MILL INN ALDEBURGH PC

Second ''Leg'' victory in our 3-in-3 weeks triple header

2011-05-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

Deben Division
Sunday 8th May

With the arrival of the Eels Foot Inn Eastbridge to the Moot Hall Arena, the Aldeburgh team embarked on their second match in as many weeks, on the home piste that hasn't seen much rain in weeks and is very dry, dusty and fast running.

The early pairings saw Rob & Bev Wheeler on the 'roadside' piste with Reet Gilday & Nick Ratcliffe on the 'beachside' lane. It was the story of two different games really, with Reet & Nick suffering a 2-13 loss, only for Rob & Bev to keep matters evenly balanced with a 13-3 victory on their side of the terrain.

1-1 and everything still to play for....

The more experienced pairings of Lewis Fletcher and team captain Jimmy Robinson overcame their opponents by a score of 13-4, leaving Tina Robinson and vice-captain Simon Fletcher to finish the match one end later with a equally good 13-1 win and thereby see the team secure their third 3-1 win in a row.

This latest win pushes the Seasiders into second place in the divisional table and sees them go into next weeks big match at home, to the Golden Key Yales from Snape, in good shape.

Our Gift to Beaux Belles Middleton

2011-05-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Following on a tradition we started in the 2008 Play-Offs, team captain Jimmy presented a match memento to Rchard Turner, captain of the Middleton team followng yesterdays 3-1 league victory at the Bell.

May Day Away Day Pay Day

2011-05-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

Deben Division
Sunday 1st May 2011

Playing a new team at a new venue with a reasonably new-ish team yourselves could possibly contribute to not necessarily gaining you the result you desire, but the Mill Inn team set about their task well earlier today at the Bell Inn Middleton, where the Beaux Belles were the gracious hosts.

The previously successful pairing of Richard Newman and Heather Maybee edged past their opponents by virtue of a 13-10 result. This cancelled out Reet Gilday and debutant Nick Ratcliffes 13-4 reverse on the other lane.

Once again (and a £1 please for every time I say this, this season but...) the match stood at 1-1 before the more 'senior' pairings made their appearances. Team captain and birthday boy Jimmy Robinson partnered Lewis Fletcher for Lewis' first appearance of the season following his recent fractured wrist. Meanwhile unbeaten Simon Fletcher and Tina Robinson were together again on the right hand lane.

Tina and Simon started sluggishly but a mistake by the Middleton team by dragging the coch back to Aldeburghs boules when the score was 3-2 in the Bells favour, allowed the Seasiders to take a five on that end and a further five the next end transformed the game, with a final point being taken for 13-3 to the Mill.

All the teams hopes rested on Jimmy and Lewis, with Lewis pulling some class shots off in the last few ends to earn a 13-6 score and the overall match score of 3-1, bringing two more league points to Aldeburgh and pushing them to third place in the league table currently, with next weeks match at home to the Eels Foot being one that, if won, will see the team go to second place in the division.

Sink or Swim for Aldeburgh at the Dolphin

2011-04-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Deben Division - Sunday 3rd April 2011

Following on from the unsatisfactory but nonetheless deserved home defeat at the hands of the Parrot & Punchbowl Aldringham in the opening match of the season, Aldeburgh's boulistes ventured the short distance up the coast to the surroundings of Thorpeness and all of its ''quaintness''.

With a full team of 8 again, but still missing Lewis Fletcher from the line-up (freshly out of his plaster cast but in the warm-up felt that his wrist wasn't up to strength), the Seasiders took on the home side, who themselves fielded a 6-strong side.

First blood went to Thorpeness with Reet and Chrissie going down 13-4 but Heather and debutant Richard Newman made amends by taking their match 13-8. So as has happened many times before, the match laid evenly poised at 1-1.

Usual pairing of Simon & Tina took to the ''pub-side'' piste and managed to pull back from a big deficit of 8-2 at one stage to finish strongly as 13-8 winners and thus guarantee at least a draw. However things got better than that as team captain Jimmy and his partner Binnie (Jonathan), took the fourth deciding game by 13-10 and bring the 2 league points to Aldeburgh with a good 3-1 away win.

Next up for the Mill Inn is a ''three matches in three weeks'' stint, starting with an away trip to Beaux Belles Middleton on 1st May, home to the Eels Foot Inn on 8th and then home again to big divisional rivals Golden Key from Snape on 15th May. This will bring the team to halfway through their league programme and give some indication of what potential they may have on reaching the Last 16 play-offs in September.

Aldeburgh stumble at first hurdle in season opener

2011-03-26T01:12:00.000-07:00

Deben Division - Sunday March 20th 2011

For the first time ever, Aldeburgh had a ''full card'' of 8 players for the home match versus Parrot Punchbowl Aldringham, with club captain Jimmy Robinson taking the non-playing role and Lewis Fletcher still in plaster and unable to play.

The Parrot have come a long way since their first season last year and have shown considerable improvement and could prove to be a decent side over the course of the season.

As was shown in the first two doubles games, with the Parrot taking a 2-0 match lead with 13-6 and 13-10 victories over the Seasiders, who faced an uphill task in the second half of the match to even gain a draw.

Unfortunately a 3-13 score in the third match saw Parrot reach a 3-0 lead and the match was effectively over but vice-captain Simon Fletcher and partner Tina Robinson pulled out a 13-10 result to restore some pride and see the match finish 3-1 in Aldringhams favour.

Half the Aldeburgh team were making their league debuts but the 4 players from Aldringham were just that bit sharper on the day and deserved their away day result.

Next match is on Sunday 3rd April when Aldeburgh visit the Thorpeness Dolphin.

League Opener re-arranged

2011-03-06T04:19:00.000-08:00

The scheduled match against the Eels Foot Inn has now been put back till early May, so Aldeburghs league campaign will now start on March 20th, with the home visit of the Aldringham Parrot & Punchbowl.

2011 Fixtures Announced

2011-02-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

Starting their fourth season in the Deben Division, the Mill Inn open their 2011 campaign with a home match against newcomers Eels Foot Inn from Eastbridge, and follow this up 2 weeks later with another home fixture versus the Aldringham Parrot & Punchbowl.

The first big 'crunch match' comes when the Seasiders welcome the Golden Key Snape on May 22nd to take on The Yales and the season ends when Aldeburgh go to Snape on the last day of the season, 21st August.

Full fixture list is as follows;

March 6th - Eels Foot Inn Eastbridge (Home)
March 20th - Parrot & Punchbowl Aldringham (Home)
April 10th - Dolphin Thorpeness (Away)
May 1st - Beaux Belles Middleton (Away)
May 22nd - Golden Key Yales (Home)
June 5th - Eels Foot Inn Eastbridge (Away)
June 26th - Parrot & punchbowl Aldringham (Away)
July 17th - Dolphin Thorpeness (Home)
July 31st - Beaux Belles Middleton (Home)
August 21st - Golden Keys Yales (Away)

Aldeburgh back for fourth season

2011-01-14T14:54:00.000-08:00

Once again the Mill Inn Aldeburgh have submitted their registration application for the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League, with 2011 being their fourth season, as they are one of the ''Original 9'', the moniker giving to the teams that competed in the inaugral season (way) back in 2008.

Previous seasons have seen 7th place in 2008, Deben Division winners & Bronze Medalists in 2009 and 9th place in 2010 (one place off qualifying for the play-off stages).

Pre-season activity has seen the team attempting to secure the services of between 4 and 5 additional players, 2 of whom have played in odd matches during the 2009 and 2010 seasons but may be able to play more often. Added to that is the ''growing'' talent of 13 year old Lewis, who standing at nearly 6ft, is currently considered to be one of the best upcoming junior talents in the country, having attended the English Petanque Associations Weekend of Excellence twice in the last 3 seasons.

Team captain Jimmy Robinson will be looking to the team to maintain a challenge within their own division and be looking for at least a Last 16 play-off position, but with many new teams entering, the team will need to be on top of their game especially away from home where valuable league points have been dropped in the past.

The team thank Dennis & Sue at The Mill Inn Aldeburgh for their continued support.

Draw leaves Aldeburgh sick as a parrot

2010-09-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday September 5th was the final matchday in the league programme and the Aldeburgh team were making the very short journey to the Parrot & Punchbowl in Aldringham.

Knowing that a victory would give them the chance of being one of the two best runners-up and therefore qualifying for the play-offs, the Seasiders set about their task well and with Simon & Lewis winning their closely fought game and Jimmy & Chrissie, (standing in for absent Tina), also securing the game on their lane, things looked good at the half-way point with Aldeburgh 2-0 to the good.

However, the 'second half' was a complete disaster as first Simon & Chrissie went down quite quickly to a score of 13-2 whilst Jimmy & Lewis faired slightly better, losing 13-5, and therefore the Parrot turning things around to earn a 2-2 draw.

So Aldeburgh ended on 12 points from 8 league matches and finished in runners-up spot behind the Golden Key Snape. Having lost just one match all season, Aldeburgh then had to rely on other results going their way. By early afternoon, the results that mattered had been received and Aldeburgh found two other runners-ups had better 'points per match' ratios and finished 9th place overall. With the cut-off point being the top 8, Aldeburgh can count themselves unlucky not to have qualified this season especially as some teams who have, had lost more matches in the course of the season.

Poor performance 'key' to Aldeburgh loss

2010-08-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

In the unusual surroundings of playing on a Saturday morning, the Aldeburgh team met up at local rivals and fellow Deben Divisional contenders, Golden Key @ Snape.

The Aldeburgh team were unbeaten whilst the Snape side had yet to lose at home this season, so in some ways a draw was looking likely on paper. Unfortunately our sport is played on gravel rather than paper and any sort of form guide counted for nothing.

Yes the Mill team were putting in a poor performance but at the same time, a great home performance throughout by the Golden Key saw them home by inflicting the biggest defeat of Aldeburghs short history, by the tune of 4-0.

The mornings match started with Simon and Lewis playing on the top piste and falling by a score of 13-8. On the more traditional lower piste, Jimmy & Tina went down by the score of 13-1, so two-nil down at the halfway point and an uphill task lay ahead.

Tina and Simon took the bottom piste in the second half and whilst 9-3 down at one point turned the game around to 11-9 to Aldeburgh by playing long cochs, but then a poor short 6 metre coch was their downfall as the Key easily coasted in for the 4 points they needed and still had 2 boules in hand.

By then news had already filtered down the piste that Jimmy & Lewis had been equally unsuccessful at the top end and had gone down 13-9, making it a clean sweep for the Snape side.

Well cheered on by the rest of their squad, the Golden Key only need to beat Thorpeness Dolphin on Sunday to snatch the Deben Division whilst a loss or draw could mean that Aldeburgh would then need to be Aldringham in their final match on September 5th to secure the title.

No-one likes losing but today we were outplayed by a much better and improved side.

Date for 'crunch match' changed

2010-07-31T04:03:00.000-07:00

The big local derby versus Golden Key Snape has been re-arranged to Saturday 21st August 2010, with an approximate start time of 10.30am.

All spectators are welcome as both sides attempt to claim the Deben Divisional title.

Unbeaten run continues

2010-07-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 18th
Deben Division

In glorious sunshine with a cooling sea breeze, the Seasiders took on the visiting Greyhound team from Pettistree, in their last home match of the 2010 season.

The team consisted of the usual suspects with Simon & Lewis allocated the 'beachside' piste and Tina & Jimmy the 'roadside' piste. Despite a slow start and being slightly ahead at 6-5, Simon & Lewis took a big 5 and proceeded on to get the first win with a 13-5 score. Jimmy & Tina weren't having the same results on the sloping piste and slipped to a 13-6 loss.

How many times have our matches been 1-1 at half-time? Well this was another one but Jimmy had the conviction to stick with the normal pairings and Simon & Tina went onto the 'roadside' piste and combined well achieving a 13-3 result, putting Aldeburgh 2-1 up.

Almost at the same time a great shot by Lewis had cleared the head in his match and left Jimmy & Lewis with a 13-2 win and grabbing the match overall 3-1.

This result strengthens the teams grip at the top of the table but the 'big match' looms with the team due to visit second placed Golden Key Snape in the next few weeks.

Victory earnt with 'porpoise'

2010-06-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 20th
Deben Division

The team made one of the shortest journeys of the season to the quaint village of Thorpeness further up the coastal path. Located in the car park of the Dolphin Inn, surrounded on three sides by houses, shops etc, its probably the piste that has the closest feel of a Continental market square about it, all that was missing was half a dozen old Frenchmen in their 80's, a passing cyclist with a string of onions and a middle-aged sternly dressed lady carrying 3 French sticks under her arm...or maybe I'm stereotyping too much!!

Anyway, on a piste marked out the previous evening with thick sailing rope, signs and warning marker tape, Simon & Lewis started out on one lane whilst Jimmy & Tina took to the other lane.

The Robinson pair finished first after falling to a 13-8 loss whilst the Fletchers evened the match score to 1-all with a 13-6 win. The piste was proving to be very challenging and unpredictable but added to the challenge of learning to cope with the surface that is unlike any other at least in the Deben Division.

At the switcharound, Tina and Simon joined forces whilst Jimmy & Lewis made their traditional pairing. Playing against Dolphin captain Andy and daughter Heather, Simon & Tina pointed and outshot their hosts to run out 13-4 victors.

This left Lewis and Jimmy playing for the match and on the final end with the score at 8-8, Lewis' shot moved the coch out to the far right, pointing in with three boules and Jimmy followed in with 2 more to take a big 5 and secure the match 3-1 overall.

Bacon butties were the order of the day in the pub afterwards with the Mill Inn increasing their lead at the top of the Deben Divisional table to four points over The Golden Key Snape but Snape have a match in hand over Aldeburgh.

The next action sees the team play their final home of the season on Sunday July 18th when the Pettistree Greyhound come to the Moot Hall Arena.

Thorpeness welcome league leaders

2010-06-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 20th sees the Dolphin Inn Thorpeness play host to divisional league leaders The Mill Inn Aldeburgh to their car park piste.

The match is scheduled to start at 10.30am with after-match refreshments in The Dolphin itself.

All spectators welcome.

Aldeburgh 'trilled' to beat Parrot

2010-06-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 13th
Deben Division

The team welcomed local neighbours Parrot & Punchbowl Aldeburgh to the Moot Hall Piste earlier today in the latest Coastal League match, with the Aldringham team being the only one the team hadn't faced so far this season.

The Parrot have steadily improved over the course of the season and under the leadership of captain Darren, they showed Aldeburgh that they weren't going to be push-overs.

Using the normal pairings Simon & Lewis opened the match on the roadside piste whilst Jimmy & Tina took the beachside lane. With the Parrot proving a handful, the Fletchers found themselves 9-0 before pulling back to 11-11 before finally slipping to a 13-11 defeat, their first of the season. Fortunately Jimmy & Tina held on to earn a 13-10 win.

Not for the first time this season did the team face a 1-1 score at the 'half-time' stage. Time for the second round of games...

Tina & Simon selected the more flatter beachside lane and despite dropping two points on the first end, managed to point and shoot their way to a 13-3 victory, so securing a draw at the very least.

Lewis' confident shooting and Jimmys' pointing put the Mill into a decent position and with an unfortunate shot by the Parrot pair that cleared the only Parrot boule in the head, the Mill were left with the two deciding points to grab both game and overall match victory.

This latest league win puts the Mill two points clear of second placed Golden Key Snape and looking forward to an away match next week at the Dolphin Inn Thorpeness.

The Mill grind out victory

2010-05-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

On a blowy Sunday morning (with the drizzle keeping off for long enough), The Mill Inn welcomed local neighbours Golden Key Snape to the Moot Hall Arena, for their third league match of the current Deben Division campaign.

Simon and Lewis were back in the side, following their absence from the away draw against Pettistree Greyhound and immediately paired up in the first game. A very long drawn out match ensued with each side picking up single points or dead ends from about the first 12 or so ends, but even with Lewis' pointing and Simons' shooting not up to normal standard, they suddenly broke free with a three and pulled away from a very good Snape pairing to eventually take the game 13-7 after around an hours worth of play.

Meantime Jimmy and Tina had established a decent 6-2 lead but faltered and didn't score anymore with the Snape team coming from behind to record a 13-6 win and make the match score 1-1 at the halfway point.

Simon & Tina partnered up and took the 'roadside' lane and within 6 ends had won the game 13-0 ensuring the Seasiders would at least get a draw from this match-up. Pointing and shooting was far better than in witnessed in the first games as the weather cleared up a bit and the wind dropped.

So the match hung in the balance with Jimmy & Lewis on the 'beachside' lane and pulled into a 6-3 lead but again the Snape side came back at them. At one point the Aldeburgh team were on 12 points but Snapes persistence kept plugging away at the points to bring it to 12-8 but finally a decent boule from Jimmy proved to be the decider and bring a 3-1 win to the home team, to continue their good form so far this season.

After-match pleasantries were exchanged in The Mill Inn, along with a gift to the visiting side, and everyone looks forward to the return match in August.

Aldeburgh do not now have a scheduled match until their home match on June 13 against league newboys Parrot & Punchbowl Aldringham but a high-calibre friendly match may be arranged in the meantime against a fellow 'Southern' section side.

Away Day Point for The Mill

2010-04-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 25th - Away to Pettistree Greyhound

The team, despite being without the services of Simon and Lewis (who were on Regional duty), arrived to the new piste area at Pettistree boarded by wood on harder shingle. Still a very interesting terrain and certainly a leveller for both sides. All matches were hard fought with Tina and Jimmy taking on Maureen and Ronnie, eventualy winning 13-2. Binnie and Chrissie didn't have the same luck and were at one point 12-1 down but they fought back one point at a time, finally losing 13-6.

Jimmy then paired with Chrissie and were down 12-10, then 12-12. Finally Chrissie dropped one right to the side of the coch and our hosts couldn't get close to it with 6 boules. 13 -12 to us. On the other piste Binnie and Tina were having a good tight game. Winning 12-9 with 3 boules perfectly placed but a moved coch to near the end and Pettistree dropped their last boules near it to clinch success from the jaws of defeat. Binnie could not quite then make his boule count. Another 13-12 but this time against Aldeburgh, therefore making the match score 2-2, just like last years league match here as well.

So the leagues first 2-2 draw of the season in any of the 6 divisions and now its just two weeks wait until the 'biggie' when Golden Key Snape are the visitors to the Moot Arena at Aldeburgh on Sunday May 9th, start time of 10.30am

Greyhound Pettistree next for the Seasiders

2010-04-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

Our next match in this years Suffolk Coastal Petanque League Deben Division, is due to be played on Sunday April 25th at The Greyhound Pettistree.

The Greyhound lost their opening match against The Golden Key Snape by a score of 4-0 but last years match between Aldeburgh & Pettistree ended in a 2-2 draw at the Greyhounds very tricky gravelly surface.

Match proposed to start at 10.30am

Cobwebs blown away as Aldeburgh open 2010 season with home win

2010-04-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 11th 2010
Deben Division

The teams assault on attempting to retain their divisional title began in earnest earlier today at the Moot Arena. Welcoming league newcomers, The Dolphin Inn from Thorpeness, and celebrating the news on the Mill Inns sponsorship, the team ably led by captain Jimmy Robinson, assembled on a slighlty blustery morning, with a few members having not played since last September.

As has proved to be succesful on many occassions before, Jimmy paired the Fletchers together in the first game whilst he and wife Tina took the second pair slot. Simon and Lewis used a combination of selective pointing and shooting and took the first game of the day by a score of 13-1.

However Jimmy and Tina weren't having it all their own way in the early exchanges of their game but moved away to a 13-5 win, leaving Aldeburgh 2-0 at the half-time break.

Aldeburgh squad member Caron Hill made her first appearance of the season and paired up with Lewis on the 'roadside' piste whilst Jimmy sat out and left Tina and Simon to do battle with the Dolphins captain and partner.

These two games were closer than the first two but perhaps the home advantage knowledge played a part in seeing Aldeburgh take the remaining games 13-7 and 13-8 respectively.

So a match score of 4-0 to the 'Seasiders' of Aldeburgh and a decent start to the season, where this groups teams will only get 8 matches to be 'top dog' rather than the 10 matches teams in other divisions will have.

After-match refreshments were served in The Mill and team captain Jimmy passed a framed memento to Andrew, the Thorpeness captain, commemerating todays match between the two teams.

Sponsorship Deal sees name change unveiled

2010-04-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the generosity of our hosts Dennis & Sue Peel, the team formerly known as Aldeburgh Boules Club, will now be known as the Mill Inn Aldeburgh PC.

After-match refreshments etc for all Aldeburghs home matches will be provided by The Mill Inn and we look forward to their continuing support of the team as we progress through the 2010 season and beyond.

Aldeburghs 2010 season schedule

2010-03-27T15:12:00.001-07:00

2010 Suffolk Coastal Petanque League - Deben Division

11/4/10 Home to Thorpeness Dolphin
25/4/10 Away at Pettistree Greyhound
09/5/10 Home to La Clef Doree (Golden Key Snape)
23/5/10 Friendly Fixture?
13/6/10 Home to Parrot & Punchbowl Aldringham
27/6/10 Away at Thorpeness Dolphin
18/7/10 Home to Pettistree Greyhound
08/8/10 Away at La Clef Doree (Golden Key Snape)
22/8/10 Friendly Fixture?
05/9/10 Away at Parrot & Punchbowl Aldringham
12/9/10 League Quarter Final Play-Off - if qualified
19/9/10 League Quarter Final Play-Off - if qualified
26/9/10 League Grand Final Play-Offs - if qualified

2010 Season opens with newboys Thorpeness Dolphin

2010-03-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

2009 Bronze medalists, Aldeburgh Boules Club, start the new 2010 Deben Division campaign with a home match against league newcomers, Thorpeness Dolphin.

Originally scheduled for Sunday April 4th, the match has now been moved to Sunday April 11th and will be scheduled to 'kick-off' at the Moot Area (opposite the White Lion Hotel) at 10.30am.

All supporters are welcome to cheer both teams on.

'Seasiders' eye the forthcoming 2010 season

2010-01-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

With last seasons 2009 bronze medal position tucked under their arms, the Aldeburgh Boules Club squad are now gearing themselves up for an assault on the 2010 title.

Whilst registration deadline is still around 6 weeks away, the team are relishing the absolute explosion of teams on this side of the County and the different and varying locations they may end up this coming season.

New teams are appearing on almost a weekly basis now as we approach registration day and these newer venues will prove to be a test to all of the existing teams in the League and one or two surprises may be in store.

Only time will tell.......

'Evans' above.........we got bronze!!

2009-09-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday September 27th
The Star Inn, Wenhaston
2009 Suffolk Coastal Petanque League - 3rd/4th Place Play-Off Match

Missing our team captain Jimmy and Tina from the most important match so far of Aldeburgh Boules Clubs very short history was not an ideal situation but the enlisted (or perhaps press-ganged) Chrissie and Binnie Evans came to the teams rescue in our final match of the 2009 season.

Playing on a neutral venue of The Star Inn, Wenhaston against the ever-improving Three Horseshoes side from North Cove, vice-captain Simon led the 'Seasiders' into battle, with the potential 5th game decider being needed if the match was to get to 2-2.

Previously unbeaten as a pair all season, Simon & Lewis lost 13-10 in the first round whilst Chrissie and Binnie made a fantastic debut appearance with a 13-11 victory. So all square at half-time and decisions, decisions.

Simon coupled up with Chrissie but lost to North Coves captain Darryl and his partner, but over on the 'bush' side of the terrain, Lewis & Binnie gained an Aldeburgh win to put the match at 2-all and therefore create the need of a deciding game.

Vice-captain Simon felt that his play wasn't up to scratch today and therefore resisted the urge to partner Lewis again, this time choosing Lewis & Binnie to go back on. Lewis, fresh from his County Cup heroics earlier in the week with his Stowmarket side, mopped up anything that Binnie created and the team eventually reached 13-6 and thereby getting the Bronze Medal position for the 2009 season.

A great season, a great finale and a superb debut by Binnie as well as a good performance by Chrissie saw the team improve upon their 2008 position by a considerable way.

Our thanks to the Mill Inn, Aldeburgh

2009-09-13T14:04:00.001-07:00

The Aldeburgh Boules Club would like to thank Sue & Dennis Peel at The Mill Inn, Aldeburgh for their continued support of the team and the excellent after-match refreshments and hospitality.

The Inn has AA3* accomodation, bar meals and restaurant facilities.

The Mill Inn, Market Cross Place, Aldeburgh, IP15 5BJ (01728 452563)
Suelpeel15@aol.com
www.themillinnaldeburgh.com

End Of Season Play-Offs

2009-09-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

With the Deben Divisional title under our arm, the team have reached the 2009 End of Season Play-Offs due to be held at The Star Inn, Wenhaston on Sunday 27th September.

However, as we had the lowest points average of the 3 divisional winners, we find ourselves in the overall 3rd/4th place play-off match against the best runner-up, coming from the Blyth Division, the Three Horseshoes North Cove.

North Cove this season, won 6, drew 2 and lost 2, achieving 14 points but finishing second in their group behind the Bell Inn Walberswick, who are in the Grand Final versus Ipswich PC'09 from the Orwell Division.

Title secured by 'Seasiders'

2009-09-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday 13th September 2009 - Deben Division

The team of four went into todays match, versus our old friends and adversaries The Exiles Bealings, knowing that to secure the Deben Divisional title and therefore a prized play-off place, avoiding defeat would be enough to pip Suivre Les Boules Playford.

Playing against a team that defeated us 3-1 both times last season and also the only team to beat us this year, also by the same scoreline, it was going to be a difficult task for Jimmy and his team.

Sticking with the tried and trusted partnership of Simon & Lewis, who had previously won 7 out of 7 this year, Aldeburgh went 1-0 up with a 13-7 score but Jimmy & Tina, after leading 10-2 at one point, lost 13-10 to leave the match at 1-1 at the 'half-time break'.

Jimmy and vice-captain Simon agreed it wasn't worth switching or experimenting with the pairings, so again Tina was paired with Simon whilst Jimmy doubled up with Lewis. After a whirlwind game of only 6 ends, a draw was secured with Tinas pair earning a 13-1 victory. Jimmy & Lewis, not to be outshone, completed the day with a 13-5 score giving Aldeburgh a 3-1 win, breaking the Bealings 'hoodoo' and winning the divisional title.

The team lost only one match this year, winning 5 and drawing 2, giving us 12 points, one more than Playford and earning the third entry to the 2009 End Of Season Play-Offs.

Local derby bragging rights to Aldeburgh

2009-08-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sunday August 30th - Deben Division

Probably nowhere in our League will we have as bigger spectator audience as the one we had at The Golden Key Snape earlier today. Marshalled by Team Player Manager & Landlord, Nick Attfield, not only did our hosts have the full 8 person compliment team, but also at least another dozen 'squad' members and associated entourage on the sidelines.

Aldeburgh's side was somewhat smaller with the 'usual 4 suspects' and no travelling support!!

Earlier in the season the two sides drew 2-2 at the Moot Arena, Aldeburgh and since then the Snape team has grown in stature and skill, especially proving difficult to beat on their home piste.

Le capitaine, Jimmy, paired Simon & Lewis together in the first pair whilst he took up the partnership with Tina in the other game. Whilst Simon & Lewis had a bit of a dodgy 'middle' section of the game, managed to put together a 13-8 win but Jimmy and Tina couldn't match this, losing heavily 13-1 on the bottom 'lane'.

Once again, 1-1 at half-time, with Aldeburgh needing to win this match to stay in contention for divisional title and play-off position. Decision time for Jimmy, does he pair up in the normal way or change it around a little.

In the end, it was a case of selecting the tried and trusted pairings and to start off with Jimmy & Lewis had a tight game but pulled away near the end to earn a 13-5 score and put the 'Seasiders' 2-1 up overall.

Down to Tina & Simon then, which didn't look good at one point with the Aldeburgh pair 6-1 down, but turning it around to lead 11-10 at one stage. Another 2 ends and another two points for the Snape side giving them a 12-11 advantage and sitting game point on the ground. Simon pointed hard against one boule to turn it to one point on the ground for Aldeburgh and then with the next boule shifted Snapes boule, giving 2 points to Aldeburgh and 13-12, the game and the match 3-1 overall.

A very close and tense last game with around 30 interested onlookers seeing some decent boule from both sides but just ending in Aldeburghs favour. As it turns out, an even more important win as The Exiles Bealings lost 3-1 at home to Suivre Les Boules Playford, leaving the title undecided going into the last match.

Many thanks to Nick and his team for the match and absolutely fantastic after-match food and socialising. The Snape team must surely be the leagues best newcomers for the 2009 season and a team to watch out for next season.

Our final match is at home to The Exiles Bealings on Sunday September 13th.........Divisional title decider!!

On paper away win, on gravel....different story

2009-08-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

With the team venturing to winless Pettistree Greyhound and having beaten them 4-0 at the Moot Arena earlier in the season, you could be forgiven for expecting an Aldeburgh away win, as the team push towards a play-off spot. A win would have meant going from third place to top spot above both Suivre Les Boules Playford and The Exiles Bealings.

However, things are not always as clear cut as you think they might be....

Team captain, Jimmy. left the pairings in the usual format with himself and Tina partnering up leaving Simon & Lewis to form the other double. Playing on a deep gravelled car park in brilliant sunshine, the team started off well.

In the first two ends Simon & Lewis took a 5 and a 5 to be 10-0 up straight away and although dropping one point on the next two ends, finished with aplomb as the coch was shot out for the game winning points, 13-2. Our other game saw us lead 6-1 at one stage, only for the home team to rally well and turn it completely around and get a 13-10 victory.

So 1-1 with halfway reached.

The Tina/Simon combination worked well again and with good pointing and a bit of accurate shooting, a 13-0 win was achieved within 8 ends. Again as has often been the case recently, this left the Jimmy/Lewis game as the decider. At one stage the teams were locked at 7-7 but the home sides Pauline played out of her skin and consistently frustrated our pair and finally got herself and partner to a 13-7 scoreline and thus making the match end at 2-2.

A first league point for Pettistree (& deserved on the balance of play) but a missed opportunity for the 'Seasiders' as this will probably now mean that all four points will be required from the remaining two matches, starting next week with the big local derby, away at Golden Key Snape, whom themselves aren't out of the running yet.

On The Road Again

2009-08-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Aldeburgh team make the reasonably short journey this weekend to the Pettistree Greyhound, for a Deben Division match in the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League, still in the chase for an end of season play-off position.

With other teams in the other divisions racking up big numbers of points, it is probably becoming more likely that the Deben Division group winner will be the only qualifier from our section that will qualify for the play-offs, and a decent win for Aldeburgh will see them jump back to the top of the table.

However, Pettistree are now the only team in the entire 17 team league that has yet to win a match and with the fixture being on their home piste, just about anything could happen with home advantage.

Aldeburgh Carnival Boules Tournament 2009

2009-08-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Club members Simon & Lewis won the 2009 title, after topping their group of 6 teams with 4 wins out of 4, and progressing to the Grand Final, where they beat Robert & Bev (Wheeler?) from Middleton by a score of 13-4.

Other members of the Aldeburgh squad played in the tournament, including Richard & Heather who made the 3rd/4th place play-off.

Overall, an entry of 12 teams played from around 10.30 till about 3pm.

Aldeburgh Carnival Boules Tournament...Places Left

2009-08-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday 15th August 2009
Starts at 10.30am

Maximum of 16 teams of 2 players
Deposit of £5 per team

Please arrive at the Moot Hall piste (opposite The White Lion Hotel) at 10am to find out the order of play.

There are a few spaces left for this tournament, so to enter please contact Councillor Caron Hill on 07890 159320

'Seasiders' climb the table

2009-08-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

Subject to results elsewhere, Aldeburgh Boules Club moved into second place of the Deben Division of the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League, following a very good home performance earlier today at the Moot Arena, culminating in a 3-1 victory over Suivres Les Boules Playford.

The visitors, Playford, were currently heading the divisional table and had only suffered one defeat this season, this being the 3-1 defeat by Aldeburgh earlier in the league programme.

Starting with the 'normal' four players, Aldeburgh commenced with Simon & Lewis (fresh from their petanque exploits in Turkey) in the first pairing. Four ends later and Aldeburgh were 1-0 up with a 4,3,1 and 5 scored earning a 'fanny' 13-0 result. Over on the seaward lane Jimmy and Tina started well but eventually went down 13-9 to Playfords Malcolm & Sam.

So with the match poised at 1-1, like most matches seem to, the Aldeburgh team knew a victory was required to give them any hope of reaching the end of seasons play-off. Tina and Simon played a short distance game and secured at least a draw with a 13-3 win over Jim & Malcolm. This left it all up to Jimmy & Lewis, who held the upperhand for the majority of the game and eventually turned in a 13-6 result, giving the Seasiders the two league points and again defeating Playford by a 3-1 scoreline.

Whilst Playford remain top, Aldeburgh are now just two points behind with 2 matches in hand, the first of which is in two weeks time, away at the Pettistree Greyhound team.

Fixture changes for Aldeburgh

2009-07-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

Our next scheduled Deben Division match was due to be on Sunday 26th July, away at Pettistree Greyhound. Due to holidays, this has been re-arranged to Sunday 23rd August.

Therefore our next match is in 3 weeks time, on Sunday 9th August, when we play host to our old friends from Playford, Suivre Les Boules.

This will be our last but one home match at the 'Moot Arena' so I'm sure the team would dearly love some local support as they push towards an end-of-season play-off position.

Expected start time would be 10.30am.

Finding the right combination

2009-07-11T02:10:00.000-07:00

In our 4 league matches so far this year, we have won 10 games and lost 6.

Below is a comparison of how successful each pairing is so far in 2009;

Simon & Lewis Won 4 out of 4
Lewis & Jimmy Won 2 out of 4
Simon & Tina Won 1 out of 2
Jimmy & Tina Won 1 out of 4
Simon & Caron Won 1 out of 1
Simon & Michael Won 1 out of 1

Bealings hoodoo strikes again!!

2009-06-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

It was always going to be a tight match on the now well-bedded in piste at the Lord Belstead Playing Field at bealings.

Last year we lost 3-1 in both matches against The Exiles and this proved to be the difference in us not making last years play-offs. Surely things couldn't go the same way again.........

Lewis and Simon, fresh from their international tournament in Belgium over the weekend, managed to pull away from their opponents and take the first game 13-5, however Jimmy and Tina in the meantime had lost by the same scoreline.

So 1-1 at half-time and another tough decision for captain Jimmy to make regarding his next sets of pairings. In the end he stuck with the established pairings of Simon & Tina and Jimmy & Lewis. Meanwhile The Exiles team had greater flexibility in their pairings as they had 7 players on duty as opposed to our 4.

Tina & Simon never really got into their stride in their game eventually losing 7-13. All therefore came down to the remaining game and despite some good boules from the Aldeburgh pair, there was no rub of the green and The Exiles moved into a match winning position with a 13-8 triumph.

So once again ABC go down 3-1 to the Bealings team and didn't really play as well as we can but lets hope that this victory doesn't prove to be decisive in the long run.

Next up for Aldeburgh is the return fixture with the Greyhound Inn Pettistree.

Date change for Bealings crunch match

2009-06-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Due to sad team news from The Exiles Bealings team, our scheduled match for Sunday June 21st has now been repectfully put back till the evening of Tuesday 30th June 2009.

As a team, we offer our deepest condolences to the remaining members of The Exiles team on their sad loss.

Home draw sees Aldeburgh move to top of Deben Division

2009-06-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

In a drizzle-affected match earlier today, Aldeburgh Boules Club welcomed league newcomers and 'local derby' rivals, the Golden Key Snape, to the Moot Arena for each teams third match of the league campaign.

Whilst Lewis & Simon secured a 13-10 victory, Jimmy & Tina went down by a scoreline of 8-13, leaving the match poised at 1-1 at the halfway stage. With the piste getting damper by the minute and therefore changing how the boule rolled or held up, the pairings for the second half of the match was going to be a cruicial decision.

Aldeburgh skipper Jimmy took the decision to pair himself up with Lewis whilst Simon partnered debutant Michael in the other double. With two left handers taking advantage of clear lines to the coch, Simon and Michael took the third game by 13-7 putting Aldeburgh into a 2-1 lead overall and everything hinging on the last game.

Jimmy & Lewis were not having the best of luck and found themselves 9-0 down within a few ends but a displaced coch for 5 and then a subsequent 5 on the next end suddenly brought them to a 10-9 lead. However a 3 on the next end for the visitors and then another displaced coch saw Snape claim the win 13-10 and earn the Snape team a very creditable 2-2 draw.

Shot for the shot, the match was almost the 'perfect draw' as Aldeburgh scored 44 and Snape 43, demonstrating how close the match was in its entirety.

This point each was enough to see Aldeburgh move ahead of Bealings at the top of the table, whilst Snapes first league point sees them move off bottom spot, ahead of Pettistree.

Next up for Aldeburgh is the all-important away trip to The Exiles Bealings in two weeks time.

Youngest Member Shines In Away Day Triumph

2009-05-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

In what is always a difficult fixture, the Aldeburgh team ventured to Playford, home of Suivre Les Boules for their first away meeting of the season earlier this morning, in the Deben Division of the Coastal League.

Our intrepid 4 split into their usual pairings, with Jimmy and Tina suffering a 13-6 whilst Lewis pointed superbly to carry his partner (& father) through to a 13-5 win.

With the match delicately poised at 1-1, Jimmy and vice-captain Simon discussed whether they bank on a pairing that would hopefully get a 2-2 draw or did we go for the kill and attempt to gain the overall win.

Fortunately the gamble paid off as Simon & Tina ran out 13-5 winners in their match whilst Jimmy & Lewis came from 8-7 down to end victorious on 13-8 and therefore secure the match at 3-1.

This is one of those matches which will go a long way to deciding who finishes where in the Deben Division and although theres still many matches to play, Aldeburgh have already taken a small step towards being there or thereabouts come the final shake-up.

No time to rest on our laurels, as its straight on with league action next week with a home match at the Moot Arena, when newcomers the Golden Key Snape are welcomed, in what is building up to be an interesting local 'derby'.

Dennis and the staff at The Mill Inn are providing the after-match refreshments and it would be nice to see some home support as Aldeburgh look to continue their good start to the season.

First Away Trip Of The Season

2009-05-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Aldeburgh play their first away match of the 2009 season on Sunday 31st May, with a visit to Suivre Les Boules Playford, for what will be an interesting tussle in the Deben Division.

Last year Aldeburgh won 3-1 at the Moot Arena whilst a 2-2 draw was the outcome in the return fixture.

The team should be the 'usual 4' but also may be bolstered by our newest members Michael and Lynn from Leiston.

Visit back here on Sunday evening for the official match report.

One Down...........Seven To Go!!

2009-05-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

Aldeburgh made their first appearance of the season on Sunday May 3rd in the Deben Division of the 2009 Suffolk Coastal League, by welcoming league newcomers Pettistree Greyhound to the 'Moot Hall Arena'.

In excellent playing conditions, the Aldeburgh team consisted of the 'usual 4' of Jimmy, Tina, Simon & Lewis with new signings Michael and Lynn unavailable for this match. The team was however bolstered by the addition of Caron, an existing Aldeburgh member but making her first league appearance.

The team split with the usual family pairings and both the Robinsons and the Fletchers recorded 13-4 victories putting the side 2-0 up at half-time and ensuring at least a draw. The important decision of how to divide the pairs for the second half fell to skipper Jimmy and Simon paired off with Caron whilst Jimmy doubled up with the teams youngest member Lewis.

With a mixture of good pointing and shooting both pairs earnt 13-4 and 13-6 wins to complete a 4-0 win over the enthusiastic visitors. Whilst this may have been Pettistrees first ever match, they can look forward to a season where they will definitely go on from here and perhaps with their own special 'home advantage' may spring a surprise or two.

For Aldeburgh, next up is an away trip to Playford in 3 weeks time to face our old friends Suivre Les Boules who will prove to be difficult opponents once again on their home piste.

2009 Fixture List Announced

2009-03-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

Following the Suffolk Coastal Petanque Leagues' Registration Night, the Aldeburgh team find themselves in the Deben Division for the 2009 season.

May 3rd Home to Pettistree Greyhound
May 24th Away to Suivre Les Boules Playford
June 7th Home to Golden Key Snape
June 21st Away to The Exiles Bealings
July 26th Away to Pettistree Greyhound
August 9th Home to Suivre Les Boules Playford
August 30th Away to Golden Key Snape
September 13th Home to The Exiles Bealings
September 27th League Grand Final or 3rd/4th Place Play-Off??

2009-03-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Aldeburgh Boules Club will again be entering the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League in the forthcoming 2009 season, with home matches still to be played at the Moot Hall piste, opposite the White Lion Hotel.

It remains to be seen which area division the team will be allotted into but with the league expecting a large increase in teams the team are looking forward to playing new teams and visiting new venues.

Welcome To....

2009-03-01T00:39:00.000-08:00

We, at the Aldeburgh Boules Club, would like to welcome Michael and Lynn Bonning to our ranks as new members and they will be a part of the team we enter for the 2009 Coastal League season.

They recently moved into the area, based in Leiston, and have had previous playing experience when they lived in Norfolk.

We hope they enjoy themselves as being part of our set-up and wish them good luck along with the rest of the team in the 2009 campaign.

2009 Team

2009-02-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

Please let Jimmy or Simon know of your availability to play at any time this year in the 2009 Suffolk Coastal Petanque League.

We have away games as well as home games and would expect around 5 of each, spaced between April and September.

Merry Christmas To All

2008-12-21T05:59:00.000-08:00

Just to wish all members of the Aldeburgh Boules Club, and any other visitors to our site, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Please keep in touch as we will be soon formulating plans for the 2009 Season of the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League, with regard to the Aldeburgh clubs membership.

Aldeburgh Boules Club finish 6th overall

2008-10-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

Our first season in the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League ended with a fourth place in the Deben Division, sixth place overall and the League Award for the best playing surface in the Deben section of the league.

A satisfactory start to our league career but we did lead the league for nearly the whole season to only slip away over the last month or so. We could have qualified for the play-offs if results had gone certain ways but it was not to be and others qualified ahead of us.

Hopefully Jimmy will put a team together for next seasons league programme and more details will follow in the next couple of months.

Exiles prove to be Aldeburghs bogey side

2008-08-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday August 10th 2008
Deben Division of Suffolk Coastal Petanque League

Team Line-Up: Jimmy Robinson, Tina Robinson, Simon Fletcher & Lewis Fletcher

Going into this match, second place in the table, all we needed to do was to avoid defeat and hope that our greater points difference would see us through as runners up and therefore secure our play-off spot.

We were however facing the only side to have beaten us this season when we put in a woeful display at Bealings earlier in the league programme. Surely that couldnt happen again, could it?

Skipper Robinson decided to pair himself with Lewis and Simon with Tina in the first set of games. With the piste proving to be one of the divisions most difficult ones to judge, conditions made the boules roll even further than normal. Our pointing wasnt up to its usual standard and Simons shooting, for once, was well below par. And therefore it was no surprise that we were already 2-0 down at the halfway stage.

Pairing the team up with the partnerships that usually start a match, Jimmy and Tina ensured it wasnt a complete whitewash by gaining a win in their game. However everything rested on the Simon/Lewis match where at one point we found ourselves 8-0 down. Never give up was the lesson here as the Aldeburgh pairing got back to 11-10 down before succumbing to a final two points that saw the match slip into Exiles hands by 3-1.

This result leaves us in second place but an Exiles win will see them overtake us. Also 2 wins for Suivre Les Boules could also see them overtake our points tally. Therefore we could end up 4th place out of 5 teams in a division that we led for around 16 of its 20-odd week calendar!! And the reason for this possible turn of events.... the inability to beat one particular side home and away this year. We seemed to save our worst performances for these 2 matches.

Overall though, the season has been good and all members of the side have enjoyed being part of the inaugural season of the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League.

Aldeburgh defeat Melton in return fixture

2008-07-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

Deben Division of the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League
Sunday July 27th 2008

Team Line-Up: Jimmy Robinson, Tina Robinson, Lewis Fletcher, Simon Fletcher

The team took to the piste earlier today in what may prove to be a crucial match at the final reckoning of the regular season. With a blazing hot sun, no sea breeze and a bone dry, rock hard piste, conditions weren't perfect but then its far better than it be freezing, wet and windy!!

The side from Melton, Ye Olde Coach & Horses were fielding a slightly different side from earlier in the season but had only managed to get a team of 3 together. In the interests of the league and fair play Aldeburgh agreed to play 2 doubles and 2 singles games to suit the away teams numbers.

Jimmy chose to pair himself with Lewis in the first pairing as they tend to play extremely well together as a doubles. And this proved to be the case running away with a 13-1 win. This left Simon to play the singles against Dave, the Melton captain, and despite a few wobbles, obtained a 13-6 victory and therefore a 2-0 scoreline at the halfway stage.

Simon then paired up with Tina in the second round leaving Lewis to face his opponent in the singles. Lewis played very well in the first half of his game leading 9-4 at one stage but then a constant pressure applied by his opponent saw the Aldeburgh junior go down 13-12. However in the remaining game the Aldeburgh pair secured a 13-6 scoreline to ease Aldeburgh over the finish line by 3 games to 1.

The teams final match (excluding any playoff match) will be at home on Sunday August 10th versus The Exiles Bealings (the only side to have beaten Aldeburgh all season).

Next Match

2008-07-13T05:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 27th 2008

Aldeburgh Boules Club v Ye Olde Coach & Horses Melton, at the Moot Hall 'Arena'

Proposed start time 10.30am

All spectators and interested persons welcome

Away win remains elusive

2008-07-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

The Aldeburgh team, having not won since the 4-0 away win at Ye Olde Coach & Horses Melton earlier in the season, completed their away programme earlier this morning against in-form Suivre Le Boule at Playford. Despite not securing a victory since the match at Melton, the team have, by hook or by crook, managed to maintain top spot whilst the chasing pack behind have been jostling for position.

The match started in normal fashion with Simon & Lewis pairing up in the first game and were playing some good boule and led at one point by 10-2 but then a break in concentration saw the match reach 12-11 to the home side. The next end with Aldeburgh holding one on the ground, making the game 12-12, Aldeburgh had one boule left to point in to sneak the game but with the front covered so well by Suivre that a decision was taken to take the point, making it 12-12 and try to win the next end. However despite how close we got nothing could better Suivres boule and they pinched the game 13-12.

In the other pair Jimmy & Tina couldnt get to grips with the home piste and disappointingly went down 13-1.

So halfway stage and Aldeburgh were staring down the barrel of a 2-0 deficit. Jimmy needed to split his pairings with some thought for the sevcond half of the match and he decided upon himself and Lewis as one team and Tina with Simon in the second.

Lewis & Jimmy were behind in the game until a dead coch with them holding 5 in hand saw the game go from 6-9 down to 11-9 up. This then completely changed the impetus of the match and it swung in Aldeburghs favour with the remaining points being secured to pull one game back.

It all came down to the last pair where Tina and Simon were pointing and shooting well and kept plugging away and one last good pointed boule by Tina saw the game won by the visitors and the match rescued to a 2-2 draw.

The team feel it was a bit of a lucky escape but were pleased to pull things round and still stay top of the pile for the time being.

Let us have some feedback/interaction

2008-07-05T01:22:00.000-07:00

Whilst I'm quite happy posting 'blogs' on this website, I am not sure that you realise you can comment back on the various news articles.

If you go to the bottom right hand corner of the article, you will see a 'speech bubble' with the words Comments alongside. If you click on this, you can then respond or add to each article as the website grows.

Have a go with this one and then I can see that the message is coming through loud and clear.

Play Away at Playford

2008-07-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

Next Match - Sunday July 13th 2008

Suivre Les Boule Playford v Aldeburgh Boules Club

Start Time 10.30am at Playford Community Hall

We just can't beat Shepherd & Dog

2008-07-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

Date - Tuesday 1st July 2008

Team - Jimmy, Tina, Simon, Lewis

After what has seemed like an eternity since our last match in the Deben Division, we finally managed to see some league action again thanks to Jimmy's 'running around the countryside' in a valiant effort to get to the match.

Whilst we awaited the arrival of Monsieur and Madame Robinson, the Fletcher pairing got the match underway. Early play saw us race to an 8-0 lead but two heavy ends later saw it stand at 8-7. Some gentle co-ercing of Lewis to concentrate worked wonders and after a dodgy patch, the pair settled down and eventually got a 13-10 win to put us 1-0 up.

By now the Robinson chariot had arrived and its passengers discharged to face a quick warm-up and cool drink before going straight into battle. Jimmy paired himself with Simon, leaving Lewis to partner Tina.

Jimmy and Simon had a bit of a see-saw game with the pendulum swinging one way then the other but a 'big end' and some good pointing by Jimmy saw us earn a 13-7 result. Now it was 2-0 to Aldeburgh and at least we were going to draw the match.

Meanwhile Lewis and Tina were in their own ding-dong battle finally dropping to a 13-8 defeat. Things were tight as we were now just 2-1 ahead with Tina and Jimmy as the final pairing, to face the Hollesley captain on the 'dreaded' middle piste. This proved to be our undoing, coupled with some excellent play by the home pairing, as the Robinsons were on the end of a 13-3 scoreline.

So a 2-2 scoreline was the outcome, just like our season opener against the same side. They remain unbeaten, we remain top (but for how much longer?). A victory is required soon to keep us in the running.

Excellent hospitality and as an enjoyable match as you could hope for at this level.............thank goodness we won't play them in the Play-Offs if we get that far!

No action for Aldeburgh this week

2008-06-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

Although the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League has a full set of matches scheduled for this weekend, the Aldeburgh team are the side that take their turn sitting out, in the 5 team Deben Division.

However the team take to the piste again in a fortnights time when they make the journey to face Hollesley Shepherd & Dog, which is fast looking like a possible top spot decider, however The Exiles and Suivre Les Boule may still have some say in the final outcome.

The day the wheels fell off!!

2008-06-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

Whilst winning is a nice feeling, losing is a bad one, especially when you know you didn't play well. Such was the case on Sunday when the Aldeburgh team, who despite leading the Deben Division of the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League, were outplayed by The Exiles team at their new home location of Bealings.

The piste itself is 'interesting' to say the least but then again, it's the same for both sides and it was The Exiles who got to grips with it much better and faster than Aldeburgh. After Jimmy & Tina had lost their game after being in the lead for the majority of the game, Simon & Lewis played poorly on the other side of the piste and at halfway Aldeburgh were already 2-0 down.

Captain Jimmy chose to pair up with Lewis, leaving Simon & Tina as the other combination and it was this pairing who at least brought the score to 2-1 but it was not enough as Jimmy/Lewis succumbed to a heavy loss, leaving The Exiles with a 3-1 win and the league points.

The next match for the team is probably Tuesday 1st July away at Hollesley Shepherd & Dog

Table toppers visit Playford this weekend

2008-05-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

This week sees the team play away against The Exiles, and although originally scheduled to be played at Melton, due to the Exiles switching home bases, the match will now be played at the Playford Community Hall.

The match is on Sunday 1st June with an approximate start of 10.30am.

Expected line-up: Jimmy, Tina, Simon & Lewis

The team earn first win away

2008-05-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

With a few enforced team changes due to our captain having the slight distraction of becoming Mayor of Aldeburgh, the club visited the piste at Melton for the first time this season, to play the host club, Ye Olde Coach & Horses.

The team started off with wins in both of the opening games to open up a 2-0 lead early on. The piste gives the impression that it is reasonably level but once playing on it, it became apparent that the slight slope to the bottom corner certainly makes the boule roll further than you expect. However to counter-act this, a high lob then makes your boule stop dead especially around the middle section of the piste.

Once the second set of pairings were under way, some good pointing by Aldeburgh saw the visiting team complete the job and register a 4-0 away day triumph.

On another day, the piste could quite easily make the match score somewhat different and Aldeburgh are due to visit Melton again in 2 weeks time.

Next match coming up

2008-05-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

Deben Division
Suffolk Coastal Petanque League

Match 3

Sunday May 18th 2008

Ye Olde Coach & Horses Melton v Aldeburgh Boules Club

Our first official away match sees us try out the new piste in Melton where Chris & Veronica will make us very welcome at their 16th Century coaching inn, whilst we face David's team on the field of play.

Aldeburgh register league victory

2008-05-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

Aldeburgh played host to Suivre Les Boules Playford on Sunday May 4th and registered our first win in the Deben Division of the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League.

Team Line Up: Jimmy Robinson (Captain), Tina Robinson, Simon Fletcher, Lewis Fletcher

Under glorious skies (surely wasnt a Bank Holiday weekend was it?), the team converged at the Moot Hall piste for a 10.30am start against fellow unbeaten opponents from the Playford club.

Whilst the team welcomed Jimmy & Tina for the first time this season, Suivres team saw 2 changes from the side that had earnt a 2-2 draw against The Exiles last weekend.

With a gathering audience the match started with Jimmy & Tina on the 'seaboard' piste whilst Simon & Lewis were on the 'roadside' piste. In two games that were equally tense the progression of the games were markedly different.

Simon & Lewis were playing Suivres captain Joy and his team-mate Jimmy and the game swung backwards and forwards with each team seemingly taking turns to be in the lead and then letting the opponents leap frog them on the scoreboard on the following end. However when Suivre took a 9-8 lead, things looked shaky for the home team. However Lewis played all 3 of his boule in and Simon followed with 2 more to take a big five a secure the first game 13-9.

Jimmy & Tinas game looked like it was going to finish quite quickly when they raced to a sizable early lead, only to then get stuck on 12 points and from there Playford kept plugging away until the score was 12-11 and finally Aldeburgh nicked a point to prevent the 'come from behind' win.

So at the halfway point Aldeburgh were 2 -0 up in games and therefore the minimum result was going to be a draw. However in this league with so few matches to play this year, you need wins rather than draws to finish in the top two.

Jimmy paired himself with Lewis and they faced Jimmy & Hans on Piste One. With Lewis' pointing being more accurate than in his first match, he turned in a display which allowed him & Jimmy to earn a 13-7 win and the overall match win for Aldeburgh.

Meanwhile Tina & Simon were having a harder time of it on Piste Two with a piste that was running so fast that it was difficult to point accurately enough. However Suivres team managed it better and deserved their 13-9 moment of glory over the home side.

A 3-1 win, 2 league points and we now sit at the top of the league table for a while (depending upon Hollesleys Tuesday night match v Ye Olde Coach & Horses Melton).

Player of the Match - Lewis Fletcher 2 wins out of 2 (+10 points difference)

Sunday May 4th v Suivre Les Boule Playford

2008-04-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Our next match in the Deben Division of the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League is this Sunday, May 4th, at home to Suivre Les Boule Playford, starting at approximately 10.30am.

We will be using the Mill Inn this time around for our pre and post match refreshments.

Team Line Up (Currently) : Jimmy Robinson (Captain), Tina Robinson, Simon Fletcher, Lewis Fletcher

All spectators are welcome to cheer the teams on.

League season starts with a draw

2008-04-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

2008 Suffolk Coastal Petanque League - Deben Division
Sunday 20th April at home versus Hollesley Shepherd & Dog

Team: Simon Fletcher, Lewis Fletcher, Roger Baxter, Richard Newman

The team started the new league season Sunday morning with a home match against Hollesley Shepherd & Dog, and whilst the mist cleared over the duration of the mornings match, to reveal clear blue skies and the welcome appearance of the sun, Aldeburgh put in a good showing in their opening league fixture.

With unavailability keeping Jimmy & Tina Robinson out of the team, vice captain Simon paired himself with Lewis whilst Roger and Richard formed the other opening pair. In the early stages of Simons game, Aldeburgh found themselves 7-1 down after 5 ends but with Simon taking over the pointing from Lewis saw the Aldeburgh pair pull it around to finish with a 13-8 win to put Aldeburgh 1-0 up in the match.
In the other game Roger & Richard had stormed to a 12-3 lead but then the Hollesley pair staged an amazing comeback to sneak the vital point to win 13-12 and make the match score 1-1 overall at that stage.

Under League rules no pair can be paired up again so this time Simon combined with Roger whilst Richard and Lewis formed the other double. Good pointing by Roger gave Aldeburgh the upper hand for most of the game and finally secured a 13-4 win, making it 2-1 to Aldeburgh and therefore the final game was to be the decider between drawing or winning.

The Hollesley captain was proving to be a difficult opponent and near the end of the game the visitors lead 12-9, then Aldeburgh pulled 2 back to make it 11-12. Everything rested probably on the next end and whilst Aldeburgh had some decent boules close, Hollesley just had one better and resulted in a 13-11 victory for the Shepherd & Dog.

So overall a 2-2 draw which isnt a bad result but Aldeburgh scored 49 points out of the possible maximum of 52, so three more points would have seen a 4-0 home win rather than honours even.

Great credit must be given to Hollesley who hadnt played anywhere else other than their own car park but despite them not knowing what to expect, they put up a terrific fight in their first match and deserved the draw on the day.

Next match Sunday May 4th at home to Suivre Les Boule Playford

Sunday April 20th v Hollesley Shepherd & Dog

2008-04-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Aldeburgh Boules Club will be playing their first match in the Deben Division of the 2008 Suffolk Coastal Petanque League this Sunday 20th April, against Hollesley Shepherd & Dog.

The team of Simon, Lewis, Roger & Caron will take to the piste, just by the Moot Hall, in front of the White Lion Hotel, for a 10.30am start.

All spectators and supporters would be very welcome to cheer the team along in their opening match.

Aldeburgh's Fixtures

2008-04-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

Aldeburgh Boules Club have the following fixtures in the Deben Division of the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League for the 2008 season

Sunday April 20th - Home versus Hollesley Shepherd & Dog
Sunday May 4th - Home versus Suivre Les Boules Playford
Sunday May 18th - Away versus Ye Olde Coach & Horses Melton
Sunday June 1st - Away versus The Exiles (also at Coach & Horses Melton)
Sunday June 29th - Away versus Hollesley Shepherd & Dog
Sunday July 13th - Away versus Suivre Les Boules Playford
Sunday July 27th - Home versus Ye Olde Coach & Horses Melton
Sunday August 10th - Home versus The Exiles Melton
Sunday September 14th - League Play Off Final (if Aldeburgh qualify)

Please feel free to come along and support the team and join in with a few after match drinks etc.

Matches may be subject to re-arrangement so please visit this site frequently to get the latest news.

Coastal League debut

2008-03-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Aldeburgh Boules Club make their debut in the Suffolk Coastal Petanque League with a Deben Division match versus Hollesley Shepherd & Dog, to be held on Sunday April 20th 2008, at the Moot Hall piste.

All spectators and supporters are welcome.

Keep refering back to this website for updated match details nearer the time.

Aldeburgh becomes a founder member

2008-03-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

Aldeburgh Boules Club became one of 9 founder members of the newly formed Suffolk Coastal Petanque League at the Leagues Registration Night held on Friday March 28th.

Along with 8 other teams, they can now look forward to organised league matches on this side of the County for the first time in 8 years, since the previous East Suffolk Petanque League folded in 2000.

Taking up their position in the Deben Division, which covers the 5 southerly teams within this years league entry, they will enjoy trips to Melton (twice), Playford and Hollesley as well as welcoming these same teams to the Moot Hall piste.

A top spot finish in the division will see a September play-off versus the Blyth Division winners (covering the 4 northerly teams).

Keep checking the site for Aldeburghs fixtures, results and progress.

Aldeburgh Boules Club - a potted history

2008-03-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Over 2006 the Aldeburgh Town Council paid for the construction of a petanque piste parallel to the seafront, just along from the Moot Hall. Located in front of the White Lion Hotel, it was sufficiently wide enough to host one match at a time and in the same year the Aldeburgh Carnival saw the debut of the Open Tournament as part of the Carnival festivities.

Due to tight time schedules only 8 pairs could play in that event but the final was witnessed by over 150 spectators packed tightly around the piste.

Under the consultation of members of the Suffolk County Petanque Association, the Town Council were recommended to widen theb piste by around 2 feet. This would then allow 2 games to be played simultaneously.

In 2007 this recommendation was taken on board and the piste was increased in time for the Carnival. Twice as big piste allowed twice the entry and this time, by a pre-registering 16 pairs battled it out for the top prize.

As the general petanque use had created interest within the town, a regular core of players met every week to socialise and throw a few boule.

Thanks to contacts elsewhere the Aldeburgh players formed into a team near the end of 2007 and welcomed current County champions, Meadlands Stowmarket, to the Moot Hall piste for an end of season friendly match. Despite the 5-1 scoreline to the more experienced Stowmarket team, many lessons were learned and friendships forged.

Onto 2008.............