Solomon Cup Challenge

6 Jul - 10 Jul 1998

AMERICANS SWEEP PRESIDENTS MATCH 9-0  - July 5


The  Presidents  match  was  held  on  5th  July  at
Bowdon.  As usual, the match  was  played  by
American  rules  between  the  US  team  and  a team
selected  by  John  Solomon.  In  past  year, this
match has been a close encounter, except for in 1997,
when the full GB  team won 9-0.

In  overcast  conditions  the  Americans got off to a
flying start, winning the doubles 3-0.  It soon became
clear that the  Americans were too strong as all six
singles  also  went  their  way  to  give  them  a
9-0  whitewash  and  revenge  for  last  year.  Chris
Irwin  came  close  to  beating  Jim  Audas, and  Don
Gaunt  almost  beat  Mick  Mehas  before  a  good
comeback ensured the most convincing  of scorelines.

Presidents Match Results

Mehas&Osborn  bt  Cordingley&Gaunt   26-15
Smith&Fournier  bt  Irwin&Irwin      25-6
Ruby&Audas     bt   Murray&Solomon   23-12

Ruby  bt Cordingley        26-16
Osborne bt Colin  Irwin    26-8
Mehas  bt  Gaunt           26-23
Fournier  bt  Solomon      26-11
Smith   bt  Murray         26-5
Audas bt Chris  Irwin      21-17

USA  win  Presidents Cup 9-0

USA TAKE SHOCK LEAD IN SOLOMON TROPHY - July 6

The first day of the 1998 Solomon trophy comprised
three best-of-three  doubles.  The first match to
finish was between the GB number 2 pair
Aiton&Cordingley and the  US number  one  pair
Mehas&Osborn.  Despite a  good  start  by  Aiton, the
US  pair  were  soon  in  command.

The  second  match  was  between  the  GB  number 3
pair  Gaunt&Irwin  and  the  US  number  3 pair
Audas&Ruby.  Nerves were very much in evidence
throughout  this  match,  and  it was the experienced
hand  of  Colin  Irwin  that  guided  the  GB  pair
to  a  straight  games  win  to  level  at 1-1.

The  final  match  saw  the  GB  number  1  pair
Comish&Dawson  quickly  take the  first  against the
US  number 2 pair Fournier&Smith. However, some
uncharacteristic  errors  from  Comish  allowed
the  Americans  to  take  the match  into  the
third  game.  Fournier  soon  had  a  clip  on  4-back,
but the lift was  hit by Comish, only for him to fail
hoop 2. The Americans  made  a  good  leave  but
Comish  hit  a  30  yard  double  and  went to 4-back.
After  a  missed  lift, Dawson failed hoop 1, allowing  
Jacques to make another leave for Charlie. Jeff missed
and  Charlie embarked  a  triple  peel. Despite obvious
nerves, the  triple  went smoothly  and  by the time
he reached hoop  6 Charlie  had  begun  to  look
confident.  The  rover  peel  was  made  before 3-back,
and  Charlie  completed  the  first triple of the day
to  give  the  US  the  overnight lead  at  2-1.

An  excellent  day  for  the  Americans,  with good
performances  from  Osborn, Mehas and Fournier
complemented  by  an  fine turn when it mattered by
Smith. Only Irwin showed his true form on the GB side,
and  it  will  be  interesting  to  see if Tuesday's 
singles  bring  some improved  performances.


Day One Scores (Great Britain names  first)

Aiton&Cordingley lost to Mehas&Osborn -15, -24
Gaunt&Irwin beat Audas&Ruby   15,  13
Comish&Dawson lost to  Fournier&Smith  25, -8, -17tp


USA lead GB  2-1  (best  of  21).

--as reported by Chris Clarke on the Nottingham Board

GB  Fight  Back on Day Two

Great  Britain  have  found  some  form  to  take  the
lead after two days of the Solomon.  Steve  Comish
had  a  good win  over  Mick  Mehas  to  rally  his
troops, but Jim Audas kept the Americans in  contention
with  a  straight  games victory  over  Jeff  Dawson.

Day Two Results, Great Britain names first:

Comish    bt     Mehas    26-3, 26tp-0
Irwin     bt     Smith    26-15, 26-1
Dawson  lost to  Audas    21-26, 6-26
Aiton      bt    Fournier 26tpo-13, 26-11
Cordingley bt    Osborn   26tp-20, 26-18
Gaunt   unfinished  vs Ruby  3-26, 26-12

GB lead US 5-3 aftertwo days of play, with one singles
game unfinished.

Day Three - Wednesday

The third day started with the sad news of the  death
of Keith Aiton's mother.  Keith's departure  meant  that
a replacement  was needed, and Alan Linton  bravely 
volunteered to play. Alan has an unbeaten record playing
for Great Britain, having won all his  matches against
South Africa a couple of years ago. However, having  
left his mallet at Southwick last weekend, he was being
thrown  in  at  the  deep  end.

Don Gaunt completed a good triple to win his  doubles  
after Mick Mehas had missed the peg-out of his own tp. 
However, Jim Audas and Britt Ruby were giving the GB 
number one pair of Comish and Dawson a  hard  time. 
In past years, one of the differences between GB and
the USA has been that GB has always had the edge  
in close endings. This advantage seems to be diminishing,
and the Americans duly won in two very close games.	
In the third doubles, Alan Linton maintained his
unbeaten record  with  a  straight  games  win.

The US, however, had the last say as Britt beat Don in 
the unfinished singles from yesterday.  So, if the US  
can draw the singles 3-3  tomorrow, they  will  go into
the final day with a chance of victory for the first  
ever time against GB.

Results from Day Three, Great Britain names first:

Gaunt&Irwin      bt   Mehas&Osborn      17,  2tp
Comish&Dawson  lost to Audas&Ruby      -2, -4
Linton&Cordingley bt  Fournier&Smith   11,  5
Gaunt       lost  to   Ruby          -23,  14, -17


Great Britain leads the US  7-5 after three days of play.

--Chris Clarke

Days 4 & 5 Results & Story -- Chris Clarke

SOLOMON TROPHY - DAYS  4 & 5


U.S. Hopes Barely Alive at End of Day Four

A disastrous first session for the Americans saw 

Great Britain win all three matches in straight  games  
to  move to 10-5, one away from  victory.  Colin  Irwin
maintained  his  unbeaten  record,  and  Jeff  Dawson  
posted  his  first  win.

Surely  the  afternoon  games  would  see  Great Britain 
over  the  winning  line?   Steve  Comish  was  soon  
game  up  with  a  17tp  win  against  Jaques  
Fournier. In  the  second  game, Steve  pegged  out 
Jaques, giving  contact  1-back  and  peg  vs  1-back. 
The balls were left in third and fourth corners, but
Steve did  not  have  another  stroke  as  Jaques
finished  from  the  contact. Jaques  continued  his 
good  form  to  win  the  third  game  on  the  eighth  
turn  and  keep  the  Test  Match  alive.

The  other  two  matches  were  progressing  at  a  
more  leisurely  pace.  Cordingley  looked  sure  to  
take  the  first  against  Smith, taking  croquet  on  
the  south  boundary  with  partner  in  rover  when  
for  rover  and  peg, but  failed  to  make  his  hoop, 
which  proved  costly  as  Charlie went  on  to  take 
the  first game of the match.

Alan  Linton  continued  his  excellent  record;  
taking  the  first  game   3  against  Mick  Mehas in
an unfinished match.

Day Four Results, Great Britain names first:

Irwin      bt      Osborn       26tp,  8
Dawson     bt      Ruby         3tp,  26
Gaunt      bt      Audas        26,  2
Comish   lost to  Fournier      17tp, -8, -26
Linton    leading   Mehas        3   
Cordingley trailing Smith       -3 

At end of Day Four:
GB leads  USA   10 - 6  (2 unfinished)

Day Five -  GB Retain Trophy with 14-7 Match Score

Great  Britain  retained  the  Solomon  with  what  
turned  out  to  be  a  respectable  winning  margin. 
Comish  and  Dawson  at  last  justified  their 
number  one  status  with  a  straight  games  win  
over  their  opposite  numbers. Gaunt  and  Irwin, 
however, lost  their  unbeaten  record  to  Fournier  
and  Smith, who  won  the  first  game   1. 
Cordingley  and  Linton  also  won  in  straight  
games.  This  left  plenty  of  time  to  complete  
the  two  unfinished  singles. 

Cordingley  beat  Smith  with  a  triple  in  the .
third  meaning  that  all  eyes  were  on  the  Linton  
vs  Mehas  match.  If  Alan  won  he  would 
maintain  his  unbeaten  record; if  Mick  won, 
the  US  would  have  achieved their  best  ever  
score  against  GB.  An  exciting  deciding  game  
saw half an hour's  play  with  Linton  on rover and  
peg  and  Mehas  on  4-back  and  penult  before  
the  Bowdon  local  triumphed.  

The  match  had  been  competitive  throughout,
and  no  player  finished  without  a  win.
The  British  team  produced  little  sparkle  
throughout  but  stuck  to  the task  well  to  
become  stronger  every  day. Congratulations  
must  go  to  Alan  Linton  for  maintaining  the  
only  unbeaten  record  after  Keith's  departure.

The key  to  the  relative  success  of  the American  
team  was  that  every  team  member  contributed. 
It  has  often  been  the  case  in  the  past  that  
one  team  member  would  be  badly  off  form  
and  an  almost  guaranteed  loss. This  team  had  
six  players, who, whilst  not  always  playing  well  
at  least  played  well  enough  to  compete  in  
all  matches. 

The  performance  of  Jaques  Fournier  will  be  
a  welcome  boost  to  American hopes  in  the  next  
MacRobertson. The  US  are  beginning  to  show 
strength  in  depth. Despite  missing  arguably  
their  top  three  players   (Taves, Stark, Rodoni), 
they  were  able  to  give  a  solid  British  team  a
run  for  their  money.

We  looked  forward  to  next  year's match  on  the
other  side  of  the  pond.

Day Five Results - Great Britain names first:

Comish&Dawson      bt  Osborn&Mehas    17,  25tp
Cordingley&Linton  bt  Audas&Ruby       10,  8
Gaunt&Irwin    lost to Fournier&Smith  -1, -14
Cordingley      bt    Smith          -3,  9, 18tp
Linton           bt    Mehas          3, -21,  7

OVERALL SCORE OF THE 1998 SOLOMON TROPHY:
GREAT BRITAIN 14 - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 7

--Chris Clarke