Durham again represented Croquet North in The Federation Shield this season. Drawn against Enfield, it was agreed to play mid-way with the match taking place on Friday 1 July in Ashby, the Durham team being Andrew and Roger Carpenter, Nigel Martin and Tony McCann.
The Federation Shield is a GC knock-out competition with handicap games rather than level play, and after consulting the competition manager, the system used was the traditional one of bisques and extra turns, rather than the new Advantage Play approach.
The morning session saw losses for Durham in the two singles matches, while the doubles match stood act one game each, so it was agreed to delay the deciding game of the doubles to see whether the results of the afternoon singles required it to be completed.
The four afternoon singles were shared two each, so with Enfield having a winning score of 4-2, the completion of the doubles was deemed unnecessary.
Congratulations to Enfield and best wishes for future progress in the competition, and many thanks to Ashby who provided two excellent lawns on which to play the match.