The Welsh Squad, comprising a Team Manager and four teams, travelled to the far reaches of England’s North Sea coastline to compete in Petanque England’s (PE) annual Inter-Regional Championships over the weekend of 14th/15th September.

All the members of the squad were drawn from the following four clubs:

• SWBRC-PS
• Twyn-y-Ffwrd PC
• Harlequins PC and
• Brecon RFC PC

The Welsh squad were up against strong competition from seven English Regions: Great Western, Southern, Anglia, Mercia, Eastern, Kent and Chiltern.

At the end of Saturday, the WPA was lying in third place with 17 wins behind Kent (19 wins) and Chiltern (21 wins), still all to play for on the final day of play. Several squad members found the surfaces challenging, which is reflected in the day’s results.

WPA1- 6 wins, WPA2 – 5 wins, WPA3 – 3 wins and WPA4 – 3 wins.

Sunday brought a change in fortunes for Wales, with a change in the playing surface, favouring those players who struggled the previous day. First and second place came down to the wire. Chiltern was on the heels of Wales, but Wales beat Chiltern 3/1 in the penultimate round; Chiltern needed a clean sweep against Kent in the last round. Fortunately for Wales, Chiltern only managed to win two games, leaving them with 32 wins against Wales 33 wins. 

WPA1- 4 wins, WPA2 – 4 wins, WPA3 – 4 wins and WPA4 – 4 wins.

Congratulations to WPA1 for achieving the top team for Division 1 – Len Field, Julie Bailey,  Ian Bailey and Jean-Yves Robic, all from SWBRC-PS.

Also, to WPA2 for taking 4th place – Steven Love, Andrew Bond, Cara Bestow and James Frackrell, all from Twyn-y-Ffwrd PC.

Falling outside the top ten are WPA4 at 11th Brecon RFC’s PC, represented by Jim Page, Stewart McDonald, Jay Geldert and Dave Snook and WPA3 at 12th Cardiff Harlequins, represented by David Jones, Robert Glaves, Phil Freegard and Gareth Spencer. 

Thank you to the Team Manager, Michelle Spencer, for ensuring the squad performed to the best of their abilities.