Section A fixtures

The only game on Thursday night sees top team Marco Wanderers play away to Colliton Muckspreaders who beat them at the Greyhound back in September. There's the Milborne derby match on Friday night as Milborne Woodman look to do the double on Dewlish Monsters The top game of the night sees second placed 3CA take on third placed Patriots, while fourth placed Imps will be looking to bounce back from last weeks defeat to Marco when they host Slingers. Brewers Bees will be hoping to get back on track when they host Puddletown Wanderers at the Conservative Club. Bottom side Hammers have a home match with Skimmers, while second bottom Colliton Spares travel to Wool to take on Breakaways. Colliton Wide Boys have their bye.

Skittler of the week

Lee Haime from the Allsorts of Section B was skittler of the week in the men's section with 75. Cammilla Gosney was the Ladies skittler of the week with 63 for her side Colliton Devils.

Section A table

1. Marco Wanderers 26pts
2. 3CA 24pts
3. Patriots 22pts
4. The Imps 20pts
5. Colliton Wide Boys 20pts
6. Brewers Bees 20pts
7. Milborne Woodman 17pts
8. Skimmers 15pts
9. Slingers 14pts
10. Colliton Muckspreaders 13pts
11. Breakaways 12pts
12. Puddletown Wanderers 11pts
13. Dewlish Monsters 10pts
14. Colliton Spares 8pts
15. Hammers 6pts

2 pin victory for Oakettes

Colliton Devils 389 Oakettes 391

Ladies Section A leaders Oakettes had to come from behind at the Colliton Club against Colliton Devils on Monday night. Oakettes were 6 down with one hand to go and hit 58 on the last hand to leave the Devils 53 to win, but the Devils could only manage to hit 50 their lowest hand of the night and Oakettes won by 2 pins.

Section A table

This is the latest table after this weeks matches

1. Marco Wanderers 26pts
2. 3CA 24pts
3. Patriots 22pts
4. The Imps 20pts
5. Brewers Bees 20pts
6. Colliton Wide Boys 20pts
7. Milborne Woodman 17pts
8. Skimmers 15pts
9. Slingers 14pts
10. Colliton Muckspreaders 13pts
11. Breakaways 12pts
12. Puddletown Wanderers 11pts
13. Dewlish Monsters 10pts
14. Colliton Spares 8pts
15. Hammers 6pts

Patriots Win

Patriots beat Milborne Woodman on Thursday night at the Goldies.

Big score for Allsorts

Section B run away leaders Allsorts hit 494 as they beat Unpredictables by 73 at the Bulls Head last night. Third placed Alcotops lost by 1 pin at home to bottom team Steamers on Thursday.

Doug top at last for Untouchables

Section C high flyer's Untouchables beat Swan Abbots away on Thursday night by 32 pins to keep them on course for promotion. Long serving player Doug Riglar topped the Untouchables scoring for the first time this season.
Tinklers lead the way in Section C but with Untouchables, Strimmers and Vic Reeves just behind them it looks like being an interesting second half of the season at the top of the Section.

Skimmers edge it at the Gurkha

Skimmers 383 Breakaways 380

A 67 hand put the Skimmers 15 up after the first hand and found themselves 19 up after two hands. But the Breakaways chipped away at that total and went into the last hand only 1 down. Breakaways throwing first had a poor start to the last hand with a couple of 4's but their joker in the pack (The Dog) got the only stick up of the night and Skimmers were looking at 58 to win. Skimmers started well and even Jeff Brown with only 26 pins to his name after six hands got a 9, it came down to the last three players Fido (Mr Chelsea) and the two Burt's Derek and Daryl needing 7's. Anchor man for the night Daryl still needed 7 to win and he held his nerve and cleaned up for a 9 to give Skimmers a 3 pin victory. Losing captain Keith Brown had no complaints and said " it was a very good game which could have went either way at the end"

Bees lose again

Brewers Bees lost for the second time in a week as they went down by the small margin of 3 pins away at Dewlish Monsters.

bolter cost the spreaders

Colliton Muckspreaders anchor man Ian Stark needed 9 to win 8 to tie in their away match against Puddletown Wanderers and after getting 7 down with his first ball he left himself a pair, he boltered his next ball (he said he went for spare) then got 8 to tie the game.

Away win for 3CA

Colliton Spares 430 3CA 453

For four hands this Section A clash was close but 3CA ran out easy winners by 23 pins to keep the pressure on league leaders Marco Wanderers. Phil and Adie were 3CA's top men both getting 60.

85 hand wins it for Marco

Marco Wanderers 473 The Imps 468

The Imps went into a 12 pin lead after the first hand hitting a 71 hand, but league leaders Marco hit 72 next hand to half The Imps lead to 6. But over the next three hands The Imps increased their lead to 15 pins winning all three hands. Marco hit 72 on the sixth hand but The Imps only lost 3 pins going into the last hand 12 pins up. Marco's top four hit 31 between them on the last hand and the game looked to be going The Imps way but Marco were not going down without a fight and the bottom four produced an amazing finish hitting spares of 13,12,13 and 16 to give them an 85 hand and to leave The Imps 74 to win. The Imps skittled well on the last hand getting four 9's and four 8's but could not get the stick up they needed to win the game and Marco with a 5 pin victory took the 2 points. Imps captain Terry Gosney was disappointed " We had a great chance tonight as Marco were not quite on their game and maybe we should have killed the game off earlier but we didn't and Marco punished us with a great finish"

Consistent Wide Boys win again

Slingers 429 Colliton Wide Boys 438

Colliton Wide Boys started with a hand of 71 which included a flopper (16) from Matt Slade to give them a 4 pin lead, over the next three hands their lead was extended to 22 pins. But Slingers were not finished and an excellent hand of 74 on the fifth hand wiped 12 pins off, then on the sixth hand Wide Boys only hit 55 their lowest of the evening meaning Slingers pulled back another 5 pins. Wide Boys hit 61 on the last hand to set Slingers a target of 67 to win but this was not met and Wide Boys eventually won by 9 pins. Wide Boys Jason Hallett was pleased with the win " We only had three stick ups but this was not due to missed chances, and we skittled consistent with many 8's and 9's and this seemed enough to just win this game"

Poll result

The result from my first poll about who will win Section A this season suggest that most of you think it will be the same top two as last season when Marco Wanderers beat Brewers Bees in a Play Off to win the league.

Poll Result
MARCO WANDERERS 38%
BREWERS BEES 34%
THE IMPS 19%
3CA 3%
PATRIOTS 3%

Alleys

I was reading a couple of articles on the web a few weeks ago about skittle leagues in Taunton and Cardiff and both articles were about the shortage of alleys due to pubs closing or pubs doing away with alleys for eating areas. Both articles could easily have both been written about Dorchester and it's surrounding villages. I think this is the biggest danger to our skittle league as I can't see where any new alleys may be built. The players are still keen and there are plenty of youngsters joining or forming teams, and the level of skittles is very high let's just hope there are enough alleys for us all to play on.

I got thinking about alleys new and old after reading the articles and these are my favourites.

Prince of Wales Puddletown and the Cornwall Hotel (both my home alleys)

Colliton Club alley 1 (town alley)

The Swan (old town alley)

Royal Oak Milborne (village alley)

Bladen Club (first alley I played on)

British Legion at Wool (for the bread and cheese and to see my mate although they usually beat us)

Weymouth Working Mans Club ( outside Dorchester League)

If you'd like to post your favourite alleys drop us an email to tgosney@tiscali.co.uk

Skittler of the week

Nigel Roberts of the Brewers Bees was the skittler of the week hitting 75 against the Patriots at the Conservative Club last Friday, his 9 on the last hand won the game for the Bees.
A.Courtney was skittler of the week in the Ladies section hitting 62 for Crackerjacks at the Trinity Club in her teams home defeat to Colliton Devils.

Section A fixtures

The Imps travel to Winterborne Kingston on Friday night hoping to keep their faint title hopes alive against Section A leaders Marco Wanderers a team they rarely beat. There is a top versus bottom game at the Colliton Club on Friday when second placed 3CA hope to keep the pressure on Marco Wanderers against Colliton Spares who have won their last two games and hope to put a 4 point gap between themselves and bottom side Hammers who have their bye. Brewers Bees also face a team from the other end of the table when they travel to Milborne to play Dewlish Monsters. Skimmers host the Breakaways at the Gurkha both teams just outside the relegation battle while two other sides looking to stay out of the bottom two play at the Bladen Club when Puddletown Wanderers take on Colliton Muckspreaders. There are two interesting games on Thursday night Slingers are home to in form Colliton Wide Boys while at the Goldies fifth placed Patriots play Milborne Woodman who had an excellent first half of the season.

Latest Section A table

1. Marco Wanderers 24pts
2. 3CA 22pts
3. The Imps 20pts
4. Brewers Bees 20pts
5. Patriots 20pts
6. Colliton Wide Boys 18pts
7. Milborne Woodman 17pts
8. Slingers 14pts
9. Skimmers 13pts
10. Breakaways 12pts
11. Colliton Muckspreaders 12pts
12. Puddletown Wanderers 10pts
13. Dewlish Monsters 8pts
14. Colliton Spares 8pts
15. Hammers 6pts

Spares spring a surprise

There was a surprise result at the Conservative Club last night as Colliton Spares beat high flying Brewers Bees by 20 pins. Brewers Bees were unable to reproduce last Fridays performance and the final scores were disappointing 409-429.

Devils win at the Vic

Monday night saw Colliton Devils beat The Rivals in their Ladies Section A match at the Vic. Winning five out of the seven hands the Devils won by 27 hitting 401 with Mel Gosney top scoring with 63.

Bees look to close gap

Brewers Bees take on Colliton Spares on Tuesday night in their game in hand looking to move within 2 points of leaders Marco Wanderers, while Spares will be looking to build on their victory against Woodman as they try to climb the table.

Top 5

1. Marco Wanderers 24pts
2. 3CA 22pts
3. The Imps 20pts
4. Brewers Bees 20pts
5. Patriots 20pts

Spares win

Colliton Spares got their third league win of the season with an away victory at Milborne against Woodman.

Kev & Nige clinch it for Bees

The big game on Friday night went down to the wire as Brewers Bees and Patriots battled it out at the Conservative Club. Needing 64 to win the Bees skittled well on the last hand but still left the bottom two men 18 to win, Kev Holbrook done his part of the job getting a 9 and it was left to anchor man Nigel Roberts to win the game. Nige left a pair either side after his first ball but held his nerve and to Bees delight he got both pairs with his other two balls to give Bees a 1 pin victory. Both teams showed why they are at the top of the table hitting impressive scores of 474 and 473.

3CA bounce back

3CA shook of last weeks poor performance against Hammers by crushing Skimmers at the Compasses last night. In a one sided game 3CA won by 78 hitting 467 to close the gap on leaders Marco Wanderers.

Hammers win away again

The Hammers followed up last weeks surprise win at 3ca by beating Breakaways at Wool last night. They were 8 down after three hands but got back into the game and had a massive 80 hand on the seventh hand to leave Breakaways the hard task of getting 83 to win, Hammers eventually winning by 16 pins hitting a total score of 475 with young Lloyd Mitchem top scoring with 72.

Acks top as Imps win

The Imps 406 Puddletown Wanderers 365

The Imps won there sixth league match on the trot against a depleted Puddletown Wanderers side at the Gurkha Inn last night. Imps were 24 up after two hands and won five of the seven hands to win by 41. The 406 total would have been better but for a really poor fourth hand of 44. Mark Ackerman skittled well all night (for a change) and fully deserved to be top score with 58.

Muckspreaders open 4 point gap

Colliton Muckspreaders 421 Dewlish Monsters 416

Muckspreaders put 4 points between themselves and Monsters with a 5 pin victory. Both teams lead through the game with Monsters taking a 12 pin advantage into the last hand only for the Spreaders to hit a 73 hand. Monsters requiring 62 to win could only hit 56 to loose by 5 pins.

Marco pegged back by Wide Boys

Colliton Wide Boys 438 Marco Wanderers 394

Last night's billed BIG game never really lived up to what may have been expected. The night started with Paul "Totters" Leneghan from Wide Boys missing a single pin chance in only the second throw of the evening, which seemed to set a precedent for the rest of the night with many chances spurned and at the end of the game there was only two stick ups for each side (one of Marco's a flopper). Wide Boys skittled consistently and only had one hand below 60 with one hand of 73 which saw them win six of the seven hands (the hand Marco won was by 1 pin) to secure a 44 pin win. Losing captain Chay Fox had no complaints and said " the margin of victory could have been more than the 44 pins" and although they were off colour on an alley they can't seem to win on he said he could take nothing away from the Wide Boys " they skittled out very well and fully deserved to win".

Top of the League

Section A
1. Marco Wanderers 24pts
2. Patriots 20pts
3. 3CA 20pts

Section B
1. Allsorts 26pts
2. Colliton Flingers 19pts

Section C
1. Tinklers 22pts
2. Untouchables 20pts
3. Strimmers 20pts

Section D
1. Funseekers 22pts
2. Brewers Wurzels 20pts

The skittler of the week in the men's section was Matt Slade of Colliton Wide Boys who hit 73 in his team's game at home to Puddletown Wanderers.

Ladies Section A
1. Oakettes 16pts
2. Bloomers 14pts
3. Crackerjacs 14pts

Ladies Section B
1. Nik Naks 18pts
2. Bombshells 14pts

The skittler of the week in the ladies section was F.Miller of Colli-Flowers who hit 63 in her team's game away to Cheeky Pinky Ladies

Section A fixtures

This week sees the start of the reverse fixtures so teams play whoever they played back in August. There is a big game at the Colliton Club on Thursday night as seventh placed Colliton Wide Boys take on top team Marco Wanderers while on the other alley Colliton Muckspreaders host Dewlish Monsters. The big match on Friday night has two of the top five playing each other when Brewers Bees play home to Patriots. Third placed 3CA play home to Skimmers while The Imps are at home to Puddletown Wanderers. Both the bottom teams are away Hammers travel to Wool to face the Breakaways while Colliton Spares travel to Milborne to take on Woodman.

Section A table

1. Marco Wanderers 24pts
2. Patriots 20pts
3. 3CA 20pts
4. The Imps 18pts
5. Brewers Bees 18pts
6. Milborne Woodman 17pts
7. Colliton Wide Boys 16pts
8. Slingers 14pts
9. Skimmers 13pts
10. Breakaways 12pts
11. Puddletown Wanderers 10pts
12. Colliton Muckspreaders 10pts
13. Dewlish Monsters 8pts
14. Hammers 4pts
15. Colliton Spares 4pts

Devils comeback

Crackerjacks 367 Colliton Devils 378

After going behind by 17 pins on the first hand the Colliton Devils came back to win their Ladies Section A game away to Crackerjacks at the Trinity Club alley 1 by 11 pins.

Ladies cup and plate results

Ladies KO Cup 2nd round

Cheeky Pinky Ladies 399 Colliton Devils 391
Brewers Bumpkins 343 Colli Flowers 275
Colliton Bloomers 384 Colliton Criminals 366
Oakettes 387 (53) Forget-Me-Nots 387 (52)

Ladies Plate 1st round

Cockeroos 395 The Rivals 343
Woodpeckers 341 Colli Cats 316
Colliton Nik Naks 387 Black Jacks 312
Borough Bombshells 359 Crazy Ladies 354
Crackerjacs 355 Perky Pikes 322
Breezers 385 Oakeydoked Off 374
Westenders and Skittle Bashers had byes

Allsorts win again

Section B run away leaders Allsorts continued their march back to Section A with a 14 pin win away to Yokels On Tour @ Colliton on Wednesday night.

Untouchables

Untouchables kept up their impressive form in Section C by beating Colliton Hartstoppers at home by 8 pins.
In the drawn game in Section A Milborne Woodman who were chasing 68 to beat Skimmers had stick ups of 17 and 15 to help them on their way but the game finished level 427-427.
In Ladies Section A Colliton Bloomers beat Colliton Devils by 7

All square at the Oak

Milborne Woodman and Skimmers drew last night at Milborne. Woodman needed 68 to win but fell one short.
At the Gurkha Inn The Imps beat Dewlish Monsters by 10 pins. In a close game The Imps won six of the seven hands to record their fifth straight win, the final scores were 413-403.
The remaining Section A game between Brewers Bees and Colliton Spares was cancelled.

Patriots end well

Colliton Muckspreaders 418 Patriots 428

Patriots kept in touch with league leaders Marco Wanderers with a 10 pin victory at the Colliton Club. With the scores level going into the last hand Patriots hit 69 to leave the Muckspreaders with a tough task of hitting 70 to win.

Hammers shock 3CA

3CA 425 Hammers 463

Bottom side Hammers who have only managed one win in Section A this season sprung a surprise last night beating second placed 3CA by 38. Hammers hit an impressive total of 463 to inflect 3CA's first home defeat of the season.

Skimmers continue cup run

Skimmers made it through to the last eight of the Knockout Cup last night by beating Steamers away by 25. That means there will be eight Section A teams in the draw for the Quarter Final joining Skimmers will be Slingers, Hammers, Colliton Wide Boys, Breakaways , 3CA , Milborne Woodman and The Imps. The draw will take place on Thursday February 14th.

Marco march on

Slingers 412 Marco Wanderers 450

The Trinity '3' alley has proved to be a banana skin for Marco Wanderers in the past, however last night they took advantage of a below par Slingers to win by 38 pins. With new signing Mark Dunford top scoring with 64 and with three other players scoring over 60, Marco managed to win six of the seven legs on the night. For the Slingers they were undone by their bolter count, but the evergreen Freddie Rose led the way for the home side with a score of 60.

Cup update

Milborne Woodman made it through to the last eight of the Knockout Cup in a close game with Westerners the final scores were 409-407.
In the men's plate so far Barmy Army have beaten Colliton Thatchers, Merrymen have beaten Strimmers and All Sorts have beaten Casuals.

Section A fixtures

Tonight league leaders Marco Wanderers play away to Slingers while Patriots play away to Colliton Muckspreaders. On Friday second place 3CA are at home to Hammers while third place Brewers Bees are at home to Colliton Spares. The other two games on Friday are The Imps v Dewlish Monsters while Milborne Woodman play Skimmers. Colliton Wide Boys have already got the points in the bag this week after beating Puddletown Wanderers last Saturday. Breakaways have their bye in which is the last set of fixtures before the fixtures are reversed.

Blackthorn British Skittles Championship

The entry forms are out for the 2008 competition any teams interested should call 01803 210 210 or visit http://www.shootoutclub.co.uk/ .There are three events open to men's, ladies and mixed teams. The best 16 teams in each event compete at the grand finals and there is over £5.000 in prize money to be won.

This is the fifth year of the competition and Dorchester League teams have done well particularly Skimmers who won the first two competitions beating Pin Ups from Weymouth both times and also qualified for the last sixteen the third year. Breakaways and Dewlish Monsters have also made it to the last sixteen while Oakettes have made it to the last sixteen of the ladies competition two times likewise The Management have made it to the last sixteen of the mixed competition for the last two seasons.

Other teams from Dorchester that have played in the competition are The Imps, Brewers Bees and Hotshots.

There is also a pairs and singles competition the night before the grand finals and anyone who has attended the finals weekend will tell you what a great weekend it is.

Cup date

Skimmers will be looking for a place in the last eight as they take on Steamers at Frampton Arms on Thursday. The Section A team will be hoping to join the six other Section A teams already through Slingers, Colliton Wide Boys, Hammers, The Imps, Breakaways and 3CA. Milborne Woodman take on Westerners at home in the last of the third round matches so there could be eight Section A teams in the Quarter Finals.

Wide Boys ease to victory

Colliton Wide Boys got off to a winning start in 2008 last night with a home win against Puddletown Wanderers in their Section A match that was brought forward from next Thursday. They were in front all match and hit a massive 83 hand on the sixth hand winning the game by 62 pins 459 -397. Matt Slade was Wide Boys star man top scoring with 73 which included two big stick ups of 17 and 18. For Puddletown Wanderers it meant two defeats in two days as they lost to Breakaways in the cup on Friday.

Section A

The first Section A game of the new year takes place tonight as Puddletown Wanderers take on Colliton Wide Boys in a match brought forward from next week.

Section A latest table
1. MARCO WANDERERS Won 11 P/dif +181 Pts 22
2. 3CA Won 10 P/dif +122 Pts 20
3. BREWERS BEES Won 9 P/dif +243 Pts 18
4. PATRIOTS Won 9 P/dif +150 Pts 18
5. THE IMPS Won 8 P/dif +243 Pts 16
6. MILBORNE WOODMAN Won 8 P/dif -8 Pts 16
7. COLLITON WIDE BOYS Won 7 P/dif +152 Pts 14
8. SLINGERS Won 7 P/dif +14 Pts 14
9. SKIMMERS Won 6 P/dif +71 Pts 12
10.BREAKAWAYS Won 6 P/dif -9 Pts 12
11.PUDDLETOWN WANDERERS Won 5 P/dif -137 Pts 10
12.COLLITON MUCKSPREADERS Won 5 P/dif -247 Pts 10
13.DEWLISH MONSTERS Won 4 P/dif -113 Pts 8
14.COLLITON SPARES Won 2 P/dif -391 Pts 4
15.HAMMERS Won 1 P/dif -271 Pts 2

Breakaways win in cup

In the all Section A cup match played at the Bladen Club last night Breakaways won through to the last eight of the Knockout Cup beating Puddletown Wanderers , they were in front from the first hand and won the game by 26 hitting a total score of 444.

3CA reach last eight

3CA reached the last eight of the knockout cup beating Brewers Wurzels at home by 35, the final scores were 456-421.

Imps win the singles

Terry Gosney of The Imps won the singles competition at the Trinity Club on Thursday night beating Matt from Vic Jokers in the final.

Holders through in cup

Last season's Knockout cup winners The Imps won through to the last eight of this seasons competition with an away win against Section B's Hotshots at the Consevitive Club, after two hands the Hotshots were 1 up but The Imps with hands of 77, 82, 66, 68 and 78 powered in front and won by 86 pins with Phil Goodland hitting 79 and Andy Taylor hitting 75. The total scores were Hotshots 401 The Imps 487.