Today at the club we held the 1st leg of the second annual Winter Friendly against Caerleon. The match started in dry but quite cold weather until mid-morning the sun broke through when it warmed up considerably – at least for the time of year. The competition was played using the Cup for Clubs format but extended to 9 singles, 4 doubles and 3 triples. Using the C4C scoring system meant that there were 45 points on offer so 23 were needed for victory.

The singles got underway with Roger Griffin, Mike Jones, Roger Green, Gareth Spencer, Phil Roberts, Sean Smith, Michelle Spencer and Gill Greenwell playing in the open singles with Jayne Dunn filling the last spot in the Ladies singles. As the games progressed it looked as though Monkstone were building an early lead which they managed to maintain, winning 7 out of the 9 singles for a lead of 14 points to 4. Special mention should be made of Gill Greenwell who won her first ever singles game 13-9.

So it was onto the doubles with Roger Grif & Vickie Adshead forming the mixed pair with Sean Smith & Amanda Jenkins, Peter Kensett & Gill and Gareth & Jane McGirr forming the open pairs. It soon became obvious that this round was likely to be a lot closer than the singles with Monkstone up in 2 and down in 2. Roger & Vickie won quite convincingly by 13 -3 but the next 2 results went against Monkstone. The round was saved when the whistle blew with Gareth and Jane leading 8-4 for a second round draw of 6 points each and an overall score of 20 points to 10.

Being lunch time, this was an excellent time to have a break in play for hot soup, bread, cakes, mince pies etc which was very welcome as, despite the glorious sunshine, there was still a bit of a nip in the air. At the end of the break, President, Mike Jones, thanked everyone for coming to play and he also thanked Joy Griffin & Vickie for the hot soup and all those, including some from Caerleon, who had provided cakes and mince pies.

Resuming the match with triples, in which each encounter was worth 5 points, Monkstone only needed 1 win out of the 3 to reach the 23 points required for victory. Roger Green, Phil & Jayne formed the mixed triple whist the open triples were Bernard Adshead, Jane & Michelle and Peter, Amanda and Vickie. Could Monkstone secure the one win they needed. Things were looking good when the mixed team and B, J & M opened up leads over their opponents although they were behind in the other open triple.  As we approached the 60 minute time limit P, A & V had gone down 13-4 and just before the time was up R, P & J recorded a 13-9 win. B, J and M had lead 10-3 at one point against Tansy Mayfield, Gemma  & Sue Foster. A change in playing order by the Caerleon triple saw them come back to 10-8. Points went to both sides when, with Monkstone leading 12-10 and Caerleon holding 1 with a boule to come, the final whistle sounded – the last boule was thrown to try to secure a draw but it fell short and Monkstone held on for a 12-11 win.

So after this nail biting finish, Monkstone had won the 1st leg by 11 games to 5 and 30 points to 15, Well done to Monkstone especially our “new” ladies, Gill, Amanda & Jane  – but it’s not over yet. It’s on to the 2nd leg at Caerleon scheduled for 12 January 2020.

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On 17 November under clear skies (well it wasn’t raining!) the 2019 President’s Cup got underway with 21 members taking to the pistes.

After Round 1 there were 10 people on 1 win with points differences for +2 to +10. One of those on +10 was El Pres Mike who as usual was desperate to win his own cup. Could he keep it up and triumph in the end?

Round 2 got underway and as the scores came in some of the first round winners had fallen at the second hurdle with finally only 5 players from the original 10 recording a win. In third place was Phil Roberts (+15), second Jayne Dunn (+17) with the maestro himself, El Pres, leading the way on +19 – could he hold it together for a final push to the winning post, would Phil Roberts break through for his second title of the season or would one of the other 2 players on 2 wins, Roger Green & Tony Smith, pip them both. So many questions which could only be answered on the piste.

As the Round 3 results started to come through things started to get interesting as Roger Green threw down the gauntlet by recording his third win for a score of +15. Next in was Jayne who had gone down 8-13 and was out of the running. The final 3 players on 2 wins were all involved in very close 13-11 (or 11-13) games. First in was Tony Smith who had gone down 11-13 and fell out of contention. The only game left out on the piste was Mike Jones & Peter Kensett v Phil Roberts & Barbara Kensett, the winner of which would take the title as a positive points difference would mean either of them finished above Roger Green. The game swung to and fro with the lead changing hands a number of times but in the end, quelle horreur, El Pres had gone down 11-13 to leave Phil on  3 wins (+17) and the worthy winner of the 2019 President’s Cup. Well done Phil!

El Pres grudgingly handing over HIS trophy

                         Phil looking like the cat the got the cream                                                       with his second trophy of the season

10 November saw the second competition of the autumn series, the Club Doubles. Just as the previous week’s Triples, 24 members entered the competition. It was good to see brand new member, Amanda Jenkins taking part.

The first round saw wins for the following teams:

Vickie Adshead & Gill Clark; Peter Kensett & Andres Siso; Jayne Dunn & Gill Greenwell; Mike Wigg & Carol Maroney; Gareth Spencer & Peter David; Phil Roberts & Amanda Jenkins. Phil & Amanda were clear leaders with +7 followed by Peter and Andres on +5.

Round 2 got underway with Phil & Amanda pitted against Gareth & Peter whilst Peter & Andres took on Tony Smith & Ian Baildon Smith. Phil & Amanda ran out with a storming 13-1 win whilst Peter & Andres went down 10-13. This meant that the only teams on 2 wins were Jayne & Gill (+6), Vickie & Gill (+9) and Phil & Amanda (+19). It looked as though Phil & Amanda were nailed on for the title – could anyone stop them. President Mike’s hopes of winning had been blown out of the water with no wins in the first 2 rounds.

So it was into the deciding 3rd round and as the results started to come in it revealed that all three teams on 2 wins had lost so no team could get more than 2 wins. Had another team on 1 win come through and won in Round 3 by a sufficient margin to topple Amanda & Phil.

Bernard Adshead, who had been unable to take part, had taken over the role of scorer and, after all the results were in, he checked and double checked the totals before announcing the final positions.

Back in the clubhouse Phil & Amanda were declared the 2019 Club Doubles winners. Many congratulations to them both but particularly to Amanda for whom it was her first competition – other players better watch out for the new kid on the block!

President Mike Jones presents the trophy to Amanda & Phil

The full results were:

The first club competition of the autumn series saw an entry of 24 members, all clearly glad to have a fine day after so much rain recently. It made for a perfect number of 8 teams with each team having just one first division player. The pistes were wet in parts but quite playable.

The first round saw wins for the following teams:

Roger Green, Gill Clark and Barbara Kensett; Mike Jones, Lynda Hodges and Ben Bennett; Sean Smith, John Maroney and John Xiberras; and Barney, Tony Newton and Gill Greenwell.

In round 2 Roger Green’s team faced Team Sean and won by two points, while Mike Jones’s triple won their game comfortably. So, with Team Barney going down to a narrow defeat, only Roger and Mike had won their two games. But as they entered round 3, Team Mike had a superior points difference over Team Green. Which team would keep their nerve?

Team Mike’s opponents were Peter K, Sandy and John Chich who ended the President’s dream of winning the coveted trophy with a thumping 13-3 defeat. Meanwhile, Roger, Gill and Barbara cruised to a 13-1 victory in their game, emerging triumphant as the only team in the competition with three wins. Team Barney took second place on points, with Team Mike third.

So many congratulations to Roger, Gill and Barbara and thanks to everyone who took part in a really enjoyable competition. It was also a pleasure to see the return of Wiggy from foreign climes and it was typical of his generosity as a player not to trouble the scorer unduly.