We managed to play our spring Melee number 4 in relatively dry conditions. Is summer on its way you may ask ? 27 members entered the competition and it turned out to be once again a close finish . As a reminder the scoring system is one point for each win plus extra points for coming in the top 5 places . An extra 5 points for the winner, 4 for second place down to 1 extra point for fifth place.
Only 4 players managed the 3 wins, but with some new names in the top 5 the leader board is like a game of snakes and ladders .
In 5th place Alan Bate with 2 wins +12 .
4th place with 3 wins + 14 Migs Trimmingham.
3rd place a fine performance from Karen MacDonald 3 wins + 18
Runner Up and leading the race for the title, just piping karen with 3 wins +19 was clive Westley .
And this months Melee winner, with a fabulous 3 wins plus 24 is Roger Johnson .
This time Tony McDonald takes over as chief sports reporter for our first 2024 fixture…
A fantastic start to the season..
Our first game of the new 2024 league saw weather suitable for all four seasons of the year in one match.
We started to play in bright sunshine wearing only t-shirts and then turning bitterly cold with hail and wind. We all finished well wrapped up to keep the elements out.
All players turned up early after dodging their way through roadworks and bad traffic heading into Harrogate for the flower show.
GAME ONE (Triple Clive Kath and Roger)
Despite going down 4-0 in the first 2 ends, after getting the measure of the terrain they started to play.
The newly gravelled piste was always going to suit Clive’s lobbing and he played well throughout.
Roger was leading out and put in some great opening points putting pressure on the Harrogate side. They were well supported with Kath playing well as the middler in this talented trio.
They won the game 13-4!
GAME TWO (Triple Ian Tony and Alma)
All three players played well with Alma pointing to her usual high standard. Tony shooting well taking out a few crucial boules and Ian playing a couple of outstanding boules to bring the end back to Heckmondwike
They won 13-6 and that gave us a 2-0 lead in the match going into the pairs games…
GAME THREE (Double Clive and Kath)
Our husband and wife team Clive and Kath recorded a 13-2 victory. I didn’t see much of this game but Clive came off smiling so Kath must have played well.
GAME FOUR (Double Tony and Alma)
Tony and Alma complemented each others play with Alma once again pointing to a high level and Tony continuing to hit most of his shots. Both keeping pressure on the opposing side not letting them get into the game. Coming out worthy 13-2 winners.
GAME FIVE (Double Ian and Roger)
Ian and Roger had a much closer game, nip and tuck all way through seeing it level at 10 across. Both teams playing tight ends eventually our senior pair (in age) came good and had a great 13-10 win.
Conclusion
A fantastic start to the new season. A great team effort by all players making it difficult for the selection committee in choosing the next team to play Wetherby away in our match Tuesday 30th April at 10:30.
Also a big thankyou to Karen who came to support the team (she did travel with her boules just in case we required her services) , although she watched some games much of her afternoon was spent in the shops of Harrogate….
More once again from our man on the pistes, Alan Bate…
Firstly a big congratulations to Huddersfield Petanque Club for reaching their 10 year milestone! Here’s to many more!
Sadly, the best thing about Saturdays 10th Anniversary event as far as Heckmondwike success was concerned was the weather!
We entered the 3 separate competitions, Mixed Triples, Mixed Pairs, and Open Triples and fared as follows:
Mixed Triples:
Alma, Shirley, Ken Hutchinson and Roger Farrar shared the workload, but struggled to gain any momentum as a team in their 3 league games.
In the silver semi final they lost to Hollicars 2 then beat Rainworth in the Silver 3rd place play off. A good end to a disappointing day for the team.
Mixed Pairs:
Kath and Clive got off to a fine start beating Trafford 13-2. A tight second game resulted in a slightly questionable 11-12 loss to Hollicars 1. (a further end was not allowed despite the previous end being completed before the bell sounded) In their 3rd game our pair were in control, but a loss of 5 in one end contributed to another 1 point defeat (12-13) to Hollicars 2. In the Silver semi we lost to Ripponden before beating Hudderfield in the 3rd place play off.
Open Pairs:
This time Alan Bate and Kevin Hepworth representing the club with 3 wins in the league against Hollicars 1, Leeds and Hollicars 2 saw us progress to the Gold Semi final. The pick of the results was coming from behind (2-8 and 9-12) against Richard and Alan from Leeds.
The vagaries of Paul’s system saw us play against Leeds again in the semi. Leeds sought and achieved revenge! We then lost to Trafford in a long but very enjoyable 3rd place play off. At least we delayed the presentation ceremony that we did not partake in…
A long and enjoyable day with some lessons learned by yours truly!
Thanks to all who played and look out for more match reports from the first West Yorkshire League Fixture of 2024…
A wet and windy day at Trafford in the invitational.
Heckmondwike represented by Alan and Anita plus Clive and Graham.
Alan and Anita lost their first 3 games and yet were only minus 7 points.
Clive and Graham having more success winning their first 3 and that left Clive and Graham in the Gold semi finals with Alan and Anita in the Bronze semis.
Final results being 3rd place in Gold group for Clive and Graham with Anita and Alan winning the Bronze group.
Unfortunately only 3 of the Trans Pennine teams fielded representatives in today’s invitational, with good numbers from Trafford and Rochdale plus the Hecky 4.
A 5 game snake faced the 18 teams who entered the YP Triples at Hollicars on a typically wet Bank Holiday Easter Monday.
Only 1 team contained Heckmondwike members, The Heckythumps, aka Alan, Anita and Shirley.
A poor start losing 13 – 5 (to the eventual winners) followed by 4 excellent wins against decent teams saw us to a 4 win +12 total.
With Anita and Shirley sharing the pointing and making many excellent deliveries with Alan on good shooting form and adding points to ends where we were already lying shot.
We had to wait until completion of the very last game to see if Triple Mix could overtake us with their 4th win by a margin of 5 points. They managed to win 13-10 to leave Heckythump in a hard earned 3rd place and in the prize money.
Well done team. A great day had by all with the sun eventually making an appearance.
(Darren here… Well done team, any HPC related good news anyone wants reporting then please do let me know… Always happy to put it on the blog!)
Well the sun finally came out for us on Saturday . Forty members enjoyed a day of competitive petanque in the spring melee number 3.
After checking the score sheets a number of errors were found , it was like the final question on the 1% club . Please try and take a little more care when filling in your scores. Nine members archived 2 wins in the first 2 rounds , so it was all to play for in round 3 . Only four members managed the elusive 3 from 3 .
In 4th place with 3 wins + 8 was Cath Clegg . In 3rd place our reigning champion Ken Hutchinson with 3 wins +11. In second was Bev Whittington just pipping Ken by one point with 3 wins +12 . And finally our winner with another fine performance our league leader Clive Westley with 3 wins +21 . Well done Clive .
Hi everyone, it’s that time of year again. Subscriptions are now due for individual membership of Yorkshire Petanque . If you are already a member you can renew via the YP website. Alternatively you can pay me by cash £8 and I will arrange for the fee to be paid. If you are not already a member you will need to download and fill in the membership form from their website. Any issues please give me a call.
As you all know we started a project to improve the banking adjacent to the terrains last year . We obtained a grant from KMC, and with help from our friends at Transformers North we were able to clear the weeds and overgrown plants, lay membrane and bark chippings.
We have now started the process of planting out to make the area a feature. A big thank you to everyone who has already donated plants. In the next few weeks I know many of you will be busy in the garden, preparing for summer, if we get one . If you have any perennial plants that can be split, please bring them down.
Heckmondwike Petanque Club 