Nailsea and District Croquet Club (NDCC) hosted a number of semi-finals over the weekend.

In good weather and on excellent lawns, play got underway in the Short Croquet.

Pat Long led until the very end, but Brian McCausland ran two late hoops to win 9-8.

Roger Baddeley claimed a convincing victory against Andrew Wimshurst, with a score of 14-0.

The 1-ball handicap croquet semi-final between Tony Hinchcliffe and John Hancock was closely contested.

Hancock won the first 13-12, and managed to hang on to a lead to win the second 13-10.

Libby Howard-Blood triumphed over Rob Royffe, 10-13, 13-9, 13-9.

In the Golf Croquet Level Play Cup semi-final, Kriss Chambers won a tight match against Graham McCausland, with scores of 7-6 and 7-6.

Paul Arbos took a convincing win in the Sergeant Cup against Steve Durston, 7-3 and 7-1.

In the Buchanan Cup, Brian McCausland and Kriss Chambers needed three games to win 2-1 against Durston and Hinchcliffe, with scores of 7-3, 6-7, and 6-4.

The final match of the weekend was the Association Croquet Open Handicap Singles between Hinchcliffe and Graham McCausland.

This was a play-off for a Finals place and was a long hard-fought game.

Eventually, Hinchliffe triumphed 26-15.

NDCC member, James Galpin, who managed the semi-finals said: "It was great to see so many versions of the game being tightly fought over a fun weekend."

Mr Galpin will be flying out to Egypt and then the USA this month to play in croquet World championships.

All the semi-finals winners will come together to compete for the trophies on the weekend of September 28 and 29.

Spectators are always welcomed for what should be an exciting two days at the Nailsea lawns.

Anyone interested in finding out more about croquet can find information at www.nailsea-croquet.org.uk.