Section A fixtures

This week is the last set of fixtures for the season, with the league won weeks ago champions Marco Wanderers end their season with a home match against Slingers. Second place is still up for grabs with Colliton Wide Boys favourites needing just a point away to Puddletown Wanderers to clinch it, although Wanderers still need the points at the wrong end of the table. Two teams looking for Wide Boys to slip up are Patriots and 3CA who are both 2 points behind , Patriots host Colliton Muckspreaders who like Wanderers still need points at the bottom, while 3CA play away to bottom side Hammers who must win to have any chance of staying up. Colliton Spares are the fourth team battling the drop and they must beat Brewers Bees at the Colliton Club on Friday or they will be relegated. The Imps travel to Milborne to face Dewlish Monsters, while Milborne Woodman travel in the opposite direction to the Gurkha to play the Skimmers. Breakaways have finished their season as they have their bye this week.

Skittler of the week

M. Homewood was skittler of the week in the men's league last week hitting 71 for Colliton Thatchers in their victory over Gophers.

Section A table

1. Marco Wanderers 44pts
2. Colliton Wide Boys 38pts
3. Patriots 36pts
4. 3CA 36pts
5. The Imps 34pts
6. Brewers Bees 31pts
7. Skimmers 25pts
8. Milborne Woodman 25pts
9. Breakaways 24pts
10. Slingers 24pts
11. Dewlish Monsters 24pts
12. Puddletown Wanderers 17pts
13. Colliton Muckspreaders 17pts
14. Colliton Spares 16pts
15. Hammers 15pts

Hammers beat Woodman

Bottom side Hammers beat Milborne Woodman away last Friday to keep alive their chances of staying up. They will have to beat 3CA at home this Friday and hope the three teams above them all lose to give them any hope of staying up.

Cup win for the Wide Boys

Colliton Wide Boys 433 - 404 Milborne Woodmen

Wide Boys threw first and hit an excellent skittling hand of 66 with no stick-ups. Woodmen replied with a 61 to find themselves 5 down. Wide Boys second hand was a complete contrast to the first with some very inconsistent scoring of 2 x 4's, 2 x 6's, 2 x 7's and 2 x 15's, giving a total of 64 that managed to pull another 3 pins.

Roy Fowler had a flopper on the third hand that helped Wide Boys to a score of 69 which left them 18 in front. This flopper proved to be the last stick-up of the game for either side. Wide Boys then skittled steadily with scores of 61, 56, 60 and 57 to secure a comfortable victory by 29 pins.

Colliton Wide Boys now meet Slingers in the semi final at Frampton Arms, Moreton on Tuesday 6th May.

Bees win

Brewers Bees 441 Skimmers 419

Skimmers started but could only manage 50. Bees went 9 up. 2 more hands in the 50's and Skimmers were 15 down. Bees hit 71 on the 4th to go 25 ahead. Skimmers then had their best hand of the night with a score of 79 to reduce the arrears to 3 but followed it with a 60 & 59. Bees replied with 68 & 70 to run out comfortable winners. Top score for Skimmers was Derrick Knight with 65.

Dorchester teams meet in the Blackthorn

The draw for this years Blackthorn British Skittles Championships men's event has been made, with four Dorchester & District Skittle League teams competing.

Three of the sides have been drawn in the same group along with Weymouth's Pin Ups.

Group 11
Breakaways
Pin Ups (Weymouth)
The Imps
Dewlish Monsters

Group 12
Motley Crew (Weymouth)
Skimmers
The Masters (Bridport)
Barbarians + 1 (Sturminster Newton)

Group games to be played by 6th July.

The winner and runner up from the twenty seven groups will go through to the 1st knockout stage plus two best placed third teams.

Strong finish from 3CA

3CA 447 Breakaways 418

There was only 2 pins in the match going into the last hand, but a 74 hand from 3CA gave the Breakaways a tough task which they could not achieve. Top score for 3CA was Skid while for the Breakaways Zimmer hit 58. The Blogs favourite player 'The Dog' could not hit his normal heights and was bottom score for Breakaways hitting 46.

Imps collapse to give Patriots the points

The Imps 380 Patriots 396

After a close start which saw both teams up at some stage the scores were level after five hands. Patriots throwing first hit 56 on the sixth hand and The Imps followed with a 50 hand to give Patriots a 6 pin lead. Patriots gave The Imps a chance hitting 54 on the last hand to leave 61 for the home side to chase, but The Imps played their worst hand of the night(maybe all season) hitting 6,5,5,3,6,5,9,5 to total a 44 hand and lose the game by 16 pins.

3CA storm into semis

Skimmers 413 3CA 451

3CA ended Skimmers hopes of facing The Imps in the semi finals with a 48 pin victory. 3CA started with a 57 hand and went 2 up but a poor second hand of 53 gave Skimmers a chance to pull them back and Skimmers moved 5 pins in front. Skimmers went 2 more pins in front on the third hand but 3CA came back with a 65 hand and Skimmers could only follow that with a 54 hand that gave 3CA a 2 pin lead. A 78 hand put 3CA 15 up and another big hand of 76 put them 30 pins in front and ended any chance of a Skimmers come back. Another 8 pins were added in favour of 3CA on the last hand to give them a 38 pin victory. Top men for 3CA were Brian 'Stumpy' Newton and Steve 'the weakest link' Prior who both hit 60.
3CA now face The Imps in the semi finals at the Chalk and Cheese, Maiden Newton on Tuesday 6th May.

23 pin victory for Slingers

Slingers 455 Puddletown Wanderers 432

Slingers won by 23 pins at the Trinity Club last night to leave Puddletown Wanderers still looking over their shoulder for next weeks final games in their bid to stay up.

Mighty victory for Spreaders

Colliton Muckspreaders beat fellow strugglers Colliton Spares to give themselves a chance of staying up and leave Spares facing relegation to Section B. Spreaders hit 441 and won by 27 pins, the win puts them a point above Spares with one game to go.

Wide Boys to strong for Monsters

Wide Boys 439 - 386 Dewlish Monsters

Throwing first Wide Boys opening three hands were 64, 63 and 63 which established a 29 pin lead against a weakened Monsters side. Their two lowest hands of the game then followed (59 & 55) that still managed to add another 3 pins to the lead.

On the sixth hand Wide Boys hit a 12 and 13 pin stick-up that helped to compile the best hand of the night of 73. Monsters could only reply with 53 that left Wide Boys 52 pins in front. Despite missing two single pins for stick-ups on the final hand Wide Boys pulled another pin even though Monsters managed to hit their only hand above 60. Roy Fowler top scored for Wide Boys with 66.

Cup date

Colliton Wide Boys take on Milborne Woodman in the quarter finals of the knock out cup on Monday 28th April at the Colliton Club, the winners face Slingers in the semi final at Frampton Arms on Tuesday May 6th.

Bolton boys prove to be trump cards for Marco

Patriots 478 Marco Wanderers 499

Marco travelled to take on the Patriots at Goldies and with the league title secured they were able to give a debut to their sticker up Mikey Bolton and a second appearance of the season to his older brother Pete. Patriots won the toss and elected to throw first and hit the ground running with a 74 leg thanks in part to a 16 from Dan Studley. Marco hit back with a fine 80 leg with three stick ups including one from Mikey Bolton to take a 6 pin advantage. The second and third legs proved decisive on the night with Patriots hitting scores of 59 and 69 but Marco hitting 74 and 82 to take a lead of 34 pins. Mikey followed up his first leg stick up with another on his second throw and not to be outdone his brother Pete hit an excellent 16 on his third throw. The fourth and fifth legs were shared and with a large deficit Patriots tried their best to create the chances to put the pressure on but despite skipper Lee Cooke finishing with a 13 and 12 these proved to be the only stick ups counting in the 6th and 7th legs for both teams. A target of 39 was comfortably achieved by Marco who eventually ran out winners by 21 pins. For the home side Ashley Cannon was top scorer with 64 with good support from Lee and T. Macey both with 62. For Marco top scorers were skipper Chay Fox and Ian Penney with 67, but the night belonged to the Bolton's, with Mikey (62) and Pete (60) excelling but Pete Snr had the last laugh on his boys by coming through with (65).

Section A fixtures

The big match this Thursday takes place at the Colliton Club as Colliton Muckspreaders play Colliton Spares with both teams desperate for the points to avoid the drop. Second placed Wide Boys play home to Dewlish Monsters looking for two points in the chase for the runners up spot. At the Trinity Club Slingers play Puddletown Wanderers who will be hoping for two more points to get out of danger. Friday nights top game takes place at the Gurkha Inn when The Imps entertain Patriots with both teams still aiming for second place, also with an eye on second place are 3CA who play at home to Breakaways. At the Conservative Club two of the big names in Dorchester skittles meet when Brewers Bees play Skimmers. At the Royal Oak Woodman take on Hammers who will be relegated if they don't win. League champions Marco Wanderers have their bye this week.

Wendy is ladies skittler of the week

Wendy Burt of the Colliton Devils was the ladies skittler of the week hitting 62 in her teams win against Crackerjacks.
Mark Joslin was the men's skittler of the week hitting an excellent 83 for Goldies Chimps in his teams away win against Plodders.

Section A table

1. Marco Wanderers 42pts
2. Colliton Wide Boys 36pts
3. The Imps 34pts
4. Patriots 34pts
5. 3CA 34pts
6. Brewers Bees 29pts
7. Skimmers 25pts
8. Milborne Woodman 25pts
9. Breakaways 24pts
10. Dewlish Monsters 24pts
11. Slingers 22pts
12. Puddletown Wanderers 17pts
13. Colliton Spares 16pts
14. Colliton Muckspreaders 15pts
15. Hammers 13pts

Ladies cup semi-finals

The ladies semi-finals were played this week at the Trinity Club. Brewers Bumpkins played against Section A winners Oakettes , Brewers Bumpkins were 7 up after the first hand and then it was all square after 3 hands. Oakettes were 8 up going into the last hand and they secured the game by winning by 12 pins. Final scores were Oakettes 383 and Brewers Bumpkins 371. Top scorers were Jennie Ross with 53 for Oakettes and Sandy Chubb with 55 for Brewers Bumpkins.
Oakettes will play Cheeky Pinky Ladies in the final, following their win against Colliton Bloomers . The scores in that game were Bloomers 377 and Cheeky Pinky Ladies 382. Top scorer for Bloomers was Sally Childs with 57 and Donna was top score for Cheeky Pinky Ladies with 58. The final will be played at The Three Compasses Charminster on Tuesday 29th April.

Allsorts through in plate

Section B winners Allsorts made it into the semi finals of the plate beating Section A side Colliton Spares.

Congratulations to Marco

Congratulations to Marco Wanderers on becoming Section A champions for the third year running, it takes a lot of consistent skittling to win the league, but to do it three years on the trot is an excellent achievement. Well done to all of you.

Marco Wanderers play Patriots on Wednesday 23rd April in their back match.

Slingers lose again

Dewlish Monsters 440 Slingers 415

Slingers lost their second game in two days with a 25 pin defeat away to Dewlish Monsters at the Royal Oak on Friday night.

Woodman finish strong

Breakaways 442 Milborne Woodman 464

After five hands it was all level at Wool on Friday night, but hands of 77 and 75 gave Woodman a strong finish and they won the game by 22 pins. Breakaways star performer was again "The Dog" who hit an excellent 68.

Hammers and Bees draw

Hammers and Brewers Bees drew their Section A match at the Trinity Club on Friday night.

Consistency cost Spares

Colliton Spares 451 The Imps 476

Colliton Spares inconstancy at home to The Imps on Friday cost them the important 2 points they need in the relegation battle.
Spares started with a 69 hand with stick ups from Andy Aylott (13) and Paul Rogers (15), while The Imps replied with a 65 hand to give the Spares a 4 pin lead. Spares then hit 57 and The Imps beat that with a 68 hand, with a stick up from Barry Knight (15) to go 7 pins in front.
Stick ups on the third hand from Colin Adams (15) and Doug Chalmers (17) gave Spares a 77 hand and put them into a 11 pin lead as The Imps only managed a 59 hand.
The Spares themselves hit 59 on the fourth hand while The Imps came back with a 70 hand with a 13 stick up from Keith Wyatt, to level the game.
With the game all square the Spares hit their lowest hand of the night with a 51 hand, which The Imps took full advantage of hitting a 82 hand to go 31 pins in front, it could have been more as two of the four spares were only an 11 and a 10, (M.Haime 11, M.Ackerman 15, B.Knight 14, T.Gosney 10).
To their credit the Spares came back strong and hit a 76 hand with danger men Andy Aylott and Paul Rogers both hitting 14's. The Imps hit 62 and Spares pulled 14 pins, so going into the last hand there were 17 pins in it. A 62 hand from Spares meant the game was over and The Imps won the game by 25 pins with a 70 hand with a 16 stick up from Kevin Diment.
Paul Rogers was top score for the Spares with 69, while Barry Knight was top with 65 for The Imps.

Win for Skimmers

Skimmers 433 Colliton Muckspreaders 412

Skimmers beat the Spreaders on Friday night at the Gurkha Inn by 21 pins. Top Score for Skimmers was Derrick Knight who hit 60, while for the Spreaders C.Harris and J.Simpson were top with 57.

Martin holds his nerve to win it for Puddletown

Puddletown Wanderers 470 Marco Wanderers 469

In a cracking match, Puddletown upset the form book to secure a deserved victory against Marco. With both teams smashing the previous alley record with the new pins at Bladen, the match went all the way to the final ball of the evening. Marco got off to a slow start with a 55 leg which Puddletown pounced on by hitting an excellent 75, and with a further 8 pins gained on the next leg Puddletown opened up a 28 pin lead. Marco responded to the challenge with a 77 leg to pull the lead back to 17, however over the fourth and fifth legs the home side maintained the scoring to extend their lead to 22 with 2 legs to go. A superb leg of 83 by the visitors put Puddletown under pressure which they responded well to in hitting a 69 leg thanks in part to a cracking 14 stick up by ‘Jocko’. With the lead down to 8, Marco hit a final leg of 68 to leave 61 to win for the home side, try as they might the stick up did not arrive to take the pressure off and it came down to last man Martin Tucker needing a 9 to win. After his first ball, Martin was left with a running 3 and a split 2 to clear, the second ball cleared the running 3 and with all possible results still open a sweet as you like split two was taken to secure a much needed 2 points for Puddletown. For the home side ‘Jocko’ was top score with 69, with good support from Luke Raines 66, Ian Belt with 65 and finally Tony Belt with 64. For Marco the ‘Penney’s’ Ian and Vaughan led the way with 67 and 64 respectively.

Patriots in comfortable win

Patriots 482 - 442 Wide Boys

On the night that Goldies re-opened Patriots went on first and hit hands of 71 and 74. Wide Boys managed to reply with 5 stick-ups themselves and totalled 69 and 77 to be 1 up. The game then went downhill for Wide Boys as they were unable to hit another stick-up until their anchor man on the sixth hand. By which time Patriots had moved 43 pins ahead with very consistent skittling producing hands of 71, 71, 62 and 67.

Wide Boys managed to salvage a little bit of pride by hitting 69 on the last hand to claw back 3 pins, however this still meant that Patriots sealed a comfortable victory by 40 pins.

Results and reports

Results and reports on this weeks matches won't appear until Sunday as I'm off to watch THE ARSENAL on Saturday.

3CA win by 3

3CA 440 Slingers 437

3CA beat the Slingers by 3 on Thursday night in their back match. Slingers chasing 61 to win were unable to reach their target and the points went to 3CA.

Skittler of the week

Top skittlers in the men's section last week were A.Crabb of Dewlish Monsters and S.Voss of Vic Reeves who both hit 75.
In the ladies section J.Pinder of Cockeroos hit 61 and was the top lady.

With three weeks of the season to play Lee Kenny of Barmy Army has hit the highest score with 88, while in the ladies section J.Sims of Oakettes has hit 75.

High scores as Imps go through

Hammers 435 The Imps 479

After their defeat by Hammers in the league by 1 pin a couple of weeks ago The Imps were taking nothing for granted in the quarter finals of the cup at the Trinity Club on Wednesday night.
Hammers started the way they finished the league match hitting a 67 hand helped by a flopper from anchor man Lee Pitman (15), while The Imps struggled to a 55 hand to go 12 pins down. Hammers hit 60 next hand, but this time The Imps started to play and hit a 75 hand with captain Terry Gosney having a flopper (15) to go 3 pins up . Hammers fought back on the third hand and hit 69 but The Imps bettered that with a 72 hand, with the help of 15 from Martin Haime. The fourth hand the Hammers again hit 69 but The Imps were on top of their game and hit 71 with Martin Haime having a flopper (18) to put Imps 8 up. Finally Hammers dropped the high standards of the game and hit 57 on the fifth hand and The Imps gained 8 more pins hitting 65. The match was now over and the Hammers finished with hands of 55 and 58, while The Imps hit 61 on the sixth hand, and finished in style with a 80 hand to win the match by 44 pins.
Man of the match was The Imps number two Martin Haime who had three spares and hit 77, while Terry Gosney hit 67 and Barry Gosney 63. For the Hammers T.Durrant hit an excellent 70 with three spares.
The Imps now face the winners of the Skimmers and 3CA match.

Section A fixtures

The big match on Thursday is at the Goldies where fourth placed Patriots host second placed Wide Boys, with both teams in the chase for the runners up spot. Also on Thursday 3CA play at home to Slingers in their back match. On Friday Marco Wanderers will be looking to clinch the title at the Bladen Club against Puddletown Wanderers, who are looking for points at the bottom of the table. Hammers will be hoping to avoid defeat at home to Brewers Bees, as will the Spreaders at the Gurkha Inn against Skimmers and Spares who play home to The Imps, all need the points at the bottom of the table. Breakaways will be hoping to keep up their current form at home to the Woodman, while Slingers play their second game in two days away to Dewlish Monsters. 3CA have their bye on Friday.

Section A table

1. Marco Wanderers 42pts
2. Colliton Wide Boys 36pts
3. The Imps 32pts
4. Patriots 32pts
5. 3CA 32pts
6. Brewers Bees 28pts
7. Breakaways 24pts
8. Skimmers 23pts
9. Milborne Woodman 23pts
10. Slingers 22pts
11. Dewlish Monsters 22pts
12. Colliton Spares 16pts
13. Puddletown Wanderers 15pts
14. Colliton Muckspreaders 15pts
15. Hammers 12pts

Devils last game of season

Colliton Devils won their last game at home to the Crackerjacs. Scores for the evening were Devils 390 v crackerjacs 377. Wendy Burt achieved a respectable 62 as top score for the Devils , overcoming a knee injury that she thought might make her go single-handed. Top score with 54 was Crackerjacs captain Sharon Rose.

Four to battle the drop

With three games to go there is only 4 points between the bottom four in Section A. Two teams face the drop to Section B, although as last season there could be three teams losing their Section A status if anymore teams drop out of the league, as the sections could go back to fourteen teams.

These are the fixtures for the teams involved in the bottom four.

COLLITON SPARES 16pts The Imps (H) Colliton Muckspreaders (A) Brewers Bees (H)

PUDDLETOWN WANDERERS 15pts Marco Wanderers (H) Slingers (A) Colliton Wide Boys (H)

COLLITON MUCKSPREADERS 15pts Skimmers (A) Colliton Spares (H) Patriots (A)

HAMMERS 12pts Brewers Bees (H) Milborne Woodman (A) 3CA (H)

Goldies to reopen

Thursday night's big match between Patriots and Colliton Wide Boys will take place at the Goldies, second placed Wide Boys will be looking to go 6 points ahead of Patriots.

Untouchables not so merry

Merrymen 443 Untouchables 430

Merrymen put a dent in Untouchables promotion chances at the Frampton Arms last night beating them by 13 pins in the Section C match.

Nipper hits the jackpot for Breakaways

Brewers Bees 455 Breakaways 462

As the teams entered the last hand there was just 2 pins in it, in favour of the visitors. Brewers Bees hit 61 to leave the Breakaways 60 to win, frames from Buzby and Zimmer helped Wool's finest to a 66 hand and a 7 pin victory. Brewers Bees star men were Tony Hewitt and Wilf Chainey who both hit 66, while for the Breakaways Nipper had a great night finishing top score with 66 and taking home a pocket full of money.

Imps beat Skimmers again

The Imps 414 Skimmers 378

The Imps seem to have the edge over their long time rivals with a fifth straight win against Skimmers in the Gurkha Inn derby match.
The Imps were fast out of the traps hitting 63 and 73 on the first two hands and taking a 22 pin lead, Barry Gosney and Keith Wyatt both had spares on the second hand. Skimmers managed to pull 7 pins back on the third hand with a 62 hand. The fourth hand was poor from both teams as Imps hit 53 and Skimmers followed with 51. The fifth hand saw The Imps hit 59 while Skimmers struggled and hit 48 to allow Imps to take a 28 pin lead. The Imps had their worst hand of the night on sixth hand hitting 48, the first four had 5,4,4,4 but the bottom four turned the hand round, but Skimmers could not take advantage and only pinched 5 pins hitting 53. The Imps finished strongly hitting 63 and with the game over Skimmers hit 50 which gave The Imps a 36 pin victory.
Keith Wyatt was top score for The Imps with 60, while Jeff Brown was Skimmers top man hitting 53.

Woodman chop down 3CA

Milborne Woodman 425 3CA 390

Milborne Woodman's poor run of games came to an end last night as they beat 3CA by 35 pins. 3CA struggled to make an impact on the game apart from Beaker who hit 60.

Matt's spare tips it Wide Boys way

Colliton Wide Boys 429 - 406 Colliton Spares

For the third home game running Wide Boys hit 429 which gave them a 23 pin victory. After three hands Wide Boys were 26 up, mainly due to hitting 76 on the second hand that had pulled them 20 pins. At this point Wide boys appeared to relax too much, particularly when Spares hit only 56 on their fourth hand. Wide Boys replied with one of out worst hands of the season in compiling a score of just 47 to end up losing 9 pins.

Spares then came too life following this boost and hit their two best hands of the night, 65 and 66. Wide Boys lost another 6 pins to the 65 and were looking in big trouble on the sixth hand until Matt Slade hit an outrageous stick-up (running 4 with a winger and backer) of 14 to help Wide Boys hit 63 and go into the last hand 8 pins up. Spares throwing first could only manage 52 which allowed them to wrap the game up and finish with a 67 to win by a flattering 23 pins.

'Showbiz' leads the way for Marco

Marco Wanderers 519 Dewlish Monsters 462

In one of their best performances of the season, Marco scored over 500 to see off the challenge of the Monsters by 57 pins. After Marco hit 79 in their first leg, the Monsters responded in kind by hitting a 77 leg, however this proved to be the closest leg on the night. On an evening where they won every leg, Marco hit six legs over 70, whereas the Monsters only leg in the 70's was their first despite their best efforts the rub of the green was against them. With six players hitting over 60 for Marco, leading the way was Eric 'Showbiz' McConkey who hit 74 with excellent support once again by Pete Bolton with 70. For the Monsters A Crabb was top score on the night with 75 ending his evening with an 18, with M Tisseman providing good backup with 66.

Colliton Bloomers v Colliton Devils

Still a fight for the runner-up spot in ladies section A. Devils have now gone back in contention but it depends on other results this week . Game played this week finished Colliton Bloomers 370 and Colliton Devils 390. Top scorers for Bloomers were J. Henderson and A.Kibbey with 49 . Top score for Devils was Mel Gosney with 56.

Slingers halt Patriots

Slingers 452 Patriots 444

Patriots chances of finishing second in the league took a blow last night as Slingers beat them by 8 pins at the Trinity Club.

Spreaders win at last

Colliton Muckspreaders ended their losing run with an important win against Hammers last night. Spreaders hit 427 and won by 29 pins, the win puts Spreaders 3 points clear of bottom side Hammers and level with Puddletown Wanderers who have their bye this week.

Section A fixtures

The big match this week sees the bottom two play each other on Thursday night as Colliton Muckspreaders host the hammers, both teams will be looking to gain 2 points on third from bottom Puddletown Wanderers who have their bye this week. Also on Thursday at the Colliton Club sees the derby match between Wide Boys and Spares, while at the Trinity Slingers take on Patriots. Friday night sees top team Marco Wanderers host Dewlish Monsters, while fourth placed 3CA play away to Milborne Woodman. At the Conservative Club Brewers Bees host Breakaways. Two old rivals will fight it out at the Gurkha Inn on Friday night as The Imps play Skimmers .

Skittler of the week

Lee Kenny hit 88 for Barmy Army against Allsorts to claim the men's skittler of the week. In the ladies league J.Naylor of Westenders hit 61 against Colli Cats and was the ladies skittler of the week.

Section A table

1. Marco Wanderers 40pts
2. Colliton Wide Boys 34pts
3. Patriots 32pts
4. 3CA 32pts
5. The Imps 30pts
6. Brewers Bees 28pts
7. Skimmers 23pts
8. Breakaways 22pts
9. Dewlish Monsters 22pts
10. Milborne Woodman 21pts
11. Slingers 20pts
12. Colliton Spares 16pts
13. Puddletown Wanderers 15pts
14. Colliton Muckspreaders 13pts
15. Hammers 12pts

The Dog does it again

Breakaways 452 Colliton Muckspreaders 440

Breakaways star performer "The Dog" was the top man for the Breakaways again at Wool on Friday night hitting 73 as his team beat the Spreaders by 12 pins.
The Breakaways were 6 up going into the last hand, and a 66 hand from the Spreaders left them 60 to win, and "The Dog" saw them home with a 16 stick up to ease the Breakaways towards victory.

Untouchables bounce back

Untouchables had a good win and a big score at home to Swankers on Friday night. They bounced back after last weeks defeat away to Vic Reeves hitting 456 and winning by 40.

1 pin victory for 3CA

3CA 461 Brewers Bees 460

3CA were 34 pins up after three hands, but to their credit the Bees fought their way back into the match. 3CA set them the target of 72 to win, and it came down to anchor man Nigel Notley who needed 9 to win and it looked good as he left a crown three after his first ball , but unfortunately for him and the Bees his second ball could only punch the landlord out and a bolter with his next ball gave 3CA a narrow victory as they chase the runners up spot.

Monsters win

Dewlish Monsters beat Puddletown Wanderers at home on Friday night. The defeat pushes the Wanderers deeper into the relegation battle.

Big win for the Spares

Colliton Spares have hit form just at the right time as they look to hang onto their Section A status. Friday night saw them bit Slingers at home by 49 pins.

Hammers in last ball thriller

Hammers 423 The Imps 422

The Hammers may be bottom of the league but they are not going down without a fight as Friday nights game against The Imps at the Trinity Club proved.
After two hands the game was going to form and The Imps found themselves 14 pins in front. The third hand was poor from both sides as The Imps hit 54 and Hammers only managed 55 to pinch back 1 pin. Although Phil Goodland gave The Imps a good start on the fourth hand with a 12 stick up The Imps only managed a 55 hand, this time the Hammers took their chance with a big 69 hand which included a 14 stick up from Rich Mitchem to go 1 pin up. The Imps hit 53 the lowest hand of the night on the fifth hand which included a 1 from Kev Diment, Hammers went 8 up hitting 60 with the help of a 14 stick up from Lloyd Mitchem .
On the sixth hand the game swinged back into The Imps favour, sticker up Alan Knight playing only his third match had a 14 and Keith Wyatt hit 13 as The Imps hit 74, the Hammers had no reply to this hand and only hit 54 to put them 12 pins behind The Imps.
The Imps managed 57 on the last hand and were fairly confident that the points were theirs as the Hammers required 70 to win. After five players had thrown it looked as if the Hammers were in for another defeat, but Steve Mitchem gave them some hope with a 12 stick up while Lloyd Mitchem got an 8 which meant that anchor man Lee Pitman had the task of hitting 13 to win, and he held his nerve to give Hammers the victory and a much needed 2 points.
Rich Mitchem was top score for the Hammers with 59, while Keith Wyatt hit 59 to top score for The Imps.
The teams meet again on 16th April in the Knockout Cup when Hammers will be hoping for a repeat performance while The Imps will be looking for a little revenge.

Lee Kenny hits 88 as Allsorts are beaten

Barmy Army beat Allsorts on Friday by 38. Allsorts went on first and hit 65 giving them a 2 pin lead after the first hand. Then Allsorts hit 66 and Barmy Army replied with 81 for a 13 pin lead. Allsorts third hand of 69 was beaten again with a 76 hand from the Army. Allsorts then had a 64 and Barmy Army hit 74 in the fourth. In the fifth Barmy Army pretty much sealed the game when Allsorts hit 60 and the Army put in a hand of 80 to take a 60 pin lead. Allsorts best hand came in the 6th with 91 to which Barmy Army lost 15 pins, hitting 76 and on the final hand Allsorts hit 76 and Barmy Army had 68.

Lee Kenny was the star man with 88!! His scores were 9 – 18 – 15 – 16 – 15 – 9 – 6. Three of the stick-ups were first ball floppers!!

Wide Boys snatch victory

Skimmers 432 Colliton Wide Boys 436

Colliton Wide Boys some how managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (or was it Skimmers snatching defeat from the jaws of victory). The closer plates certainly benefited Skimmers who have been struggling in recent weeks at home. The scores were slightly higher than a good score from games when the pins are on their original plates, but it definitely helps having smaller gaps. There was not a huge number of stick-ups (5 to Skimmers and 3 for Wide Boys) because the heavy pins don't roll around very much.

Wide Boys threw first and started with a 61 hand that Skimmers managed to better by 1 pin. Skimmers then hit a 73 hand against Wide Boys 63 and followed that by pulling another 4 pins on the third hand to leave them 15 pins up. Wide Boys had an excellent score of 73 (only one score below 8) on the fourth hand that was bolstered by a 16 from anchor man Justin Hallett. Skimmers then countered with a 67 hand themselves to stay 9 pins ahead.

Wide Boys had their worst hand of the game (54) on the fifth hand and were feeling that the game was now all over. Fortunately for Wide Boys Skimmers only managed a 55 hand themselves to be 10 pins up with two hands to play. Wide Boys then hit 67 on the penultimate hand, aided by a 15 pin stick-up from Matt Slade. It was looking like Wide Boys were going to be in front going into the last hand until Skimmers anchor man Derek Knight hit a 11 pin stick-up to keep them 2 in front.

Throwing first on the last hand Wide Boys skittled OK to hit 59 which meant that Skimmers required 58 to win (a score that they had only failed to hit once all night). Their top half struggled to hit 27 and it came down to their last man needing 11 to win which he was unable to do.

Management aim for 3 in a row

Dorchester's committee mixed team the Management have again entered the Blackthorn British Championships in the mixed competition. The previous two years have seen the Management reach the finals weekend only to fall at the first hurdle, but this season they will be hoping to go a step further and make more of an impact if they reach the finals. The team lead by Brian Newton will be playing there home matches at the Vic in Dorchester.

Results and reports

Results and reports on this weeks matches won't appear until Sunday as I'm off to watch THE ARSENAL on Saturday.

Slingers reach the semis

Slingers became the first team to reach the semi finals of the knock out cup this season beating Breakaways on Thursday night at the Trinity Club. Slingers won by 23 pins hitting 448 to Breakaways 425, top score of the night was Clive Williams of the Breakaways who hit 67, while for the Slingers Mike Park hit 65. Slingers now await the winners of the Wide Boys v Woodman game to see who they play in the semi final at the Frampton Arms on Tuesday 6th May.

Section A fixtures

Thursdays big match between Patriots and league leaders Marco Wanderers has been cancelled by the Goldies. The rest of the matches are being played on Friday night, the best match sees 3CA host the Brewers Bees. Second placed Wide Boys play away at the Gurkha Inn against Skimmers who have moved the pins in to different spots. At the bottom end of the table Hammers host The Imps, Muckspreaders travel out to Wool to take on the Breakaways, Colliton Spares entertain Slingers while Puddletown Wanderers play away to Dewlish Monsters. Milborne Woodman have their bye.

Mostyn skittler of the week

Martin "Mostyn" Murray was skittler of the week in the men's section hitting a massive 82 for Section B winners Allsorts in their home victory over Steamers.

Section A table

1. Marco Wanderers 40pts
2. Colliton Wide Boys 32pts
3. Patriots 32pts
4. The Imps 30pts
5. 3CA 30pts
6. Brewers Bees 28pts
7. Skimmers 23pts
8. Milborne Woodman 21pts
9. Slingers 20pts
10. Breakaways 20pts
11. Dewlish Monsters 20pts
12. Puddletown Wanderers 15pts
13. Colliton Spares 14pts
14. Colliton Muckspreaders 13pts
15. Hammers 10pts

Devils win by 16

Colliton Devils 384 Forget-Me-Nots 368

Colliton Devils won their Ladies Section A match against Forget-Me-Nots at the Colliton Club on Monday night by 16 pins. Top score for the Devils was Hayley Ackerman with 57 while Davina Fea was top for the away side with 57.