Week 13 Report

REPORT WEEK 13
The Swan ‘A’ have dramatically put themselves in with a chance of the Premier title after being in the lower reaches of the table for most of the season. They now only trail leaders Black Prince by five points after their best throwing of the season at home to Premier holders The Gladiators ‘A’. They won all three legs 31-26, 30-25, 26-24. Jon Townsend at last found form and bagged himself a six in his fourteen doll haul (5-6-3).
Black Prince fell to a 2-1 defeat at The Woodman. It started off well for the leaders taking the opening leg 22-20. Woodman hit back immediately in the next leg winning it 27-24. Prince could only set 22 in the final and deciding leg. Woodman punished them with ease hitting 29 in reply to record a well-deserved 2-1 win.
Garsington Sports ‘A’ took advantage of The Prince’s slip up and came away from Six Bells ‘E’ Kidlington with a 2-1 win. However they had to come from behind. Chasing a set of 26 in the first leg Garsington could only reply with a miserable 14. They composed themselves in the next leg to set and win it 24-23, before finally hitting form in the final leg 30-21.
Section One leaders The Swan ‘B’ boosted their hopes of the title with a low scoring 3-0 win at The Chequers ‘C’. They won all three legs 22-17, 20-18, 26-17.
The George ‘A’ are keeping in touching distance after their 3-0 home win over The Three Pigeons. Kevin Stuart led the way with thirteen dolls (6-2-5) in the leg scores of 29-24, 22-19, 27-21.

Section 2 leaders Bullnose Morris ‘A’ are in a bit of a blip at the moment after losing their second game on the bounce this time away at Donnington Club ‘A’ 2-1. All the damage was done in the first two legs which Donnington won with ease 24-20, 22-17. Bullnose grabbed a point in the final leg 21-19. Adam Baker for Donnington had a mixed night, after recording a 1-1 in his first two throws, Baker clanged off six in his final throw.
Tiddington Cricket Club are waiting to pounce if there are any more slip ups after they beat Garsington Sports ‘B’ away. Winning the first two legs 21-15, 23-22 Tiddington were set 24 in the final leg. After a mixed response Tiddington left anchor man Pete Shepherd needing all six to win the leg. He almost succeeded after whipping off the doll with his first five sticks he just fell short with his sixth to send it to three sticks, which Garsington won to prevent the whitewash.
Red Lion ‘A’ Yarnton remain in second spot after a comfortable 3-0 home win against Black Horse ‘B’, 19-16, 24-17, 19-14.

Only four points separate the top four in Section 3 and it is The Ampleforth Arms ‘A’ that lead the way by two points. They had a tough battle against close rivals Vikings Sports ‘A’ but came away with all three points. Vikings set all three legs but lost the first two 29-17, 20-17. The third leg Vikings hit 24 and in reply after a poor start Ampleforth rallied but still left anchor man Mark Washington needing all six to win. He gave it a good try but just fell one short with five to send the leg to three sticks, which Ampleforth won to complete the whitewash.Andy Lewis hit a baker’s dozen for The Amp (5-4-4).
Second place Donnington Club ‘C’ title hopes took a dive as they crashed to a 3-0 loss at The Chequers ‘A’. They got off to a horrendous start setting only nine in the first leg .Chequers doubling that score in return and then winning the next two legs 16-15, 18-14. Phil Hounslow top scored with a dozen dolls (5-3-4) for The Chequers.
Six Bells ‘B’ Kidlington came away from Red Lion ‘A’ Marston with a 2-1 win. The opening leg was a low scoring one where they both hit 12 with The Lion winning it on three sticks. That was to be their only success as The Bells hit back to win the next two legs 22-18, 21-19. Alan Surman hit a six in his eleven doll total for The Bells.Masons Arms ‘A’ scrapped though the first two legs at home to Queens Head 15-13, 18-17 but then set an impressive 28 in the final leg, Queens hitting 19 in reply to secure a 3-0 win for The Masons.


Six Bells ‘A’ Kidlington boosted their title ambitions in Section 4 by coming away from close rivals The George ‘B’. With the game nicely poised at a leg each Six Bells set 21 in the final leg and it proved to be more than enough as The George could only hit 11 in reply.

In Section 5 Masons ‘B’ got off to a flyer in the opening leg away at Vikings Sports ‘C’ 16-13, however it all went downhill from there. Chasing a set of 16 in the next leg Masons could only muster up a reply of 9 and then only set 11 in the deciding leg. That was no trouble for the Vikings who hit 15 in return to win the leg and game 2-1.
Consistent good throwing by The Swan ‘C’ gave them an important 2-1 win over close rivals The Blackbird. Three scores of 18 saw them lose the first leg 20-18 but produced rewards in the next two legs 18-14, 18-12. Marc Hearne bagged himself a maximum six in his eleven doll total for The Swan.
Leaders Red Lion ‘B’ Yarnton dropped a precious point away at White Hart A’ Wolvercote who prop up the table. Lion easily won the first two legs 16-9, 16-7, however White Hart produced a good set of 16 in the last leg which proved too strong for The Lion who fell four short with 12.

In Section 6 Steve Tooke for The Catherine Wheel ‘B’ was in fine form hitting a baker’s dozen (5-5-3) in their 3-0 win over Section leaders Seacourt Bridge to put a huge dent in their title ambitions while boosting their own. Team mate Grant Brown chipped in with a dozen dolls (4-4-4) as they won all three legs 17-13, 20-13, 18-15.
Cowley Workers move into second spot after beating Kidlington Football Club 2-1 where only one doll separated the teams overall. Workers won the first leg 15-12 and then were set 13 in the second leg. Some poor throwing by The Workers in return left them needing nine from their last two players, Mark Burke & Eamon Hanlon were up for the challenge but just fell short with both hitting four apiece to take the game to a three stick shoot out, which the Workers won. Kidlington grabbed a well-deserved point in the final leg 15-13.

It’s tight at the top of Section 7 and leaders The Tandem dropped a point against struggling Northway Club ‘B’.
Chasing a set of fourteen The Tandem fell one short with thirteen to give Northway a shock lead. Tandem levelled in the next leg 10-4 and then completed the turnaround in the final leg 13-8. Richard Butler was top dog for The Tandem with twelve dolls (5-4-3).
Bletchington Sports Club stay in second spot after a 2-1 home win over Golden Ball ‘A’ in a good spirited game. The Sportsmen won the first two legs 14-8, 17-14 but lost the third leg 12-14.

SIXERS : J.Townsend (The Swan ‘A’) K.Stuart (George ‘A’) A.Surman (Six Bells ‘B’) C.Buckingham (The Woodman) M.Hearne (The Swan ‘C’)
A.Baker (Donnington Club ‘A’).

BLOBBERS: R.Hambridge (Florence Park Club ‘B’) A.Clare (Vikings Sports ‘D’) A.Dawson (White Hart ‘A’) A.Henderson (Six Bells ‘D’)
A.Varney (Northway Club ‘B’)


TOP DOLL SCORERS:
14: J.Townsend (The Swan ‘A’)
13: K.Stuart (George ‘A’) S.Tooke (Catherine Wheel ‘B’) A.Lewis (Ampleforth Arms ‘A’)

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