Imps crash out of Blackthorn

Pin Ups 329 The Imps 322

Any hopes Dorchester side the Imps had of qualifying to the knockout stages of the Blackthorn British Skittles Championship were ended last night by the Pin Ups at the Wyke Smugglers.
The Imps went 1 pin ahead on the first hand starting with 57, but a disappointing 48 hand on the second hand let the Pin Ups in and the experienced Weymouth side took full advantage hitting a 62 hand with star man A.Townsend having a 13 stick up to put the home side 13 pins ahead.
The Imps came back with a 58 hand and got 2 pins back as Pin Ups scored 56, the Imps again gained pins back on the fourth hand hitting 53 while the Pin Ups could only manage 51 to put 9 pins between the teams.
The Imps were now back in with a chance but a poor hand of 49 did them no favours and the home side matched the hand to stay 9 pins in front.
A stick up from M.Haime (12) gave the Imps a 57 hand to finish with to leave Pin Ups needing 48 to win, and the three time Blackthorn British Championship runners ups were never in danger of falling short of their target and finished with a 55 hand to win by 7 pins.
So although the Imps only lost one hand out of the six it was not good enough and they failed to beat the Pin Ups again .
A.Townsend of Pin Ups was the top player of the night scoring an excellent 53, while for the visitors M.Haime finished top score with 47.
Pin Ups will now go into the knock out stages looking to qualify for the grand finals at the Sand Bay Holiday Village, Weston Super Mare on Saturday September 20 2008.