Round 4 was held at Stirling in glorious conditions, with cool air temperatures to offset the warm summer sun. Once again, our extraordinary run of luck with the weather continued, only this time rain wasn’t the issue. What we dodged (by two days) was the most severe heatwave seen in these parts for some years.

A strong turnout of thirty-two teams participated in Round 3 at Novar Gardens. Once again, our extraordinary run of luck with the weather continued. Of the five SAPL events held so far this season, this was the fourth to follow the same pattern. Coming after a major rain event, with more showers forecast for Sunday, the conditions cleared just in time to make way for a pleasant sunny day of petanque. The only difference this time was that the preceding rain continued until 9am, rather than 3am, and the following rain didn’t come until midnight, rather than 5 or 6pm.

The top honours of the day went to the ESP trio of Nathan James, Ha Nguyen & Van Nguyen. Taking second place for FAB were Rae Grierson, Ashley Rains, & John Nowland. Finishing third were Prospect Petanque’s Melissa Scott, Gavin Scott & Brett Williams PP.

Coming off the back of a major wet weather event, there were some doubts about whether Round 1 at ESP would be able to proceed. Fortunately, the rain stopped overnight – just in time. There was still some standing water, but, thanks to the efforts of some dedicated ESP volunteers, the number of lanes deemed unplayable was reduced to three, leaving the required number of 13 available for play. Even more fortunate, given the forecast of more cold, wet and windy conditions, was the weather on the day – much more comfortable than expected and no rain at all until 5pm, when all but one game had finished.

The 2024-2025 SAPL Interclub competition had 148 participants and the player rankings are available for download below.