Ottery St Mary found that the North Devon air did not agree with them when they travelled up to play U3A Torridge and The Pig on the Hill for their latest Devon Petanque League matches, writes Dave West.

What’s more, they couldn’t claim jet lag like the British and Irish Lions rugby team in New Zealand, but the wheels dropped off their trolley!

The morning match was at U3A in Westward Ho! and the hosts put the Otters under the cosh in the opening triples games which saw the Ottery trio of Dave West, Mike Bird and Del Hansen, lose 13-0.

The second game lasted longer, but still ended in defeat for the Ottery trio John and Rose Thatcher and Paul Puddicombe, beaten 13-6.

So, for the Otters it was all to play for in the doubles games, but they just didn’t adapt to a very different playing area than their home terrain.

First up, John and Rose Thatcher slipped to a 13-4 defeat before Dave West and Del Hansen went down 13-5.

The whitewash looked like being saved as Paul Puddicombe and Mike Bird led in the final match before being pegged back, succumbing to a narrow 13-12 reversal.

The final match score of 5-0 to U3A was a complete reversal of the score when the pairs met at Ottery earlier in the campaign.

Reinforced with an excellent lunch at The Village Inn, the Otters moved up to The Pig on the Hill for their afternoon match and shared the honours in the triples.

First up there was a 13-4 success for the Ottery triple of John and Rose Thatcher with Paul Puddicombe. However, the home side hit back and Dave West, Mike Bird and Pete Marles were beaten 13-3.

Ottery regained the lead thanks to a 13-5 win for Paul Puddicombe and Mike Bird, but the home side again levelled with Dave West and Peter Marles went down 13-5 – this a contest that was much closer than the final score suggests!

The decisive game was looking good for the Otters, but the home side rallied and eventually Mike Anderson, playing alongside John and Rose Thatcher, went down 1308.

The overall score of 3-2 in favour of the North Devon side matched the result when the teams met in Ottery, giving Pig On the Hill a season’s double over the Otters.

P F A PD

Ottery St Mary 23 414 358 56

Pig on the Hill 22 386 335 51

Torridge U3A 22 404 391 13

Plymouth 20 344 261 83

Honiton 15 346 433 -87

Chudleigh 14 343 374 -31

ISCA 12 324 409 -31