howard. Smith and Howard were joined by third player Sharyn Roser and played Heather Widderick and Joy Newman. Widderick and Newman got away to a flying start and went on to win the game 23-20. Both played very well. Newman managed three peels and Widderick one peel in the game. Roser struggled with her accuracy early but worked into the game and scored a run of two later in the game, while Howard had two runs of two.
The Golf Croquet group played on Wednesday (19 Jan). Kathy Hopgood (3), Shirley Page (2) and Di Wren (3) played Liz Ellway (3), Shirley Evans (1) and Sharyn Roser (5) in a tough game. Ellway, Evans and Roser held the lead until the last 10 minutes of the game when their opponents managed to even the score. Unfortunately, play was halted early due to rain.
The Gateball players were on court on Friday.
Les Williams, Joy Newman and Jenny Tunbridge played the white balls against Sharyn Roser, Grace Howard and new player Pauline Smith out to give Gateball a go.
Whites struggled to find form early in the game allowing Reds to gain control of hoops Two and Three. They went on to win 11 – 7 and scored one Agari.
Game two was much closer. Reds had a three-point lead toward the close of the game, before some accurate long shots from Newman sent two crucial white balls out of play. Williams then scored two balls through hoop three, but he missed a crucial two-point Agari shot which would have given them a win. Reds taking the second game 12-11.
In game three there was a team change with Williams and Tunbridge playing the Red balls against Roser, Howard and win. Newman playing White. Whites made some crucial tactical errors while Williams and Tunbridge played with and acumen to keep the White balls out of play. They scored three Agaris in their 16-9 win.
In the final game Whites led and kept Reds reds away from hoops two and three. Despite some good strategic play by Tunbridge, Whites score a 15-8 win to wrap up the day.
