At the end of Day 1 of the 2019 Home Nations, Wales had pulled back a little and are now in 3rd Place. There is still everything to play for with England on 28 wins, Jersey on 27 and Wales not that far behind on 22 with Scotland trailing on 19. It is certainly the closest Home Nations at this stage for a number of years. It is essential Wales get a good start on Day 2.
Wales’ early promise after Round 1 faded away and after the morning’s play on Day 1 they found themselves trailing if last place.
The 2019 Home Nations competition gets underway this morning at Monkstone PC.
For all information and live score updates follow this link to the WPA web site
The European Cup for Club Teams, or EuroCup as it is also known, is specifically for CEP Federation Club teams. The first EuroCup Championship was held in 1998 with just five Federation club teams. This year, 2019, saw 27 teams enter, with Monkstone Pétanque representing Wales. Peter Kensett, Sean Smith, Jayne Dunn, Tony Smith, Roger Green, Roger Griffin, and Vickie and Bernard Adshead made up the team with Judith Smith as team manager. The Wales team were in Group C along with Belgium, Sweden, Russia, Finland, England and Austria, and played at Pachy Waterloo PC, Belgium. Visit the CEP site https://www.cep-petanque.com/eurocup.html, for full details of teams, results and pictures. Also visit our Facebook for a full set of photos https://www.facebook.com/pg/MonkstonePetanque/
Team players Roger Green and Jayne Dunn, with lone supporter Barbara, were travelling by train and due to the very high temperatures of over 37˚ trains stopped working causing them all to get very hot and bothered, and delayed. Those choosing to travel under water did better!
Thursday morning saw us all travel to Pachy Pétanque Club, which was very conveniently placed close to the Ibis Hotel where we were staying. Practice duly took place but due to the high temperatures, it was decided to practice only for a couple of hours before the first of 6 “Encounters” (comprising Triples, Singles and Doubles). Games were all scheduled to be played under cover due to the high temperatures. However, it was still extremely hot inside as the Boulodrome had a tin roof, and of course no air conditioning! Gallons of water were consumed over the weekend. The pistes were very challenging, and the play was of very high standard. However, Monkstone PC did themselves proud with everybody in the team being in winning games and only one “fanny”, gracefully taken by Bernard for the sake of the team.
The first Encounter on Thursday afternoon saw the team face Baldock Town PC, England. Jayne’s play was outstanding, winning her singles 13 v 4 against Emma Coggins. Roger Griffin and Vickie had a great game losing only by 2 points in their doubles match.
Our second Encounter of the competition on Friday morning against PC Viener Trilogie, from Austria, saw both Tony and Vickie win their singles, with Roger Green gaining 11 points, Roger Griffin 10, Sean 8 and Bernard 7. A very good result! Friday afternoon the team played against Finland’s PSC Järvenpää. A tough bunch of players but Roger Green and Peter won their doubles and credible scores were obtained in the singles and triples.
Saturday saw an Encounter for the team against Pachy Waterloo, the home team from Belgium. What a team – some of them looked like a team of Olympic shot-putters! Roger Green, Sean and Bernard put up the strongest fight, obtaining 7 points in their triples. Peter Kensett gave the fearsome Ibrahima Diallo a run for his money, trying to talk his way out of his singles game but it was futile as the team had truly met their “Pétanque Waterloo”, going down fighting all the way! Although the Encounter was one of the most difficult of the competition, it was also one of the most enjoyable, and played in good spirit. The afternoon saw the team having a well-deserved rest to gather their strength for the remaining Encounters against Russia and Sweden.
With renewed vigour Sunday morning, the team faced their “friends” Buddy Moscow. Russia tried to dazzle the team with their bright team shirts as well as dancing and canoodling on the piste (causing Jayne and myself to check the rules for “sex on the piste” but to no avail!). But they couldn’t put the team off. Tony and Roger Green both won their singles 13 v 4. Roger and Sean won their doubles 13 v 9, and Roger Griffin and Vickie 13 v 8, even if it did take them 2 hours and delayed the whole competition. The best result of the tournament.
The final game against Sweden Sörbyängens Bouleklub saw Bernard win the only game in this Encounter, singles 13 v 6, ending the game with a spot carreau. Just goes to show you, like the Swedish you need to start playing when you are 7 years old!
All home now and looking forward to the National Triples on Sunday with everyone vowing to practice, practice, practice.
Judith
