After completing a successful season in the Devon League Honiton Petanque returned to Euro Cup action last week, writes Chris Bigmore.

It was the third round stage of the 2019/20 competition and for the second year running they faced an away tie at the City of Bath club.

Last time it was the second round and Honiton exited the competition after a 4-1 defeat against their opponents who play at a higher level in the Great Western Region.

And their was to be no revenge as the Bath club won yet again, but it was a much closer affair this time with Honiton putting up a strong performance and only succumbing to a narrow 3-2 defeat.

The match was all square at the halfway mark with the triples round complete. Cecily Young, Ron Hutchinson and Jenny Lavender lost their game but Janet Driscoll, Chris Bigmore and Charlie O'Reilly won theirs to level the tie.

In the doubles round Young and O'Reilly produced a good win in a hard fought encounter but Honiton fell just short as the partnerships of Driscoll and Bigmore and Hutchinson and Lavender both lost their games.

In the 2018/19 competition Honiton were able to drop into the Euro Cup Plate as a loser from the first and second rounds, and a fine run in that competition continued to the Spring when they made it to the last 16 nationally.

Reaching the third round stage of the main competition this time means that all interest in the cup has now ended.