MacRob - Report #8 (21 November)

Report courtesy of Eileen Soo USA

Mac Day 2 - US at Shepparton

Day 2 at Rich River was pretty good but could have been better for the US. We had chances, but not all of them panned out. The weather was great -- warm, but not too warm. The flies, however, aren't taking a vacation -- they may become a deciding factor in some games, as they buzz the players unmercifully. Many players carefully stalked a shot only to back off and stalk again due to an aggressive fly buzzing on their nose.

On the good side, Jeff Soo has won his match agaist Trevor Bassett in two. The first game played through in quick order with a TP from Jeff, but the second game had chances for both sides. Jeff missed a roquet, slowing down his progress, but he finished out with a 26-9 win.

Jerry Stark lost in two games (26-24, 26-0), even though he generally likes a fast court. He attempted a triple in the first game but broke down after two peels, with a split shot to 2b gone awry. Martin Clarke went round, peeling Stark's forward ball and giving contact. Stark took his lone ball through 2back with a massive roll up, then did a large roll-up to get 3back. He then failed 4back. After some back and forthing, Stark eventually got 4b and penult. Stark missed a 4-1/2 yd hoop shot at rover, ignoring Clarke's two balls joined up in corner 2. Clarke then finished out. The second game went faster, with Clarke taking control.

Bob Cherry had the misfortune to move from the ice skating rink (Court 1) to the very different Court 6 (the paddock) for today's games. Court 6 has almost no roll, which caused a lot of poor hope approaches and poor rush positions yesterday in the GB v. NZ match. Stephen Forster adapted faster, winning in two with scores of 26tp-12 and 26-3. Forster plays with an elegant side stroke, which makes him a pleasure to watch. First game had a clean start with each hitting and going to 4b. Cherry broke down on his second break, and Forster finished -- a quick game. The second game was generally scrappy, with Forster generally keeping control.

Rich Lamm had similar results in his game against Ian Dumergue, losing 9-26tp and 0-26tp. Dumergue is playing well above his 6th place in the Aussie line-up; we'll have to see where he is placed in the next test. In the sixth turn, Lamm took his ball to 4back, setting a diagonal spread leave. Dumergue hit in then never looked back. Lamm missed his lift, allowing Dumergue to finish. In the second game, Lamm opened with the super shot, and Dumergue shot from corner I and hit. He attempted a two ball break but was hampered out of 2. He retreated to near corner 2. Lamm shot and missed the corner 2 ball. Dumergue then hit the corner 2 balls and went round, setting a diagonal spread. Lamm missed the lift, and Dumergue finished the game.

The games to watch through the rest of the day were on courts 2 and 3. Damon Bidencope and Danny Huneycutt took their matches to 3games, giving the US a bit of hope. Ultimately, we lost the matches but definitely saw some good croquet.

On court 2, Danny Huneycutt took on Bruce Fleming. Game 1 had chances for both, but Fleming finally ended it with a triple. Score 26tp-24. The second game again had plenty of chances for both. A missed 4 yd. roquet by Fleming left Huneycutt a chance to pick up his second break at hoop 2. He managed a triple but (in true Huneycutt style) not without a couple of heart stopping moments. A nearly hampered shot near the peg after scoring 5 required a referee to come out and remove the peg extension. Huneycutt got that roquet and continued in fine form until rover. After a straight rover peel, Huneycutt managed to leave his striker ball tightly between partner and opponent balls, hampering his shot for the roquet on opponent. He pulled this out and manages to cannon partner position behind rover, only to overshoot his rush postion to take partner to peg. Huneycutt did a fine cut rush to get a 2 yd peg out. Third game, Fleming took his 9 and set a New Standard leave, a popular leave so far in this test. Huenycutt chose the long shot and missed to corner 4, allowing Fleming to do a precise delayed triple. Fleming provided non of the excitement we had watching Huneycutt; his play was calm, precise and never in doubt. The only small issue was a hampered stroke after hoop 6 and a close approach on the penutl peel after scoring 3back. Fleming ended with a classic straigh rover peel and pegged out.

Damon Bidencope and Harley Watts played on court 3. The games had good play from both sides, with Bidencope winning game 1 26-9 and Watts taking game 2 26tp-0. The third game had more excitement, with chances by both sides. Watts ended up winning 26tp-15 after a failed hoop 5 by Bidencope. Watts took the long shot at Bidencope's diagonal spread to get the second break. He then popped Bidencope's back ball to 3, hoping to make his life more difficult. Bidencope hit in with his back ball and chose to play conservatively, setting a rush towards hoop 3 on the east boundary. Watts missed the almost full-court shot at partner, to end up with both balls behind hoop 2. Bidencope managed to get the 4back peel before hoop 6, but a poor rush left him a ball right on the upright of 6, on the wrong side. Bidencope got an awkward hoop position and ended up with a not-quitejawsed yellow on his hoop shot. Bidencope called the referee to check the hoop tightness, as it was possible that the ball had stuck in it's path through the hoop. After thorough testing, the ref decided that the hoop was good and Bidencope's final position -- not quite 1/2 in with the ball resting off center and against the left upright -- indicated that his ball wasn't stuck. Watts then took over and did an easy on-time triple to win.Of note is that Watts plays with a rather spiffy hig-tech mallet made by Fenwick Elliot. The design is Space Age, with an ovoid center cut-out in a shiny graphite composite head -- way cool.

Following up the on the Aussie line-up kerfluffle, Bruce Fleming is holding up well with wins in both doubles and singles. He is definitely up to the pressure of being the top spot, as if any of us had doubts on that matter.. Trevor Bassett, moved from top stop to number 3 position, and has lost both his doubles and singles matches. The 5th and 6th placed Stephen and Ian are both looking mighty strong for being the lowest ranked players. We'll have to see what happens to these postions for the next test.

The Brits finished early at Shepparton, having taken all three doubles matches. Both the Brits and the New Zealanders returned to Rich RIver for practice in preparation for tomorrow's play. The US and Australian teams are playing doubles at Shepparton on Day 3.