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.
