THERE were only three teams to play in round nine of the Heart of England (West Midlands) Summer Petanque League with the Swifts, the Swallows and Yeomen all claiming wins.
The Swifts entertained Coventry Leofric, and completed a 4-0 win. The hosts were forced to play two new pairings due to holidays, with Gary Durant partnering Phil Matthews, and Geoff Phillips with Doug Fogarty making up the teams.
Gary and Phil faced Brian Stote and Alf Smallman and the 13-0 score line reflected their dominance in the game. The other pairs was somewhat tighter, with Geoff and Doug finishing winners 13-10 over Tony Thompson and Arthur Watts.
The singles was played between Gary and Brian, with Gary ending up winning with a score of 13-8. The triples also ended in favour of the Swifts, with Geoff, Doug and Phil beating Tony, Alf and Arthur 13-5. A good result for the Swifts 4-0 (52-23).
With venue issues, Half Crown Knights are playing their home games away this season, such that the Knights entertained the Swallows at the Wardens. The pairs were shared, with the Swallows Liz Kramek and Roger Seabury losing 13-10 to Jeff Rand and David Kimpton.
Susan and John O’Byrne came out on top against the Knights pair of David Hancox and Rich Powell 13-9, which left the match all square at the half way stage.
In the singles, John managed to overcome Rich in a tight game, 13-11 and the triples proved to be equally as tense, as the Knights team of Jeff, David Hancox and David Kimpton managed to just edge out Roger, Liz and Susan 13-11. So 2-2 with a slight 47-46 points advantage to the Swallows.
The Skylarks travelled to Stockton to play the Half Crown Yeomen and it proved not to be a good evening for the Skylarks as they came back having lost 4-0.
In the pairs, Phyllis Gaunt and Chris Coombes lost 13-4 to Sarah Jerger and Caroline Powell, and Brian Pook and Gill Matthews lost 13-9 to Gareth Potter and RKH.
In the triples, the Skylarks fared little better with Gill, Chris and Phyllis going down 13-9 to Sarah, Gaz and RKH.
There was no consolation for the Skylarks in the singles, where Brian was beaten 13-9 by Caroline. 4-0 (52-31) to the Yeomen.
