Monkstone Pétanque Club

The annual Winter Friendly with Caerleon RFC PC started today with the 1st leg at Monkstone PC.  Caerleon won the competition last year so Monkstone were looking to get off to a good start to take to the 2nd leg in Caerleon after Christmas to try to bring the trophy back to Cardiff.

The format of the competition was tweaked slightly this year. When it was found a large number of people wanted to play, instead of the normal 3 rounds of 12 singles, 6 doubles and 4 triples with any number (minimum 12) of players allowed, it was decided to have a fixed number of 18 players. The other thought was to avoid players having to sit out one of the rounds and, as neither club could accommodate 18 singles at the same time, it was decided to have just 2 rounds – Round 1 being 6 singles and 6 doubles played at the same time and Round 2 being 6 triples.

The match got underway under leaden skies with rain threatening.  In the singles half of the 1st round, Caerleon managed to gain an advantage of 4 games to 2 giving them a match point lead of 4 points. In the doubles, which were being played alongside the singles, Monkstone came out on top by 4 games to 2 giving them a match point advantage of 12 – 6.  So at the end of Round 1, the games were equal at 6 – 6 but Monkstone held an all important lead of 2 match points.

After a short break for lunch, Round 2 commenced with light rain threatening and both teams looking for a decisive score to take a good lead into the second leg. The competition was fierce but friendly but neither team managed to break away and when the dust settled it was 3 – 3 in games and 15 – 15 in match points with Monkstone retaining their slight lead of 2 match points to carry into the 2nd leg.

Thanks to all the players who took part and when the teams meet again in Caerleon on 7 January 2024,   IT’S ALL TO PLAY FOR!

RESULTS

Despite Derek forecasting heavy showers, the 2023 Monkstone Club Triples took place today under sunny blue skies. The rain commenced just after the results had been declared but even then it was very short lived. 36 members took part, equalling the record for a club competition set just 2 weeks ago at the Club Doubles..

After 2 rounds there were 3 teams – those led by Tony Smith, John Barnes and Sean Smith – on 2 wins with Tony and Sean’s teams tied on +17 and John with a bit to do on +5.

So into the final round and the first team to submit a result was Tony with an impressive 13-1 win which meant John could not win and Sean would need a 13-0 win for his team to take the title. The pressure proved too much and with Sean’s team going down 7-13, the title went to Tony Smith, John Maroney & Peter David with 3 wins [+29]. John Barnes, Roger Bennett and Spencer Bartlett came second on 3 wins [+14] while Sean Smith, Alex Skibinski and Peter Lippett were in third place with 2 wins [+11].

Again it was great to see a number of our newer members taking part although, unlike the last few competitions, none of them managed to get into the winning team but it will certainly benefit them to have played as they develop their skills.

RESULTS

THE WINNERS

Club President Mike Jones with Tony, Peter and John

The penultimate round of the first half of Super League didn’t get underway until Wednesday last as both Mammoths and Mavericks were struggling to get a team for the scheduled date on Tuesday. In a very tight match, Mammoths recorded their first win 3[47]-1[36]. The same evening, Meerkats took on Mercenaries with neither side being able to deliver a knockout punch and the match ending in a draw 2[40]-2[34].

Thursday evening saw a top of the table clash between Marlins and Mustangs but the spoils went to Marlins who, surprisingly, took the match 4[52]-0[32]

UPDATE 29 October 2023

An incorrect results sheet was submitted for the game on Thursday between Marlins and Mustangs. The result was, in fact, 3[48]-1[20]. The revised table is:

Round 3 of the Super League started last Tuesday when Mammoths took on Mercenaries. The game was fought out to a draw 2[38]-2[39], the third in the 3 weeks for Mammoths and the second in a row for Mercenaries.

The weather turned to rain on Wednesday when 2 matches were played. Mavericks v Mustangs ended in a draw 2[44]-2[39] in the match that was scheduled for that night. Meerkats brought forward their match against Marlins from Thursday but they obviously didn’t like the rain chalking up a loss 0[32]-4[52] which was sufficient to take Marlins to the top of the league.

Two more draws in the week continues to show how well balanced the teams are.

The Super League went into Week 2 last week but due to an unfortunate misunderstanding the final game was not played until last evening alongside the first match of Round 3.

The opening match last Tuesday saw league leaders Mustangs take on Mammoths. It was a hard fought contest with Mammoths recording their second draw in a row 2[50]-2[40]. Was the 1 point Mustangs gained enough to keep them at the top?

On Wednesday, Mercenaries came up against Marlins and, whilst Marlins had a large points superiority, the match ended in the second draw of the round 2[34]-2[47]

The final match in Round 2 took place last night when Mavericks played Meerkats and after a hard fought match the third draw of the round was recorded 2[39]-2[29]

With the number of draws being played out, it looks that the seeded draw for team squads has worked out rather well.