Monkstone Pétanque Club

The first 2 matches in the 2018 Welsh Cup for Clubs took place at Creigiau Petanque Club today. In the opening match between Pontyclun and Penarth, Pontyclun won 4 of the 6 first round singles to give them an 8 game points to 4 lead, a lead they never relinquished running out winners by 22 game points to 9.

The second match was between Pontyclun & Monkstone and this time it was Monkstone who got off to a flying start with a 4-2 win in the singles to take an 8 game points to 4 lead. With 3 points per game in the doubles Monkstone were hoping to take at least 2 of the 3 games to consolidate their lead whereas 3 wins would have been enough to win the match Unfortunately only Vickie Adshead & Roger Griffin in the mixed doubles were able to bring home the points leaving Monkstone with a slender 11 game points to 10 lead. In the triples there were 5 points per game on offer but, with only 2 games, Monkstone had to win only one game to take the match. Roger Griffin, Vickie Adshead and Bernard Adshead game out of the blocks with all guns blazing and very quickly established an 11-0 lead. Pontyclun took 2 points on the next end but Monkstone closed the game out 13-2. In the mixed triples, Tony Smith, Sean Smith and Jayne Dunn lead for most of the game but were just pipped at post by 13-12 giving Monkstone an overall victory by 16 game points to 15.

It’s back to Creigiau next week for the final match between Monkstone and Penarth. A win for Monkstone will see them crowned as Welsh Cup for Club Champions. A win for Penarth would give each team 1 win and something like the Duckworth Lewis formula comes into play.

The full Monkstone team for today’s match was:

Roger Griffin (c), Bernard Adshead (vc), Tony Smith, Roger Green, Peter Kensett, Sean Smith, Jayne Dunn and Vickie Adshead.

The 2018 Club Doubles were held today. After a chilly start the weather brightened and the sun finally came out. 20 club members contested the doubles and the 10 pairs were drawn out of a “virtual” hat with 1st Division players seeded to avoid them playing together. The competition was in the form of a melee (not surprisingly one definition of melee is “a confused crowd of people”) where the pairs remained together for all three games.

Before play got underway, players were delighted to see that Club Secretary, Roger, had turned chef and produced hot dogs with all the accoutrements. Fortified by these delicacies, the first round, timed at 40 minutes, got underway. At the end of the round, Phil Roberts & Vickie Adshead had got themselves into pole position with a 13-1 win over Carol Maroney & Peter Kensett closely followed by Lynda Hodges & Roger Green who ran out 13-3 winners over John Maroney & Gareth Spencer.

A second timed round was more closely fought than the first with the best winning score being 13-6 by Tom Mills & Keith Nott over the unfortunate John & Gareth – it seems it just wasn’t their day. There were only 3 pairs on 2 wins and these were led by Lynda & Roger on +15, closely followed by Tom & Keith on +14 and Sean Smith & Roger Griffin on +12.

So into the final un-timed round where Tom & Keith put themselves into an almost unassailable lead with a rapid 13-3 win over Michelle Spencer and Mike Wigg for a total of +24. Could either of the other pairs eclipse this fine result? The first to fall were Sean & Roger who quickly conceded 4 points against Bill Mains and Ian Baildon-Smith which meant they could not overtake Tom & Keith even though they eventually won 13-9. All eyes were on Lynda & Roger but they too succumbed, going down 6-13 to Phil & Vickie. So the final result was confirmed as:

President Mike gave thanks to everyone for taking part and to Roger for providing the hot dogs before congratulating Tom & Keith on becoming 2018 Doubles Champions and presenting them with the doubles trophy and individual plaques to commemorate their win.

So its on to the Club Triples on 4 November 2018.

There was a fantastic turn-out last Sunday for our melee with nearly 30 players participating. It was a pleasure to be joined by Tansy and Paul from Caerleon with their Finnish friends, Tony and Kimmo. But all the honours went to three club players who were the only players to win all their matches. Congratulations to Ian Baildon-Smith (1st), Phil Roberts (2nd) and Vickie Adshead (3rd).

Monkstone entered 2 full teams and Tony Smith played in a composite team at today’s Caerleon Open Triples. 18 teams battled it out all day under the blazing sun. After the mornings snake competition Barney’s Rabble (John Barnes, Roger Green, Keith Nott, Peter Kensett) and Monkstone Marvels (Vickie Adshead, Peredur John, Bernard Adshead) finished 10th and 11th respectively putting them in the Silver Competition.

Both teams won their Quarter Finals, but the Marvels run came to an end in the Semi Final against the Vikings. They made a spirited recovery from 12-2 down to pull the score up to 12-9 when unfortunately with all the momentum with them, they ran out of time. Barney’s Rabble won their Semi Final and faced the Marvels conquerors, the Vikings, in the Final. Barney’s Rabble struggled to get going and found themselves 7 points behind. They then got their act together and clawed their way back into the game (no doubt the Vikings had been softened up by the Marvels recovery in the previous game) and eventually ran out 13-11 winners.

Thanks to Caerleon – especially organiser Tansy – for a great day’s boules,

With the mid-point of the 2018 League season reached the following is a brief review of how our 5 teams are getting on.

FIRST DIVISION

The Monarchs started well and were top of the division for a couple of weeks. Results in recent weeks have fallen away slightly and they are now lying in 3rd place in the league. In the Cup/Plate the Monarchs suffered a surprise defeat away to Creigiau Crusaders.

The Minotaurs have struggled a bit but have recorded 4 draws and a win out of the 7 games played. Except for 1 week, they have regularly been in the next to bottom slot, which is where they are now lying. In the Preliminary Round of the Cup they had an easy win away to Barnes Wallace as the opponents could only field 3 players. In the next round they face the Monarch’s conquerors, Creigiau Crusaders, at home.

SECOND DIVISION

The Marauders, led this year by Phil Roberts, have not had the best of starts winning 1 match and getting 3 draws. They are currently next to bottom in the division. In the Cup, the Marauders had a bye in the Preliminary Round and now face third division side Monkstone Inn Youth away in Round 1.

THIRD DIVISION

The Musketeers have struggled to get a team together some weeks but have always made it in the end. This reflected in their 6th place in the table. Hopefully with 5 new players having joined, or about to join, the Club, the situation will be eased for the Musketeers and the other teams in Division 2 & 3. In the Preliminary Round of Cup the Musketeers lost in a difficult away tie to first division side Wenvoe Dragons.

The Mystics, led this year by Judith Smith, have had an excellent first half of the season and currently lie in 3rd place with 2 wins and 4 draws. In the Preliminary Round of Cup the Mystics came out on top against fellow third division side, Penarth Panthers. In Round 1 they have a more difficult tie at home to Maesteg who are running away with Division 2, not having dropped a point at the halfway stage.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE TEAMS FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON