Report Week 8 June 16th

Paul Townsend from The Three Pigeons was so unlucky not to hit the magical 18 dolls as he fell one short missing with his last stick. Playing at home to The Chequers Paul clanged of the first 16 dolls with ease, his seventeenth stick just got to the doll and it tickled off, and in Townsend’s own words “I didn’t compose myself and threw the last stick straight away” and his eighteenth stick went wide to the right. Three Pigeons won all three legs 27-23, 36-22, 28-25. Team mates Mike Gosford (3-5-5) and Craig Beal (3-6-4) hit thirteen dolls as did The Chequers Steve Tooke (4-4-5).
The top two clashed in The Premier Section and it was hosts The Cricketers who beat The Six Bells ‘C’ 2-1. Cricketers won the opening leg 28-27 but Six Bells drew level in the next leg on three sticks after the leg was tied 27-27. Cricketers then set 34 in the final and deciding leg which proved too much for The Six Bells who ended up with 29. Den Seller top scored with 15 dolls (4-5-6) while Ady Cross was top dog for The Six Bells with 13 dolls (5-3-5).
Young Luke Purcell bagged himself another six in his 14 dolls (4-4-6) but it was to no avail as New Club lost at home to The George 3-0. Kevin Giles hit a bakers dozen for The George as they ran out winners 31-28, 30-26, 29-28.
Section One leaders Garsington Sports came away from The Rowing Machine with maximum points thanks to some fine throwing from Martin Ruffels who whipped off fifteen dolls 5-5-5. They won all three legs 29-27, 28-24, 25-18.

In Section Two Queens Head Steve Bayliss banged in thirteen dolls (5-3-5) in their 2-1 win at home to Cowley Workers. Queens Head won the opening leg 22-15 but The Workers came back well to level in the second leg 22-18. Queens Head then set a whopping 28 in the final leg which was more than enough as The workers replied with 20.
The Woodman almost inflicted the first defeat of The Red Lion but just fell short. They lost the opening leg 25-15 but composed themselves in the next leg and with Paul Townsend hitting a six they took the leg 26-21. Red Lion then set 23 in the final leg but in reply The Woodman started of slow and never recovered falling four dolls short with 19. Terry Stuart threw well for The Red Lion with 14 dolls (4-4-6).

In Section 3 there was very little to choose between Vikings Sports ‘B and Kidlington Sports ‘B’ as they both hit the same number of dolls. Vikings won the first leg 23-20 with Kidlington Sports, thanks to a six from Keith Quinell, levelling in the second leg 21-20. Kidlington Sports then won the final leg and game 23-21. Quinell ended up with 14 dolls (4-6-4) while Vikings Robin Charlton hit 13 dolls 5-4-4).

Chequers ‘C’ lost their unbeaten record in Section 4 to Team Monarch 2-1. Things looked good for the league leaders as they won the opening leg 19-16. The next leg went to three sticks as it was tied 19-19, but even three sticks could not separate them as they tied again 7-7. Monarch finally won the leg on one stick 5-2. Chequers went to pieces in the final leg as they chased a set of 21 they could only muster a reply of 11.
Derek Stansfield with thirteen dolls (5-6-2) led the way for The Cricketers as they just got the better over Cowley Con Club 3-0 but the game was a lot closer than the result suggests. After winning the first leg 20-18 they had to rely on three sticks in the second leg after tying 21-21. Maximum points were gained in the final leg 14-12. Gareth Williams hit a six in his eleven dolls for the Club men.

Northway Club A remain unbeaten in Section 7 after a comfortable home win to Duke Of Monmouth 3-0. Brian Reidy was in top form with twelve dolls 4-5-3 as they won all three legs 22-15, 21-13, 19-18.

Only one dolls separated Fairview Inn ‘B’ and Masons Arms ‘B’ in Section 8 but it was The Masons who came away with the spoils. Fairview took an early lead in the first leg 14-11, but masons stormed back to take the next two legs 16-14, 17-15. Masons Phil Kimber threw well for his eleven dolls 3-3-5.
In Section 11 Prince Of Wales came away from The Eight Bells with a 2-1 win and would have had all three if it was not for The Eight Bells anchor man Darren St John. After winning the first two legs 14-9, 10-7 they then set 8 in the final leg. Eight Bells replied leaving anchor man St John needing three to win. After missing with his first three sticks he clanged off the next three to give them victory by one doll 9-8.

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