Report 10th August

Section One leaders The New Club defeated Premier leaders The Cricketers 2-1 away to give them a three point lead. New Club won the opening leg 29-27 with The Cricketers levelling in the next leg 31-24. The final and deciding leg New Club set 31 which proved to strong for The Cricketers who replied with 27. Kevin Baker top scored with fourteen dolls 5-5-4.
Steve Walton was in top form for The George as he bagged himself a six in his fifteen doll haul (4-6-5) as they beat The Black Swan 2-1. The George lost the first leg 30-28 but came back well to claim the next two legs 27-26, 33-25. Kevin Giles also hit a six in his fourteen doll total (4-4-6).
Garsington Sports Club move into second spot in Section One after defeating The Three Pigeons 2-1. The Sports men scored 27 in all three legs which was enough to give them a two nil lead after the Pigeons replied with 25 & 23, but was not enough in the final leg as the Pigeons hit 28. Eddie Edwards stared for The Pigeons with fourteen dolls (6-4-4). While Martin Ruffels was top dog for Garsington with thirteen dolls (5-4-4).

The Squire Bassett’s title ambitions took a setback as they lost at home to The Six Bells Quarry 2-1. The first leg was tied 21-21 with The Six Bells winning it on three sticks. Squire Bassett came storming back in the next leg taking it 27-20 before losing the final leg on three sticks again after it was tied 21-21. James Bennet threw well for The Six Bells with fourteen dolls (4-5-5).
The Punch Bowl scored more dolls than The Woodman but still ended up losing 2-1. They started of well winning the opening leg 22-14 but lost the next two 22-20, 15-14. Charlie Buckingham led the way for The Woodman with a bakers dozen (3-5-5).

It was unlucky thirteen for The Royal Sun’s Mark Poulter as he clanged off thirteen dolls including a six (4-6-3) as they lost to The Ampleforth Arms 3-0 in Section 3. The Ampleforth was in devestating form winning all three legs 21-12, 30-20, 19-16.

Vikings Sports B have opened a gap in Section 4 after beating one of their closest rivals The Griffin 3-0. Vikings won the first leg on three sticks after it was tied 18-18 then went on the get maximum points in the next two legs 15-10, 18-15. Robin Charlton for Vikings hit a steady dozen dolls (4-4-4).

In Section 5 Martyn Boulton went from one extreme to the other as he failed to trouble the doll with his first throw then followed it up with a two in the next leg but whipped off all six in his final throw. It was still enough to see off Martson British Legion 3-0 though in the leg scores of 17-13, 15-14, 20-16.

The Nelson continue their relentless march to the Section 6 title with a straight tenth victory this time over second placed Donnington Club C. They won the first leg comfortably 19-11 but only just won the next two legs by the odd doll 16-15, 14-13.
It was a close fought contest between The Nut Tree and The Black Bull with only one doll separating the teams. The Nut Tree set all three legs and lost the opening leg 13-11. They then set twelve in the second leg and it looked to be enough as The Black Bull’s anchor man Lee Anderson was left needing six to win. He almost pulled it off but fell one short with five to tie the leg and send it into a three stick shoot out, but it was all in vain as they still lost the leg. They did however grab a point in the final leg 13-10.

In Section 7 Kidlington Sports Club A anchor man Barry Mudd was the hero as hit the winning dolls to give them a 3-0 win over The Chequers C. The first leg was tied 12-12 with Mudd hitting the three sticks needed to tie which the Sports men won it back on six sticks after three and one stick shoot outs were tied. . Chequers then set sixteen in the next leg and this time Mudd whipped off the four dolls needed to win the leg by the odd doll 17-16. In the final leg Chequers set 11 and Mudd didn’t need any this time to win as it was all over by the time he threw, which was lucky as he failed to hit the doll in his final throw.

The game between The Kite and The Original Swan in Section 11 produced one of the longest legs in memory. The opening leg lasted one hour and twenty minutes! The Kite set every throw and Original Swans anchor man Andy Durham was the unlucky player who played each tie to the last stick. If he needed to hit the doll to tie he did, if he needed to miss he did!! First throw was tied 9-9, three sticks was tied as was one stick. Back to six sticks and this was tied 8-8, three sticks and one sticks throws could not separate them so back to six sticks again and this time Kite won it 14-10. The next two legs were a bit of an anti climax as the Kite won them both 10-6, 11-8 with players retiring to the pool table for a kip between throws. On a normal night players would throw eighteen sticks these players threw thirty eight sticks each.
There were no truth in the rumours that players A) asked if they could sit down to throw, B) they asked for Oxygen and C) the police received a constant stream of reports of rioting between 8.30pm and 10.00pm.

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