Runners-up spot sees big gains on last year

Masterton were division one runners-up at the New Zealand national club petanque championships last weekend - a sharp improvement from their fifth placing of the previous year.

The tourney attracted 12 teams - six in division one and six in division two. At the end of the first day action, which involved triples play, Masterton and Herne Bay Green had secured the most points in their section, only to be overtaken by Bay View (Napier), who were promoted from division two and allowed to retain the points they had accrued there.

With five of their players having represented New Zealand, Bay View were a formidable unit and the general feeling was they would be difficult to peg back, but that assessment didn't take account of the fact that both Masterton and Herne Bay actually had six past or present national reps in their line-ups.

Day two consisted of five rounds of doubles play with Herne Bay beating Masterton 2-1 when they met and Masterton needing at least one win against Bayview in the final round to guarantee them a top three placing. As it happened Masterton won all three of their games in that fixture and with Herne Bay also making a clean sweep over Northcote they maintained their 4pt buffer at the top of the points table.Masterton were second and defending champions St George (Auckland) third.

Placings were:

Division one: Herne Bay Green 1, Masterton 2, St George 3, Bayview 4, Wanganui East 5, Northcote Gold 6.

Division two: Kennedy Park (North Shore) 1, Herne Bay Blue 2, Tauranga Seniors 3, Hibiscus Coast 4, Tauranga Blue 5, Northcote Maroon 6.On the home front, Masterton Petanque Club members will continue to play through the winter months on Wednesday evenings from 6pm to 7.30pm and Sunday afternoons from 2pm to 4.30pm. The next major tourney is the midwinter doubles over Queen's Birthday weekend.