The ECR interest in the EPA KO competition has come to an end with our last representatives Towers PC losing 4-3 to the very strong Half Crown PC, from Stockton, Warwickshire.
The Towers team did very well to get to the last 16 and here is a report from Barrie Lucas on their final match.

Well, I suppose it had to end in tears, sometime, but why today?

The Towers six of Peter Way, Gus Garland, Eric & Pauline Taylor and Audrey and Barrie Lucas made the two hour trek into the wild unknown north of the Watford Gap to play in the last 16 against the Half Crown Pétanque Club at Stockton in Warwickshire.

The day started with the ice being scraped from the car windscreens and although the temperatures in Stockton were much the same, the welcome was no-where near as frosty.

The terrains are interesting. One was flat, with subtle contours and the other like the side of a hill where the boule’s rolled on and on. Both terrains started frozen solid, but with the top area of the hill exposed to January sunshine that pitch was like the curate’s egg……. “good in parts”.

One of the triples was played on the flat and the other on the slope.
It was not just “Home Advantage” which came into play here; it also had something to do with the quality of the opposition. We went down 2-0. Not the start that we wanted………
With the sun gaining ground, the terrains began to thaw and we were into a whole new ball game.

Am I looking for excuses?

From the three doubles games, we won only one, Pauline Taylor and Peter Way beat Jean-Marie Barbillon and Wendy Brittain 13-9.
The Towers teams won the two reverse triples, so, with having lost one of the Doubles games 13-11, there were thoughts of what might have been……
Although we feel humbled, we do not feel ashamed.
We were beaten by a better squad – Richard & Caroline Powell, Jerome Rousseau, Jean-Marie Barbillon, Philipe Bonnet, Dave Hancox, John Emberton & Wendy Brittain.

We wish them well in their next encounter.