Big day for petanque club

DISS Waveney Petanque club marked their arrival on the county scene in style on Sunday, when the hosted their first major competition and saw a home trio win silverware in the Norfolk Triples Championships.

Dave Smith, Mick Clarke and Liz Rudling won five of their seven games, dropping only four points, to finish runners-up, inflicting champions Peter Astle, Derek Shoesmith and Jerome Morais' only defeat of the marathon nine-hour day.

A second Diss team, of Steve Penny, Jackie and Chris Johnson recovered well from a slow start to take sixth place overall but fourth on points scored.

They notched a 13-0 demolition of highly-fancied Tony Desposita, Bernice and Peter Walker, depriving them of a top-three finish.

In the Norfolk League last Thursday, Le Diss Sportif made it two wins from two in Division Two, beating Newton St Faiths Wanderers Dolphins 3-2 in a thrilling match at Brewers Green Lane. Dave Smith, Lindsay Penny and Dave Marsh fought back from 9-4 down to win 13-11 to tie the match after the triples.

Penny, partnered by Smith, played a superb shot to help set up a five on the first end and they went on to win their doubles convincingly. Scott and Dave Marsh, making their club debut, lost 13-3, but Liz Rudling and Mick Clarke held their nerve to win the match when Clarke rolled up to the coche for the perfect point.

Diss Vikings picked up their first win in Division Three, beating Drayton Bob Carter Leisure 3-2. Vikings won both triples but lost the first two doubles. Peter Beales and Shirley Coe trailed 12-4 in the third, but bounced back in style for a 13-12 victory.

Diss Duval suffered a nightmare at Eccles G2, matching their own club record defeat of 65-22 in a 5-0 reversal.

Attention switches to the Suffolk Coastal Alliance on Sunday when Diss-based Sunset Boulevards take on derby rivals Hoxne Swan at Brewers Green Lane, 11am.