BUDE Croquiet Club’s higher handicap team played their inaugural league match at home against a much more experienced team from St Agnes, on Monday, April 29.

The match began inauspiciously with four wins to St Agnes, albeit by narrow margins.  Hilary Dorren and Val Langdown won their games in the second round followed by Colette Ham and Vic Frampton in the next round to put Bude back into the match at 7-4.  Unfortunately only Phil Dorren won his game in the third round, so the visitors had acquired the 11 points needed for overall victory, with only four doubles matches left to play.

The Bude pairs battled valiantly to reduce the margin. The virtues of marital harmony became evident as Val and Dave Langdown and Phil and Hilary Dorren comfortably won their games, but the other two were lost to leave St Agnes 13-7 winners despite nine of the 20 games being decided on the final hoop.