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With Lads’ Night Out on a rest week, the chasing pack had an opportunity to close the gap at the top, with mixed results... First up, Gutter Nutters bludgeoned Rollin’ Pins 10-0 on Monday night, matching their season’s best pin score of 187. Nutters were relentless, starting with a 40 leg to take the advantage, and though Pins got close in the 2nd (36- 34) & 3rd legs (34-32), they stayed in control throughout. Leg 4 was taken 35-27 and Dave Quinn rattled off a 12 spare in the last to post a 42 leg and complete the whitewash. The Nutters storm up to 2nd, and Dave finished with 38 to move himself to 7th in the averages. Mark Reeves hit a new PB of 34 for Rollin’ Pins. Birdies, Goals and Spares were bushwhacked 8-2 by Late Knights, who smacked a season’s best of 178 pins - in fact, their best score since 2016-17. Driven by the return of captain Penny Meacham & husband Graham, they rattled off the first 2 legs with 35 & 37. BGS gathered themselves to take the beer leg, but Knights were back in charge for the remainder of the match, pegging 35 in the 4th before a massive 41 in the last, their top leg of the year. Graham finished with 34, with backing from the excellent A N Other (33). BGS and Gutter Nutters are joined on 44 points by Alsorts, who had an 8-2 win of their own against Splitz ‘n’ Giggles. This was an altogether closer affair, with Splitz actually winning the first with the best leg of the night (38). They started stronger in the 2nd, but Sorts gradually reeled them in and ended up taking the points, 35-33. Splitz were doing the chasing in the beer, and got mighty close, but Sorts held out, 33-31, and followed up with 33 again to take the game in leg 4. The final leg was competitive once more, but Rich Greenaway struck 8 in anchor to complete Alsorts win. Last Six had the other chunky 8-2 win this week, and moved themselves up 5 places to 12th - though they have only played 6 games so far. Their opponents, Big ‘Uns, held onto their spot in the top five despite defeat and recording their worst total of the season. It was fairly inauspicious from both teams in fact, though Big ‘Uns whacked a big 38 leg in winning leg 1. After this, they couldn’t get out of the mid 20s, and Six waltzed to the win. Only Jez Denton can hold his head high after his 33 in this one. Young & Bald and Best Sellers played out the highest scoring game this week, with YAB coming out on top 6-4. It was Best Sellers who started better and looked like winning the first until YAB captain Derek Wilkins smacked 8 to snatch the points. Sellers were riled, but unbowed, and cracked 38 in leg 2 to even things up. YAB hit back in the beer, 35-31, and followed up with the game’s best leg of 42 to secure the win. Best Sellers still had fight and they got took a deserved 4 points from the match after winning a tight 5th, 38 to 36. Derek finished with 37, with support from Marcus Groves (36). Tony Moore matched Marcus for Sellers, backed by Mark Hoskins’ 34. Absolutely Skittled were victorious 7-3 against Cross Keys, which moves them 7th, level on 42 points with Young & Bald. Keys may be feeling a little robbed about the game, with only 7 pins separating the sides on the night. Skittled were quickest off the mark, toppling 41 pins in winning the first, but the second leg was drawn, 34 pins each. Unsurprisingly, Keys went big in the beer leg, with Grant Shergold’s 13 spare propelling them to a 38-35 leg win. Both teams were tiring by leg 4, and a low scorer was sneaked by “AbSki” 29-28, but second winds arrived in the decider. Skittled got their noses in front early, and, with great scoring from both sides throughout, just held on for a sweet 41-40 victory, and the win was complete. Ben Collis was top of the tree, his 37 the best amongst a host of 30+ scores; Mike Norris was staunch in support. Grant finished with a tidy 36 for the Keys. Spare Ribs & Newcomers played out a draw, and this takes the Ribs to 42 points as well. In an odd game, Newcomers stumbled to 22 pins in the opener and Spare Ribs were off the mark. Leg 2 was shared, 27 all, before Ribs smashed 41 pins in winning the beer. Newcomers swung back in the 4th with a 40-pin leg, and followed with a mighty 41 to win the last, and square the match. Captain Nye Bellis hit a new PB of 37 for Ribs, whilst John Underhill’s 35 & Jean Ewen’s 34 were the top efforts for Newcomers. Last up, Maclean Smilers beat Living on a Spare 6-4, with only 2 pins between the teams. LOAS were a little below par, posting their lowest total this season and the game was actually done and dusted by the end of the beer leg. Spares were slow to get into gear, and Smilers took the first. They were ahead in the 2nd too, but Kieran Parsley stepped up in anchor and cleared the alley in 2 throws to move LOAS within 2 pins. Sadly, his final ball sailed through and the 9 spare wasn’t quite enough. The scientists sensed blood and hit their best of the evening (38) to win the 3rd and take the game. LOAS got it together at the end, and settled for 4 points with 35 & 36 pins in legs 4&5. Kieran was player of the match with 34; Mike Acreman’s 32 is his best yet. Last games before the 2 week Christmas break coming up, along with some festive fun on Friday’s club night - see you down the alley!