Sport
11 April, 2025
Players crowned in Bendigo
The Maryborough team comprising Alex Gildea and Colin Clark travelled to Bendigo last Sunday to take on five other teams from around the region.
The event was played under handicap format, meaning that the Maryborough team, as the highest ranking team, started each game from a one or two hoop deficit.
The lawns at Bendigo were challenging, being both fast and a little bumpy in some areas. As the day went on the speed of the lawns increased as the sun dried them out making it difficult to judge distance on positional shots.
The first game was against Kyneton with Maryborough winning 7-5 after coming from a minus one start. This victory was followed up with wins against Eaglehawk 7-2, Maldon 7-5 and Quarry Hill 7-3.
This set up what was effectively a final in the last game against the home team, Bendigo. This game started with a plus one advantage to Bendigo and they proceeded to win two of the first three hoops for a 3-1 lead.
From here, however, Gildea and Clark reeled off six straight hoops to claim a comprehensive 7-3 win and to win the competition with a perfect record of five wins from their five games.
Both Gildea and Clark played very well in the challenging conditions. At times they both struggled with the pace of the lawns, as did their opponents, but they more than made up for this with some strong, straight hitting.
This enabled them to run a high percentage of hoop attempts, several from long distance. They were also very successful in clearing their opponents balls from threatening positions and made good tactical decisions throughout.
Maryborough VRI Croquet Club always welcomes guests and new members to try this great game. The club is just in front of the Maryborough Railway Station and play is Saturday and Wednesday mornings, with everyone welcome to come and try.