Braintree & District
The Braintree & District Petanque League caters for clubs in the North East of the region. There are 2 leagues, Summer commencing during April and Winter commencing in October
BDPL 18/2/08
Of the four teams battling it out for the runners up spot in the Braintree & District Petanque
League, only Colne Angel managed a win. This was a good away win over third placed Rayne Swan 1 which
started well with a 13-10 win in the triples. Colne went into a 9-1 lead but despite making a fight of
it and getting back to 10-11 Lorne Gibson, Beryl Gibson & Adam Buxton could go no further, losing out
to Viv Middleton-Sams, Dave Mark & Simon Bird.
Mark & Middleton-Sams dominated the doubles winning 13-5 for Colne, so it was left to Lorne Gibson to
salvage a point in the singles. This he did when he came back from 9-4 down to go 12-9 up and held on
to win 13-11 against Bird.
Rayne Cock 1 who are also in contention came unstuck at Feering Bell. The Bell triple of Bird, Pearse
& Winter started well establishing an 8–1 lead. The Cock triple of O’Sullivan, Wilsdon & Linehan
picked up 5 at the next end when Bird dropped short with the coche. However with good play from
Bird & Winter the Bell re-established their advantage 11-6. The Cock triple refused to be beaten,
twice saving the game with their last boule and pulled it back to 12–11. However, where before the
Bell may have capitulated they held their nerve to pick up the last point 13–11.
Bird & Winter maintained their good form in the doubles to secure a surprising 13–3 win against
O’Sullivan & Wilsdon who are the top doubles players of the campaign, having lost only one game all
season.
In the singles Pearse couldn’t make it a clean sweep as Linehan out played him to a 6–12 lead. A
brief rally saw Pearse pull back to 9–12 before Linehan pointed in for a well deserved win.
Well done Feering Bell for winning their final two games in their first season of playing and we
look forward to more wins in the summer.
The Onley Arms and Rayne Swan 2 teams observed a minutes silence in memory of John Boreham before
their game at Stisted.
In the triples, it was the visitors, Dennis and Tom Smith plus Trevor Turner who adapted best to the
frozen terrain, winning 13-2.
The doubles saw Tracey Austin and Daniel Blows take a 6-4 lead but Turner and Tom Smith took nine
from two ends to win the game.
It was left to home captain, Trevor Brenson, to secure a point
for the Onley. In a close game, Dennis Smith took the first four points. Brenson came back to lead
5-4 then 10-7, only for Smith to take three to even it up. It was Brenson that came out on top,
taking three from the next two ends to win 13-10.
