Monday 5^th April 2010

MATCH REPORT

Our annual Easter Monday Open Triples competition attracted attention from far & wide. Teams travelling north on the M1, south on the A1,  east from Derbyshire  and west from Lincolnshire converged with local teams to do battle for trophies and prizes at the “Air Hostess”.

     Such was the response to our open invitation this year, that despite having created greater capacity with our newly regraded pistes,we were unfortunately unable to accommodate all those teams wishing to take part having been fully subscribed well before the closing date for entries.

     In cool blustery but dry conditions the competition got underway with the ‘Red Caps’ from Kegworth storming to a 13-0 first round victory. In contrast, ‘The Fiddlers’ from Doncaster were locked in a tremendous tussle with ‘The Ends P.C’ from Stevenage, the Yorkshiremen eventually losing out 11-13 to the Hertfordshire team. Despite this setback, ‘The Fiddlers’ struck back winning their  4 remaining games, dropping only 14 points in the process.

     Our ‘Gee Whiz’ team struggled to adapt to their club’s new playing surface eventually finding form only in the last round. The ‘Tomb Raiders’ from Nutbrook looked a force to be reckoned with, winning four games in a row but were  halted in their final game by the eventual competition winners.

     ‘The Odd Ones’ from Bourne were consistent, losing only to the Air Hostess team ‘Sunchasers’ who were similarly strong on their own club’s piste conceding only 18 points throughout the whole competition.

     The ‘Lincoln Branleys 1’ team took 2 games to the ultimate nail-biting finishes beating  our AHPC’s ‘MacThompsons’ 13-12 in the first round then having the tables reversed in the fifth  losing 12-13 to AHPC’s Kevin Richard & Steve .

     Another in-form team was that of  our Rob, John & Will  coming back from 5-12 down against Killarney’s ‘Flyers’ in round 2, only to falter in the 3^rd. round versus ‘The Odd Lot’ also from Killarney.

     At the end of a great day’s competition, 6 teams had accumulated 4 wins :

‘The Odd Ones’ from Killarney;     ‘The Fiddlers’ from Doncaster;    ‘Killarney Plus One’;

‘Tomb Raiders’ from Nutbrook;    ‘Sunchasers’ and ‘Rob, John & Will’ from Air Hostess.

     ‘The Fiddlers’ won the day on points with the runners-up spot going to ‘Rob, John & Will’  and ‘Killarney Plus One’ third. The AHPC chairman Peter presented the Easter Triples Shield with individual trophies and prizes to the winners, also prizes to the runners-up and third placed teams.

     Grateful thanks must go to many members of the club for the hard work put in preparing the pistes, also to the Air Hostess pub staff for providing meals and refreshment throughout the day. Appreciation too for the organisers Peter, Ann & Mike and also Malcolm for the trophies.

     Thanks also to the participants who collectively made it a great competition enjoyed by all. We look forward to welcoming everyone back again next Easter if not before, don't forget that anyone wanting to have a casual game is very welcome to come to our club evenings on Mondays from 7.30pm or just come along to the pub and use the club boules which are kept behind the bar.