Sidmouth were host to a strong team from Budleigh in the last Golf Croquet League fixture of the season.

Sidmouth were host to a strong team from Budleigh in the last Golf Croquet League fixture of the season.

Graeme Pryor put in an excellent performance for Sidmouth by winning not only his doubles match with partner Pam Bowra, but also all three of his singles. Anne Reece and Margaret Piper won their doubles, as did John Coombes (captain) and Pam Bowra. Anne and John then rounded off a memorable day by winning both of their singles. In all of the above games, Sidmouth managed to win by running their maximum seven hoops.

Result: Sidmouth 12, Budleigh 8.

Some good croquet was played by both sides and the convivial atmosphere was carried into the clubhouse, where a lavish cream tea was enjoyed by all.

John is to be congratulated on leading the Sidmouth team to four victories out of the five matches played. An excellent season.

l The Sidmouth team of Richard Mills, Sue Rogers and David Temple travelled to Plymouth for their match in the SW Federation League. The doubles match was won 21-18 by the home team, but Richard won both his singles 26-24 and 20-18 and, in so doing, reduced his handicap to an impressive 4.5.

In the remaining singles, Sue lost 26-17, but, with David winning 21-17, a very close match was won by Sidmouth.

The Plymouth club is unusual in being sited over a reservoir with minimum topsoil, so the lawns were parched, almost completely brown, mossy and uneven. Hence, play was often unpredictable and local knowledge probably was an advantage. A heavy downpour at the end was made up for by a wonderful tea provided by club volunteers! Result: Plymouth 2, Sidmouth 3.

l A Sidmouth team of Ian Friedlander (captain), Graeme Pryor, Nancy Temple and John Dixon travelled to Taunton Deane for their Intermediate League fixture. The weather was fine and sunny and the visitors found the lawns much drier and faster than they were used to.

Sidmouth got off to a flyer with the doubles team of Graeme and Nancy winning 18-12, but with Ian losing 21-13 in a vain battle against the home captain on an unpredictable lawn, it fell to John to produce a 19-16 win for the morning session to finish 2-1 in Sidmouth's favour.

Graeme won his afternoon singles by the narrowest of margins 15-14, but Nancy could not quite catch her opponent and lost 20-14. Meanwhile, critical games were being played on the dreaded lawn three with John just failing to catch his cagey opponent and losing 15-12. This left Ian's match as the decider and, with his opponent running 10 hoops with his one bisque allocation, Ian did well to catch up and when time was called, all four clips were on Penultimate with Ian in what appeared to be in a safe position for the "Golden Hoop".

However, a wonderful roquet across the lawn by his opponent dealt Sidmouth a cruel blow. Result: Taunton 4, Sidmouth 3.

l Sidmouth were host to a team of three from Nailsea in the SW Federation League. The home team of Sue Rogers (captain), David Temple and David Clarke failed to get off to a good start with a defeat in both the morning singles and doubles. An improvement in the afternoon saw wins for both Davids, but with Sue unable to complete the transformation, Sidmouth went down to a 3-2 defeat. The Federation programme has now finished, with Sidmouth winning two of its five matches.