Singles Report 28th July

The league games took a rest as it was Singles competition time. Played at four different venues down to the finalist at each, Andy Beal (Six Bells Kidlington) Mick Berry (Red Lion Eynsham) Steve Walton (The George) and Philip Adams (Cricketers) were the winners at each venue to make up the semi-final line up played at a later date.
Mick Berry was in sensational form as he hit three maximum sixes in his group. Berry had a bye in the first round and was drawn against Pip Goudling from The Cricketers in the second round. Berry won the opening leg 6-4 and then set five in the next leg. Goulding was unlucky in his reply as he fell just one doll short with four. Berry was then drawn against Steve Ward in the semi and easily won the first leg 4-1. Ward then set four in the next leg and Berry tied it. Three sticks were also tied with Ward levelling the match by hitting the only doll in the one stick shootout. Berry then set the last leg with his second maximum six of the night which was enough to give him victory. Berry’s opponent in the final was Robert Taylor from the Red Lion Brill who also hit a maximum six in his semi-final 2-1 win against Barry Townsend from The Cricketers. In the final Berry set and won the first leg with his third six. Taylor could only reply with a set of two in the next leg which Berry passed with ease to put him into the main Semi-finals.

Andy Beal from The Six Bells Kidlington also had a bye in the first round and was drawn against Dave Townsend from The Three Pigeons in the second round. Townsend set four in the opening leg with Beal tying it. Townsend set two in the three sticks and once again Beal matched it. In the one stick shoot out Townsend missed with his stick which let in Beal as he whipped off the doll of to claim the first leg. Beal then set the next leg with four and this time Townsend tied it. Beal then smashed off all three dolls in the three sticks which Townsend couldn’t match. Beal then played Willy Waite from The George in the first semi and had a comfortable 2-0 win. Keith Powell from The Red Lion Eynsham beat Jason Weller from The George in the second round and then beat team mate Lee Thompson in a close contest in the second semi. Powell set five in the opening leg with Thompson also hitting five. Three sticks and one stick throws could not separate them and so it was back to six sticks which Powell won. He then went on the take the next leg to set up a final against Beal. Powell opened up with a set of three in which Beal tied. They both failed to trouble the doll in the three stick shoot out but Beal hit the only doll in the one stick throw to take the opening leg. Beal then set five in the next leg which was enough to put him through to the main Semi-finals.

Phil Wilkins from The Cricketers must have been the unluckiest player on the night as he missed only eight dolls all night and still didn’t go through. In the first round he saw of Pete Rampton from The Six Bells 5-2, 5-4.
In the second round he beat Alan Goodgame also from The Six Bells, 6-2, 5-4. In the Semi he played Paul Townsend from The Three Pigeons beating him in two legs 5-2, 3-2, to set up a final against Steve Walton from The George. Walton had a close tie in the first round just getting the better over Ivor Clarke from The Cricketers 2-0 after the first leg was won on one stick. He then had a comfortable 2-0 win in the second round against Steve Greenough from Garsington Sports Club. In the Semi Walton lost the opening leg to Dennis Butler from The George on three sticks after they tied 4-4. Walton levelled in the second leg 3-2 and set four in the deciding leg which proved to be enough. In the final Walton set of in a blistering pace with a maximum set of 6 to win the leg. Wilkins set the next leg with five and in return Walton also hit five. Wilkins hit all three dolls in the three sticks to level the game. Walton then set in the final leg with another five which was enough to see of Wilkins this time to put him through to the main semi-final.

In the final set of games Philip Adams from The Cricketers scrapped through after some tough games. In the second round he played team mate John Townsend and lost the first leg 5-3. The second leg was tied 4-4 with Adams winning it on three sticks 2-1. Adams then set five in the deciding leg which was enough to win the leg. In the first semi Adams was drawn against the holder Neil Lyon from The Three Pigeons. Lyon set the first leg with a five but Adams was on fire and clanged off all six sticks to go into an early lead. Adams then set four but Lyon responded well to take the leg with a five. Adams then set the deciding leg with four but in reply after Lyon hit the doll with his second stick he failed to hit any more to hand victory to Adams.
Adrian Shepherd from The New Club battled himself through to the final with a 2-0 win against team mate Luke Purcell and hit a six in his 2-0 win against Roger Goodall from The Six Bells in the semi.
In the final nothing was stopping Adams now as he clanged off five dolls in the opening leg after Shepherd had set him four and then whipped of all six dolls in the next leg to make the final four in the main Semi-final to be played on Monday September 6th.

In The Ted Houghton Singles for teams from Section 4 and below, which were played down to the main final, Darren Cox from Team Monarch beat Craig Greenough from The Nelson 2-0 in the first semi-final 5-2, 4-3. He will play Andy Lewis from The Ampleforth Arms in the Final who beat Gary Coulthard from The Nelson in the other semi 2-0.

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