Monkstone Pétanque Club

The 2022 Club Triples were held on Sunday 6 November 2022 but heavy rain threatened to nip the competition in the bud, but the eight teams taking part braved the elements with aplomb. Each team of three had been randomly selected to reflect a balance of skills, with an experienced player as captain.

In the first round, as the puddles on the pistes increased in number, the victors were Team A (Mike Jones, Wiggy and Paul Pursey), Team D (Gill Greenwell, Beryl and Margaret), Team E (Gill Clark, Peter Kensett and John Xiberras) and Team H (Roger Griffin, John Maroney and Leon Sofianos).

In Round 2 Mike’s team reduced Gill Clark’s chances by winning 13/7 while, in a low-scoring game, Roger’s team did the same to Gill Greenwell, winning 9/5. But Team Jayne Dunn and Team Phil Roberts recorded their first wins.

In the third and final round Jayne Dunn and Gill Clark both won their games to register two wins each. However, with Mike Jones and Roger Griffin already on two wins, it was clear that one of them would be the ultimate winner because they were playing each other! Team Roger took an early lead and looked comfortable, but the jitters took hold and Mike’s team begun to close the gap. Unfortunately, a bad end spoiled their chances of taking advantage, and Roger, John and Leon were relieved to point in for the game and the trophy, winning 13/9.

The final results of the top four teams were as follows:

1^st Roger Griffin, John Maroney, Leon Sofianos (3 wins, 35-19, +16)

2^nd Mike Jones, Mike Wigg, Paul Pursey (2 wins, 35-27, +8)

3^rd Gill Clark, Peter Kensett, John Xiberras (2 wins, 33-25, +8)

4^th Jayne Dunn, Ash Seath, Derek Dyer (2 wins, 30-27, +3)

President Mike with Winners John, Leon & Roger

Round 5 of the Super League, due to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, was totally washed out by the weather. Marauders & Meteors had to move their match from Tuesday to Friday morning and Monarchs & Minotaurs moved from Wednesday to Thursday evening.

Monarchs v Minotaurs proved to be an eventful match with Keith Nott having to be substituted at the break with a twisted knee, which swelled up painfully, and Mike Wigg taking a nasty tumble. Minotaurs are still considering whether to take an illegal substitution in doubles to the Court for Arbitration in Sport – if they can find the ££££££££££ they will need in lawyers’ fees! Oh! – and there was some pétanque played. Roger Griffin and Keith Nott saw a 7-0 lead nearly overtaken by Barney and Carol Maroney, before scoring a 4 and 2 to win 13-6. Roger Green and Wiggy had a similar game with Peter Kensett and Rose Fiera, who was pointing really well, before stretching ahead to win 13-7.

After the break, Minotaurs Peter and Rose took an early lead against substitute Mike Jones and Roger Griff but the Monarchs pair put on a spurt and won 13-5. Monarchs Roger Green and Wiggy were caught twice by Barney and Carol, but eventually won 13-6. The final result was 4-0 to the Monarchs (52-24).

Friday morning saw Marauders finally take on Meteors.  As this was a alongside the normal Friday roll-up, there was a small but knowledgeable crowd (they think) and the play generally matched the sparkling weather.  They were treated to elegant pointing and brutal shooting some of which actually landed on target!

And so, to the scores.  On piste one, Marauders Phil Roberts and Carol (“Wasn’t she playing last night?) Maroney went into a substantial early lead but Ash Seath and Katrina Munro clawed their way back and eventually ran out winners 13-10.  Meanwhile on piste 3 Gill Clark and Keith Thomas got their noses in front and went on to win against Meteors Richard King and Melys Phinnemore by 13-5.  All square then at the half point. 

Ash and Katrina got off to a good start for Meteors on piste 3 and although Keith and Gill staged a comeback, Meteors went on to win 13-7.  The final match on piste 1 went down to the wire.  Marauders Phil and Carol were always in the lead but Richard and Melys  refused to lie down and came back at Marauders. With Marauders having game on the floor at 12-11, Marauders managed to move the cosh to give 2 points to Meteors which they were unable to retrieve going down 11-13 in what was a thrilling match and much appreciated by the aforesaid knowledgeable crowd.  So…an honourable draw and a very enjoyable encounter for players and spectators alike.   

Tuesday 25 October saw the start of round 4 of the Super League with a match between Meteors and Mystics, the 2 teams created for the Super League and with both teams looking for their first win.

The first half saw Meteors’ Ash and Richard take on Tony N and Rob while over on the other piste, Alex S and Ian McC were facing Mystics’ Ros and Derek.  Both matches were hard fought up to the mid-point but, in the end, Meteors pulled ahead and won 13–6 and 13–7 respectively. 2 – 0 at the turn around but still plenty to encourage the Mystics for the second half.

Meteors’ Alex and Ian ran out winners by 13-4 against Tony & Rob in their second match whilst probably the best encounter came in the final match on piste 3 which went down to the wire with the tape measure much in evidence.  It was all square at 9 – 9 and it could have gone either way but a final end of 4 points gave Ash and Richard a hard-fought win over Mystics’ Ros and Derek and an overall 4-0 win to the Meteors.  

 Wednesday evening pitted Monarchs, fresh after their bye last week, against Marauders. The Marauders, having already earned a draw against Division 2 rivals Minotaurs, were looking to inflict pain and suffering on the Monarchs whilst Monarchs were looking to keep their 100% record. The match began and it was soon realised that pistes 1 and 3 were at their unpredictable best. Monarchs’ Mike W and Roger Green played cautiously against Judith and Phil. Some good pointing from both sides made it quite tense from the start but a quick succession of point gains saw Monarchs ease to a 13-4 win. Meanwhile, Mike J. and Sean were up against Tom and Amanda. The marauding pair immediately imposed themselves on the game and proved to be very impressive with their pointing/shooting. Mike found piste 1 very testing and could not match Amanda’s pointing. At 3-3 the Marauders turned the screw and left Mike & Sean in their wake to win 13-4.

At 1-1, the match was evenly balanced. Who would prove to be the more determined, or luckier, and push for the victory?   Roger & Wiggy showed consistent skills but were matched by Marauders’ Tom and Amanda. With the game evenly balanced from the start, Monarchs managed to pull ahead to win 13-7.  Mike & Sean really needed to improve as a win would give overall match victory whilst Phil and Judith were keen to get the draw and proved their determination right from the start. Some better play by Monarchs made for an exciting game. Neither team would relent and at 10-8 the game was delicately poised. In the next end, with Monarchs holding one, Mike had the chance to point in with his two remaining boules to secure a win which, to the surprise of the crowd, and Sean, he managed to achieve. Victory for the Monarchs at 13-8 and an overall 3-1 match win.

Both of this week’s matches had been keenly fought – to the victors the spoils but it always takes 2 teams to make a good match so well done to the losers.     

Round 3 of the Super League got under way on Tuesday night in relatively calm conditions with Marauders v Mystics. The first two games saw Marauders, Tom & Amanda, up against Ros & Beryl with Gill C & Keith T v Ian Mc & Derek. The early stages of both games were fairly even with some great pétanque play from both teams. Despite some quality pointing from Ros & Beryl, Marauders pulled away to achieve an impressive 13 – 5 win helped by some fine shooting by Tom. On the other piste, Mystics continued to edge a tight game until Keith & Gill forged ahead to a well-earned 13- 7 win.

After a comfort break and recharge, Tom & Amanda demonstrated their experience and skill to dominate their game against Ian & Derek to walk away with a comfortable 13-1 score despite the Mystics best efforts. In the other game, Keith demonstrated some excellent pointing that dominated the 2^nd half of the game and put the Mystic ladies under pressure for Marauders to win 13-5.

Wednesday night’s fixture pitted Meteors against Minotaurs who were still smarting from being held to a draw by Mystics last week. In the first pair of games Meteors Ash and Steve Hawkey took on Jayne & Bernard whilst on the other piste, Katrina & Richard came up against Pete K & Barney. Meteors, Ash & Steve never really got into the game and Minotaurs romped to a comfortable 13-3 win. The other game was a lot tighter with Pete K & Barney being held by Meteors, Katrina & Richard, until the mid-point when they managed to pull away to take the game 13-6.  The games had been punctuated by rolls of thunder, a bolt of lightning and a very brief heavy shower.

The reverse games got underway and, on Piste 1, Minotaurs romped into a 9-0 lead against Ash & Steve. Determined not to suffer another heavy loss Meteors clawed their way back into the game winning 3 or 4 consecutive ends before Pete and Barney recovered their composure to register a 13-9 win. On Piste 3, Katrina & Richard put up a titanic struggle with some great play, even leading at one point, until , at 8-8, they couldn’t sustain their challenge and Jayne & Bernard pulled away to finish 13-8. 

Well done to Marauders & Minotaurs for well-deserved wins. It was great to see a number of members supporting the teams on both nights so, after these performances,  don’t miss next week’s Mystics v Meteors which should be a great game to watch –  your scribe will be checking Portuguese TV channels to see if they have picked up on it!

Please excuse the brevity of this post but your reporter forgot to take the results sheets away with him and is filing this report from memory on a ferry in the middle of a very lumpy Bay of Biscay.

A tremendous turnout on Sunday on a lovely sunny day for the 2022 Club Doubles when 32 players made up 16 doubles pairs. As has become the norm the competition was played as a doubles melee with the 32 players being seeded into 2 groups of 16 and the teams being drawn at random, one player from each group.

After Round 2, only 4 teams had registered 2 wins and, unless something exceptional happened, it was almost certain that the winners would come from one of these 4.

The final round was played out and, on its conclusion, one of the 4 teams, Phil “Trying for a 3rd win” Roberts and Beryl McCarthy had fallen at the last hurdle. This left 3 teams in with a chance of winning – Mike Jones & Alex Skibinski, Sean Smith & Leon Sofianos and Ash Seath & Ian Campbell.

There was hushed silence and a drum roll as the Organiser stepped out of his lair to announce the results. In a never heard of situation, all 3 teams had finished on 3 wins and +21., so it was down to countback. Unfortunately Ash & Ian hadn’t reached 13 in one of their games so they were eliminated which meant that it came down to points against. Mike & Alex had been romping to a possible fanny in their last game but conceded 3 points right at the end and it was this that cost them the title as they went down by 2 points to Sean & Leon who were crowned as 2022 Club Doubles champions.

Well done to the winners but especially to Leon who has only been playing for a few months. Following Ian McCarthy’s win in the President’s cup, its great so see another new player with his name on a trophy.

President Mike presents the trophy to Sean & Leon