Monkstone Pétanque Club

The second leg of the annual Winter Friendly against Caerleon RFC PC was played today at a rather chilly Caerlon but at least the rain held off untill the last 30 mins or so.

In order to involve as may players as possible, it was agreed to increase the number of games from the usual format to:  12 x Singles, 7 x Doubles, 5 x Triples.

Monkstone were 12 points down from the first leg but closing the gap, particularly with the extra games, was by no means an impossible task.

The opening Singles went well for Monkstone with a 7-5 [14pts to 10pts] win during which Phil Roberts beat Gemma Foster [13-12] for the third successive time and Vickie Adshead beat Steve Snudden [13-4] to record an unexpected, particularly by her, win. Monkstone had made up 4 of the 12 point deficit. 

The Doubles, which hadn’t gone well for Monkstone in the 1st Leg, went even better that the singles this time round with the away team winning 5-2 [15pts to 6pts] giving Monkstone a 1 point overall lead in the competition. Beryl McCarthy continued her winning run in the doubles from the 1st Leg, this time showing Bernard Adshead how to point, in a 13-10 win. 

So onto the Triples where Monkstone needed to win at 3 out of 5 games to win the trophy for the 3rd successive year.  Ultimately Monkstone fell just short by taking only 2 of the 5 triples and so losing the competition by 4 points [64 – 68] but took some consolation from winning on the 2nd Leg [39 – 31].

A terrific effort by the whole team paricularly the less experienced players who found themselves drawn against Caerleon’s top players. 

The competitive but friendly spirit that this fixture has become accustomed to continues but the time had come for Monkstone Captain, Bernard, to hand over the trophy to Caerleon Captain, Kon Tomczyk, while asking him to look after it as we want it back next year!

Kon Tomczyk, Keith Wanklyn (Caerleon V-Chair) & Bernard Adshead

Many many thanks to all those who took part over the two legs and I hope that the less experienced players got something out the competition.

FULL RESULTS of the 2 legs

The 10th and final round of the 2022 Super League took place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Whilst the top and bottom places in the league were already decided, their were a number of scenarios, as set out in the Round 9 report, for the three teams in the middle leaving it uncertain who would finish 2nd, 3rd or 4th.

Tuesday saw a fine but very chilly evening when Monarchs took on Minotaurs who, realistically needed a minimum of a draw to remain in 2nd place and a win to definitely take 2nd spot. When the match started at 6:30pm no one could imagine the titanic struggle that was about to unfold. Monarchs were represented by Sean Smith & Keith Nott and Roger Griffin & Mike Wigg whilst Minotaurs fielded John Barnes & Pete Kensett and Vickie & Bernard Adshead. 

In the first round, Roger & Mike took on Barney & Pete. Monarchs started strongly and opened up a  sizeable lead but Minotaurs got back in the game with a 5. Roger & Mike pulled ahead again but Barney & Pete stuck at it to level the scores at 12-12. Minotaurs, however, couldn’t quite sustain the recovery and went down 12-13 after an exciting match. That was nothing, however, to what was developing on the other piste. Vickie & Bernard opened the scoring with a 1 and so they continued, when, with the score at 9-9 they had actually won 9 ends out of the 15 ends played and the game had lasted 90 minutes up to that point! The game continued with Minotaurs finally breaking their run of 1’s by taking a 2 but this was followed immediately by Sean & Keith taking 2 for 11-11. Vickie & Bernard managed to continue the new sequence of taking 2 to close out the game at 13-11 after 2hrs 5mins play in what was possibly the longest game ever seen at Monkstone.  The players from the other game had been sat in the cold for over 1 hour but, at 1-1, it was all to play for!

The first leg of the annual Winter Friendly against Caerleon RFC PC was played today at a rather chilly Monkstone under leaden skies.

The usual format for this fixture was to be used  –  12 x Singles, 6 x Doubles, 4 x Triples.

The opening Singles were won by Monkstone by 7-5 [14pts to 10pts] during which Ash Seath won his first ever competitive game of singles and Phil Roberts beat Gemma Foster for the second season running. 

The Doubles didn’t go quite so well for Monkstone who lost by 2-4 [6pts to 12pts] leaving them equal on games at 9-9 with an aggregate deficit of 2pts [20pts to 22pts]. Monkstone’s two wins were in the mixed doubles where Beryl McCarthy, admirably partnered by Mike Jones, won her first competitive game of doubles against another club.

So onto the Triples where Monkstone needed to win at 3 out of 4 games to take a lead into the second or at least win 2 to go to Caerleon early next year with only a 2pt deficit. Mike Jones had “retired” after the doubles and was replaced in the squad by Sean Smith. Unfortunately Monkstone were unable to reach even their minimum target going down 1-3 [5pts to 15 pts] with the established trio of Roger Griffin and Vickie & Bernard Adshead being the only winners. This left Monkstone with an overall deficit of 12pts [25-37] and a lot to do in the 2nd leg. 

As usual the match was played in a friendly, but competitive, spirit. A big thank-you to all those who took part especially the less experienced players who were playing their first competitive match against another club – they all played their part. 

FULL RESULTS

Round 9 of the Super League took place on a rather chilly Wednesday evening and was another double banked affair as the Monarchs v Marauders clash due on Tuesday evening was postponed due to the Wales v England clash in the World Cup.

In the postponed game the following players were in action: Marauders – Phil Roberts & Keith Thomas and Gill Clark & Amanda Jenkins; Monarchs – Roger Griffin & Tony Smith and Roger Green & Keith Nott.

Round 7 of the Super League took place on Tuesday evening and was a double banked affair as the Meteors v Monarchs clash due on Wednesday evening was brought forward in view of the forecast of very poor weather on Wednesday.

Meteors pairings comprised Ash Seath & Steve Hawkey and Melys Phinnemore & Ian Campbell, while Monarchs fielded Roger Griffin & Mike Jones and Keith Nott & Mike Wigg. Melys and Ian played a tight game against Roger and Mike, and with the score at 9-7 to Monarchs it could have gone either way. But good pointing from Mike secured 4 points and the game. It was 5-5 in the other game until Monarchs took the lead 8-5, but Meteors Ash and Steve fought back to within two points. However, Keith and Wiggy kept their nerve to win 13-8.

After the changeover, Melys and Ian were playing well and in the lead against Keith and Wiggy, until Monarchs took 4. With Monarchs now leading 11-7, Wiggy shot the coche in spectacular fashion (that’s his version) to secure the win. In the final game, Ash and Steve were 4-0 up on the first end and kept the lead for most of the game. Mike and Roger then swapped roles and started to come back, finally taking the game 13-10.

In the fixture that was scheduled for Tuesday, Minotaurs took on Mystics who were looking to improve on their draw with Minotaurs earlier in the competition. Minotaurs Barney and Peter K took on the McCarthy duo, Ian & Beryl. Despite some good pointing by Mystics, Barney & Pete took control and ran out 13-7 winners. On the other piste Jayne & Bernard came up against Mystics, Gill Greenwell and Tony Newton. Minotaurs started well but were overhauled by the Gill & Tony combo and soon found themselves 8-12 down. 2 on the next end closed the gap and when this was followed by a 3, the game was up for Mystics going down by the narrowest of margins, 12-13.

When the match resumed Mystics Gill & Tony were nip and tuck with Barney and Pete but the canny Minotaurs managed to pull ahead and closed out the game 13-9. It was déjà vu for Minotaurs Jayne & Bernard against the McCarthy pair. Minotaurs again established an early lead but Mystics got themselves back into the game and edged in front. The McCarthys extended their lead and for the second game in a row Jayne & Bernard found themselves 8-12 down – surely they couldn’t escape again. Minotaurs took a 1 in the next 2 ends and in the following end Beryl opened with 2 boules pointed to within 15 cms of the cosh. After missing almost everything all evening, Bernard suddenly came to life and shot them both out. The end continued and it was game on the floor for Mystics when Jayne, with 1 boule left, pointed onto the coche to give Minotaurs the point to take the score to 11-12. The McCarthys then had probably their worst end of the game and Jayne & Bernard took 2 points for 13-12 to complete their second remarkable recovery of the evening.

It is becoming obvious that both Meteors and Mystics are a force to be reckoned with. With a bit more experience of competition play and, occasionally, the right tactical choices, they will be running the established League teams a lot closer. On the current showings there is not much doubt that Monkstone will have at least one new team in the WPA League next season.