Experimental team gain experience

NCPA Division 3

Bressingham Flyers 1, Wanderers St. Faiths Wildcats 4

Fifth straight loss but the team did include two 8 year olds (Luke and Harry) and Daniel who has only been playing a couple of months.  From memory, four out of the five combinations had never been tried before.

The triple of Les/Daniel/Luke were doing well (in a long drawn out game) until the last few ends when it all went pear shaped.  Harry, (who had to use heavier/larger boules due to strict league regulations) struggled with the longer jack throws (more on this later).

The only win came in the pairs, when Pat/Daniel (who had given away six points on an earlier end) pulled off a well earned victory.

Last league match next Thursday against Wallabies at St. Faiths.  The team will include, Dave, Pat, Darren, Les, Cyril and Russ.  Lindsay said she would play if Russ is working.

Good turnout for final coastal league match

Yaxley Cherry Tree 3, Bressingham 1

League table courtesy of Doug Benger

Ten players turned up for this one but only eight could play so I introduced a couple of newbies into the team (Mel and Diane).  I thought they did pretty well, all things considered.  It was Yaxleys first win so they were happy bunnies.  Man of the Match - Darren (he even smashed out one of Diane's boules just for fun).

Left - here the piste is being swept (during a game)!  Right - that's me observing.  Pics by Darren.

Thank you to Nikki and Andy for the delicious grub.

Flyers grounded (again)

NCPA Division 3

Bressingham Flyers 2, Norwich White 3

Our run of consecutive defeats continued last night at the hands of bottom club Norwich White.  It has been quite a while since we have won a game in the triples.  However, the match was played in a good spirit.

Only two matches left, home next week, away the next.

Bressingham crash out of plate

ASCL Plate S/F -  Gt. Finborough Chestnut Horse 4, Bressingham 0 (played at Framlingham).

A disappointing end to our mini cup run.  Team lost 8,2,11,8 (52-29).  

This is the first time in a match (in seven years of playing) where I have had to re-throw the jack and replay my first boule because the jack was deemed too short (we didn't have a long enough measure to confirm whether it was or it wasn't).  Had my first boule been wayward, would my opponent have played on?

Thank you to the Railway Inn and Derek (from the Framlingam Shunters Pétanque Club) for their co-operation and hire of the pistes.  We wish Gt. Finborough well for the final.

Penultimate match in ASCL ends in defeat

Kings Arms Stowmarket 4, Bressingham 0 (52-30)

Our heaviest loss of the season but it was a against one of the favourites for the competition and the points aggregate wasn't so bad.  The terrain was mainly large road scalpings but I've played on worse.  The games seemed quite long and we needed a few car headlights at the end to see us through.

Dave/Jenny lost 13-8, Les/Mike lost 13-8, Les/Pat lost 13-9, Dave/Mike lost 13-5.

We play at the Yaxley Cherry Tree in our last league match on Sunday 25th August.

Warning, warning - Norwich White are unable to drum up enough players for this Thursdays NCPA division three match.  Rescheduled date is for Thursday 22nd August.

Welcomed point gained in ASCL

Gt. Finborough Chestnut Horse 2, Bressingham 2

Even though Les and Mike gave away two 'fives' in their game, they stilll managed to pull off an unlikely win. On the flip side, Jenny and Pat could only muster three points.  In the second round of games, Jenny and I were annoyingly brushed aside in just five ends.  In the final game, Les and Pat held their nerve to win in a tight encounter and help Bressingham to their first point against the 'big three'.  I thought Les played a real captain's role today (even though he wasn't).

We are due to play Finborough again next Sunday in the Semi final of the plate competition.  We play Kings Arms Stowmarket in the league this Tuesday.

Flyers on slippery slope (NCPA - Div 3)

Buckaneers 4, Bressingham Flyers 1 (58-52)

Closer than the score might suggest with two very close games.

Only three matches left, the first of these is against bottom club Norwich White at home next Thursday.

Circle in the Sand event 2013

The weather was perfect and a great turnout (27 pairs).  Many from the Bressingham Club made it (Les/Diane, Russ/Mel/Harry, Darren/Luke and myself and my son Louis.  There was also Dave and Vic from Diss.  For Mel, Diane and Louis it was the first time they had ever played in a proper game.

Most people had gone off to lunch at this point.  We played both sides of the groyne.  Photo by Louis Smith.

Everyone from our lot had at least one win.  Louis and I were lucky enough to finish with four wins from five games and gain fifth place.  Our only loss was against Glen and Keith (the eventual winners).  Thank you to Lynne Urquart from the Wanderers St. Faiths club for organising it all.  We will now have to wait another year for the next one :(.

Nul points in local derby on hottest day

Bressingham Flyers 2, Diss Vikings 3 (37-51)

Jenny and Mike played their first Norfolk & Norwich League match and came away with one win each (with a little help form their mentors).  We probably drop a place after this defeat with Vikings one step nearer promotion.  Scorecard to follow (if I can find it).

Circle in the sand on Sunday at Walcott Beach.  There seems to be quite a few from our club going.  The weather outlook is good for this event.