Bath North win SWF Federation Shield 2017

Bath North won the Federation League, involving twenty croquet clubs from Cornwall to Worcester in three divisions, in a tightly contested final against Abbey (Street) at Sidmouth Croquet Club. The Bath team of three went into lunch 1-1, Richard Jelly and David Prescott losing by 6 and Daniel Gott winning 26-13 against an opponent with 10 bisques. After lunch Daniel narrowly won 26-24 in under two hours having let slip a winning position much earlier, again having to defend against 7 bisques. David P made a late comeback but just failed to catch up; 19-26 to Abbey. It was left to the Bath captain to clinch the match in the third singles of the afternoon. For more than two hours it was an even game but finally Richard J surged ahead as the rain fell, to win 24-14. Bath returned happily home with the Federation Shield having previously won it in 2015. It is worth mentioning that Daniel Gott, a 21 year old Bath University student, played for the team in three matches during the season, winning all six of his singles match: a croquet player of rare promise.
Richard Jelly