The top of the Essex Invitation Petanque League table was squeezed up as Bocking Spinners saw their advantage over Thorley cut in a 3-0 defeat at home.
The home triple of Richard Tite, Christina Knights and Ian Ruffle took an 8-3 lead but were pegged back and lost 13-12.
In the singles, Trevor Turner was beaten 13-9 as Thorley secured the match win and Tite and Ruffle lost 13-9 in the pairs.
Bottom side, Bocking Weavers, fresh from their first win of the season, took on leaders Onley Arms.
The home triple of Callum Finn, Darren Hutchins and Paul Griffin led early on and held off a riposte from Onley’s Beryl Gibson, Lorne Gibson and Trevor Blows to win 13-10.
In the singles, Blows was always on top against Mark Williams and took the game 13-4 and the deciding pairs saw a similar story as the Gibsons overcame David Adams and Griffin 13-4.
Elsewhere, Billericay U3A went second with a 2-1 win at Three Elms A.
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