Five Hereford Petanque Club members contested all eight rounds in the Heart of England Regional Winter Pairs competition this autumn and winter.

The rounds are held at six locations in the Midlands and two rounds at the Seven Stars terrain in Clehonger.

More than 40 teams entered, with the final round near Lemington Spa last weekend.

Trevor Allen and Alistair Rabbage were favourites, leading three other possible winners by just one game.

Bill Wood and Ian Williams needed to win all four of their games to be in with a shout and, in gaining their second four-wins in a row and beating two of their nearest rivals, prevailed by the narrowest of margins over Trevor and Alistair. Melanie Williams played with Paula David from Kenilworth and lead the 2nd Division at the start of play and held on to take that trophy.

Paula's daughter Elianne was also successful, winning the best junior throughout the competition.

All of the Hereford players play in the Marches Petanque League, which has 20 or so local teams spread across west Herefordshire playing throughout the summer and winter.

They are looking for new talent. Check out the the website marchespetanque.co.uk