Monkstone Pétanque Club

26 players took part today in the 2021 Christmas Melee on a grey rather nippy December day but the promise of mince pies and mulled wine took off the chill. As usual the parings had been selected at random by the computer.

Round 1 threw up a wide disparity of results with the 13 winners spread between +1 and +11.

Round 2 saw things tightening up with only 8 players on 2 wins but there was still a large range between +3 and +19. There was all to play for in the final round with John “Barney” Barnes (+11), Peter Kensett (+15) and Bernard Adshead (+19) all in contention but this would have to wait as a time out for mulled wine and mince pies was called.

The Third round got underway and Barney and Bernard were on adjacent pistes. With the score in his game at 6-6, Bernard looked across to see that Barney had just won 13-0. Doing a quick calculation by taking off his shoes and socks, Bernard realised that if they dropped 2 more points there would be a tie between him & Barney but he had no idea how Pete was doing. Fortunately Bernard & Tony Smith took the game without dropping any more points to put an end to Barney’s challenge, but what about Pete? The game was still in progress so there was a wait before Pete’s challenge faded with a 6-13 loss and Bernard was confirmed as the winner of the 2021 Christmas Melee.

WINNER – with 3 wins (+26), BERNARD ADSHEAD

RUNNER-UP – with 3 wins (+24), JOHN BARNES

3RD PLACE – with 3 wins (+11), ASH SEATH

4TH PLACE – with 3 wins (+7), KEITH NOTT

Thanks to everyone who supported today’s competition. Well done to our latest old member, John “Barney” Barnes on being a very close runner up and CONGRATULATIONS to BERNARD

FINAL RESULTS

The Sixth and Final Round of the 2021 Super League was played last Tuesday & Wednesday evenings in dry, fairly mild (for the time of year) weather.

All 4 teams had something to play for going into the final round. In the Tuesday match, Minotaurs needed to take 1 game off Monarchs to retain the Super League title they won in the inaugural competition last year. On Wednesday, if Meteors could take the scalp of Marauders, they would climb off the bottom of the table and consign Marauders to the wooden spoon.

On Tuesday things seemed to be going well for Minotaurs but Monarchs halted their gallop and took the first 2 games. In the second two games Monarchs took the first game comfortably but in the other Minotaurs kept their hopes of a gaining the single game needed when, at 9-8 up, they gave away 4. Needing to win the next end Monarchs were holding when they promoted a Minotaur boule. After a considerable time spent measuring it was agreed that Monarchs’ boule was still holding by 0.5mm and the game and the match and the Super League title went to Monarchs 4-0 [52-22] but in 2 of the games Minotaurs had come very close to winning the 1 game needed.

On Wednesday, the first 2 games were produced very similar a results, but one for Marauders and one for Meteors, giving a score of 1-1 [20-22] with a very slight advantage to Meteors but they now needed to win both of the reverse games. Again the games were hard fought with honours even, each team winning 1 game, for a final score of 2-2 [44-42]

So what had been a great second season came to an end with Monarchs taking the title by a hair’s breadth and Meteors showing that they could compete with anyone. Whilst they didn’t get a win, they took games off all three other teams.

CONGRATULATIONS to Monarchs on taking the 2021 Super League Title and well done to evryone who took part.

FINAL TABLE

Another great turn out today with 30 players taking part in the 2021 Club Triples on a surprisingly mild but grey December day. Again teams were decided by a random seeded draw before play commenced.

Round 1 was very close with all five winners between +5 and +7.

By the completion of the Round 2 only Mike Jones’ & Vickie Adshead’s teams had not recorded a win and only two teams had gained 2 wins – Tony Smith’s team [+17] and Bernard Adshead’s team [+11] – and they were scheduled to meet in Round 3 which would decide the overall winner.

Both teams without a win in the first two rounds managed a win in Round 3 so no team finished without a win. The deciding game between the teams on 2 wins proved to be a bit of a damp squib with Bernard’s team never really getting going and they were well beaten [2-13] by Tony’s team who were declared the 2021 Club Triples champions with 3 wins [+28]:

WINNERS – with 3 wins (+28), TONY SMITH/PHIL ROBERTS/LYNDA HODGES

RUNNERS-UP – with 2 wins (+14), MIKE WIGG/ANDREAS SISO/STEVE DIXON

3RD PLACE – with 2 wins (+5), PETER KENSETT/JOHN CHICHESTER/BARBARA KENSETT

Thanks to everyone who supported today’s competition. Well done to our latest member, Steve Dixon on being part of the runners up team and CONGRATULATIONS to TONY, PHIL & LYNDA.

With the end of the 2021 Super League season approaching, Round 5 was played out in the rain on Tuesday night and in slightly better weather last evening.

As has become the norm, Marauders v Minotaurs took place on Tuesday in constant rain which generally was light but there were a couple of heavy showers. In the first pair of games Minotaurs, Jayne & Bernard, very quickly found themselves 0-8 down against Marauders, Phil & Gill. Minotaurs, needing to do something, swapped the order of play and then only conceded one more point to take the game 13-9. On the other piste Marauders, Tom & Amanda, were struggling against Pete & Rose but the stuck to the task and slowly clawed their way back into the game before eventually running out winners by 13-11 in a very exciting finish leaving the halfway score at 1-1 [22-25] with a small points advantage to Minotaurs.

On the restart, Jayne & Bernard crawled to a 6-0 lead over Tom & Amanda taking one point at a time. Marauders then won a couple of ends before Minotaurs took a 4 and closed out the game 13-5. In the final game Pete & Rose were struggling against Phil & Gill finding themselves 5-12 down. When they took a four there was a glimmer of hope but losing the next end gave the game to Marauders by 13-9. The overall score was 2-2 [40-46] which at least improved Minotaurs points difference on a night when a win would have secured them the Super League title for the second year in succession.

Last night Meteors played Monarchs. Rob and Melys took an early lead for Meteors against Sean and Mike, and never looked back. They maintained the pressure for a thumping 13-2 win for Meteors, evidence that the Meteors are a force to be reckoned with. In the other game, Meteors didn’t really get started and Ben and Steve went down 1-13 to Monarchs two Rogers. So at the turnaround the score was 1-1 [14-15] – game on!

After the break, the two Rogers took on Rob and Melys and won 13-1. Could Meteors Ben and Steve beat Sean and Mike and squeeze a draw? The signs were good when Meteors took an early lead, but Sean and Mike then pulled off a six pointer and eventually won 13-5. The final result was a 3-1 [41-20] win to Monarchs.

So on to the climax of the season in two weeks when Minotaurs v Monarchs will decide the winners of the 2021 Super League. Its too close to call who will pick up the title and will depend on which team rises to the occasion.