Wednesday 25th March saw the curtain come down on the 2025/26 Kent Winter League season with the Cup & Plate finals night. The night was hosted by Lordswood Pétanque Club with hot food provided after the matches for 4 teams involved. My thanks go to Lordswood PC and their volunteers.
We had 17 teams for the Winter League this season so a few rounds were needed to find our finalists. In the Cup, two teams from the East Division found themselves in the final, The Earl Grey v GRFC Prancers.
The Earl Grey started with a convincing 4-0 win against Istead Raiders, then a 2-2 win on points away at Crockenhill Chequers, before a 3-1 semi final at home versus Sidcup. GRFC Prancers had 2-2 points wins against Harrow & Ditton, before a 3-1 away win at Duke of Wellington Lancers.
The first 2 matches of the Cup final saw two straightforward wins for GRFC over The Earl Grey, putting them in a commanding position for the second half. The Earl Grey rallied and won the third match 13-9 making it a tense finish, but GRFC eventually closed out a 3-1 win with a 13-7 victory in the final match.
The first round losers from the Cup, go into the Plate competition. The Plate final was contested between Duke of Wellington Grenadiers from the East Division, and Hartley Braves from the West Division. Both teams had comfortable 3-1 wins in the semi finals to book their final spots.
The final could barely have been any closer! It was 1-1 at half time with a points score of 19-19. Hartley won the next game 13-10, but the Grenadiers won 13-9, meaning they won the Plate by just 1 point!
The final Winter League tables are also below, congratulations to GRFC Prancers for completing the League & Cup double by winning the East Division by a fair margin. Sidcup also enjoyed a strong season and sizeable league victory, winning the West Division by 7 games. Many thanks to all teams, players and captains for supporting me in my first season running the Winter League, and for playing matches in the right spirit!
