After the snow of 2010, twelve players enjoyed cold but mostly dry weather for a melee competition held at Stisted Village hall.
The players were drawn into three groups of four. Three rounds of doubles were played in the morning with each individual partnering the other three in the group.
In group A, Dave Bird (Feering Bell) won all three games resulting in the Daniel Blows (Onley), David Adams (Bocking) and newcomer, Yvonne Clarembeaux, taking one win each.
Groups B and C proved the closest of all. In B, Pam Adams (Bocking), Phil Clarembeaux and Tom Winter (Feering Sun) all had two wins with John Perfect (Chequers) left pointless.
In C, Viv Sams (Bird in Hand), Keith Brandon (Chequers) and Dave Pearse (Feering Bell) all had two wins with Malcolm Smith (Bocking) the odd one out.
Over a hot lunch, the results were checked and the afternoon session had the group winners plus best runner up contend the Gold group. These were Bird, Pearse, Brandon and Winter.
The Silver group comprised Sams, Pam Adams, Phil Clarembeaux and Daniel Blows. Perfect, David Adams, Smith and Yvonne Clarembeaux contested the Bronze group.
Each player again contested three doubles matches against each opponent in the group. At the end of play, all results were put together to decide the best player on the day.
In the Bronze group, John Perfect thought he had his first win in the final game but a scoring error meant another end and yes, he and Smith lost out to ensure he finished with the wooden spoon.
In the Silver group, Daniel Blows had a poor afternoon, leaving his opponents with two wins each.
The overall winner was always going to come from the Gold group and it went down to the final game. At that stage Bird had four wins with Brandon and Pearse on three each. As Pearse was partnering Bird, he was out of the running but Brandon, having a better point’s difference, could take first place if he and Winter could win the game. As it was, the two Daves won 11-5 to ensure that Bird finished top player with five wins on the day and Pearse finished equal second with Brandon.
An enjoyable competition with some great petanque on the testing surface. The Onley Arms club would like to thank all the players for taking part. £30 profit was made for club funds.