BOCKING Poachers head Essex Invitation Petanque League division one after a 2-1 win at Thorley.

For the second week running, all three games finished 13-11 with the Poachers edging the win.

Billericay Lakes are tied at the top the table after beating local rivals Billericay Meadows 2-1.

In division two, Wethersfield Hopps lead the way despite a 2-1 defeat by their team-mates, the Jetts.

The triples went the way of the Hopps, 13-0, while the Jetts took the pairs 13-0 and Terry Whiting secured the match win with a close 13-12 win over Kim Speed.

New club Bardfield had a 2-1 win at Little Totham Swan where the deciding singles went to Ian Ruffle with a 13-12 win over Darren Podger.

At the Three Elms, the Quaffers registered a 2-1 win over Blackwater U3A to hold second place in the table.

Meanwhile, four Essex Invitation Petanque League teams took part in the first Eastern region qualification event at Loughton.

The top 12 teams from the three qualification rounds will represent the region at the National finals in September. Wethersfield entered for the first time and started with a win over Towers from Brentwood and after two close defeats, they faced the Onley Arms in the final game of the day.

The Onley trio of Dave Bird, Nikki Parrish and Trevor Blows took on Whiting, Speed and Geoff Cockwell.

The Onley were in good form and took the game 13-1, to finish with three wins on the day.

The two Thorley teams had a poor day, taking just one win between them.