Bees stung by Imps

The Imps 439 Brewers Bees 395

After qualifying for the finals of the Blackthorn British Skittle Championship the Imps were on a high, but a very disappointing first hand of 52 brought them back down to reality, and Brewers Bees took full advantage hitting a 66 hand with spares from Andy Dunford (13) and Tony Hewitt (11) to go 14 pins in front.
The Imps rallied together on the second hand to hit 63, while Bees struggled to a 48 hand, and the lead swung in Imps favour and they led by 1 pin. The home side managed 61 on the third hand, but when Gus James started with a 13 stick up it looked as if the Bees were again going to take control of the match, but they were unable to build on the start and tied the hand with 61.
Barry Gosney had a 13 stick up on the fourth hand as the Imps hit 65, but Bees kept in touch with a 60 hand to leave 6 pins between the teams.
The fifth hand was where the match was won as the Imps hit a 72 hand with stick ups from Terry Gosney (13) and Keith Wyatt (15) and Bees could only reply with a 54 hand to give the home side a 24 pin lead.
Four more pins were pulled by the Imps on the sixth hand 59 to a 55 hand. The Gurkha side finished strong with a 67 hand with another stick up from captain Terry Gosney (15) and with the game over the visitors finished with 51 to give the Imps a 44 pin victory.
Terry Gosney was top score with 67 while Keith Wyatt hit 64 and for the Bees Kev Holbrook was top score with 56.