Sunday saw the first of three qualifiers where teams were competing to win the right to represent the Eastern Counties Region in the Inter-Regional competition in September.

Two teams lead the table on 4 wins with Aved just pipping Onley on points difference. In Aved’s first game against Chequers they went 5-0 down, but it became a close game which swung both ways, and with the teams level at 10all, Aved completed their comeback winning 13-10. After that Aved (Adam Buxton, Michelle Eve, Lee Dodge and Vince Schofield) were untroubled in their remaining games.
Onley (Stisted) had a very poor start to their day losing 13-0 to the Lions from Brentwood but won their next four games with some good all-round team play. From 4-0 down in their second game against the fancied Victorians 1, the team of Lorne Gibson, Daniel and Trevor Blows pointed well and produced a solid team effort to take the game 13-6. Onley’s fourth game produced the closest finish. Taking a 12-3 lead against Rayne Angels, the shooting of Colin Sams produced a six for the Angels who then clawed back to 12-12, even missing the chance to win the game. At the final end, the Onley just did enough to take the point to win 13-12.
Next come 5 teams with 3 wins apiece and in third place on points difference are Rayne Angels, who had Colin Sams in excellent shooting form, and who so nearly made it 5 wins on the day, with 2 losses of 13-12. They are closely followed by Colne Angels who finished the day on a high with a 13-8 win over the Lions, who ended up just behind them in 5th. Chequers from Gt Tey started and ended with losses but did well in the middle to finish in 6th spot. Victorians 1 from Theydon Bois take 7th place with their best play coming after lunch. Francois Bourquin, playing his first game in the senior ranks, performed very well to keep his team in the running for a top 8 place.
Next come four teams with 2 wins each and the best of those are Campetanque from Cambridge who sneak in to the top 8 by just 2 points. Campetanque returning to the regional scene after a few years out, defeated Feering Sun and Boules Up. It was almost 3 wins when they were leading Thorley 2 from Bishops Stortford in their final game 12-3. Thorley decided their only option was to take an aggressive approach and proceeded to shoot everything. The strategy paid off as they caught up and won 13-12.
The teams who finish in the next four places will play in the Challenge Cup and at the moment these are held by Towers 2, Thorley 2, Victorians 2 and Boules Up, but all to play for in the next qualifier in June.
The junior team of Harry Waldie, Gavin and Chris Wilmot, Jack Pearse and Sam Newman had an excellent start to the day with a win over Colne Angel. In a very long game Waldie and the Wilmot twins kept plugging away, keeping their concentration to run out 13-10 winners. Although this was the boy’s only win of the day, there were some good performances, most notably the one against the top team of Aved. In this game Gavin Wilmot, Jack Pearse and Sam Newman played very well to take 8 points off the leaders. The future looks bright with this bunch of competitive, well behaved youngsters keen to impress and improving with every game.