Imps to face Masters

Merlins 386 The Imps 372

Dorchester side The Imps travelled to Somerset on Saturday night to defend their 32 pin lead from the 1st leg of their match against Merlins from the Half Moon, Horsington.
The Imps won the toss and decided to throw first, but that looked like being a mistake as they went on to only hit a 47 hand, and the home side took full advantage of the poor hand when they hit a 65 hand with a 13 stick up from N.Phillips to go 18 up on the night and take a big chunk out of the Imps 1st leg lead.
The Imps improved on the second hand to hit a steady score of 59, while the home side could only hit 57, to put 16 pins between the teams.
The Dorset side sprung into action on the third hand with stick ups from Barry Gosney (16) and Martin Murray (14) to total a hand of 75, but the home side came back strong with seven 8's and a 13 stick up from anchor man G.Mitchell to score a 69 hand which meant they only lost 6 pins to make the difference on the night 10 pins.
The fourth hand the Imps slipped back into the 50's with a 57 hand, while Merlins hit 65 with another stick up for Phillips (11) to go 18 up and now they only trailed the Imps by 14 pins over the two legs.
The Imps now needed to finish the last two hands with decent scores to keep in front, and lead of man Phil Goodland gave them the perfect start on the fifth hand with a 15 stick up and the county town team hit a hand of 65 to which the home side could only reply with a 61 hand to put 14 pins between the teams on the night.
Goodland again started with a 15 stick up on the last hand, and the Imps finished strongly hitting a hand of 69 to leave the Somerset side a tough task of needing a 88 hand to go through, a hand of 69 with Mitchell again having a stick up (16) was enough to win the match on the night for Merlins but it was the Imps who went through winning the two legged match by 18 pins.
Phil Goodland was top for the visitors hitting 57, while Merlins anchor man Mitchell was the star of the night hitting 61.
The Imps now face a tough match against Masters from Bridport in another two legged match with the winners going through to the grand finals at Sand Bay Holiday Village, Weston Super Mare on Saturday 20th September.