On Saturday September 19 Rye News held its second annual pétanque tournament at Strand Quay. Last year’s winners, “The William the Conqueror” pub from Rye Harbour, came along looking to defend their trophy.
The Rye News team led by Dennis Leeds George was joined by novices John Minter and Dan Lake and they won their first game before facing the current champions from Rye Harbour in the final.
The final was very competitive from the start as the tape measure came out to check how far boules were from the jack. The Rye News team were leading 10-3 and needing just one point for victory before completely collapsing and losing eight points in a row and finally losing 11-10 (not that we understood the scoring!).
As both teams had had one victory each on the afternoon, a best of three games was played to decide the overall winners and “The William the Conqueror” team used their vast experience to end up winning 2-1. Dennis Leeds-George presented the trophy on behalf of Rye News, and the unlucky losers now have another twelve months to practice for next year’s tournament.
Photos: John Minter