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Lads’ Night Out took advantage of a week off for leaders Gutter Nutters and moved to a point off the top after their 8-2 victory over Sianie’s Angels. The Angels actually hit their second highest total so far, winning the 2nd leg of the game and pushing LNO close in the beer round, 36-34. Lads’ kept their cool though, and closed the match out with legs of 40 & 39, having taken the first 36-32. Captain Pointer’s 35 was the best in the match, backed by Martin Hough’s 34. Ralph Weldon hit a PB of 31, which Mitch Makoka equalled for Angels. Alsorts drop to 3rd in the table after their draw with 4th placed Young & Bald. Both teams were a few pins off their average, with Sorts fielding a 5-a-side without Grainger or Greenaway. There was nothing between them in the drawn opener, and Alsorts got their noses in front thanks to 17 pins from Simon ‘Thumper’ Osborne in leg 2 (8 as AN Other). A 12 spare from Kieran Scott helped propel YAB to a massive 43-pin beer leg to square the match, before Alsorts made their best total on the evening (39) in the 4th to lead once again. The decider was tight, with ‘Sorts holding a slight advantage before AN Other’s single opened the door for the Bald (Derek) to snatch a draw. Thumper top-scored with 33, whilst Gary Walker & Kieran made 32s. Biggest winners of the week were Last Six, who wallopped Birdies, Goals & Spares 9-1. BGS were without captain Callum and mustered just 157 pins, 22 lower than usual. They were hit their best legs (34s) in the 1st & 4th, losing out 36-34 early but snatching a consolation point in leg 4. Six just went about the business solidly, hitting nothing higher than 36 pin legs whilst comfortably securing the points. Lee Dickson was the pick here with 33, and the best Six-er was Jezza Denton’s 32. Last Six are now sixth, and comfortably in the top half as the split approaches. Rollin’ Pins secured a chunky 8-2 win over Newcomers to give themselves a chance of sneaking into the top half by the end of March. The Pins hit their best score yet (182) and best leg (43), but it was Newcomers who drew first blood, winning the first 38-34. From then on, it was Rollin’ Pins night, though Newcomers kept themselves in it, hitting 167 pins in defeat. Sharpest Pin was Mark Reeves with 32, and there were PBs for Dawn Gray, Dexter Bell & Heather Greenwood; Su Longworth hit 32 for Newcomers, her best of the season. Living On A Spare move up to 5th (behind 4th on pin average only) after they got the better of Best Sellers 7-3 in the highest scoring game of the week. LOAS put their marker down early, hitting consecutive 37 legs to go points up, though Sellers ran them very close in the 2nd. Best Sellers got themselves on the board in leg 3, with Mark Hoskins whacking all 9 down at anchor to level the scores, 34 each. Sellers got better in the 4th, smacking 42 pins to LOAS’ 41 and putting the draw in reach, but Spares snatched it away with another 37 pin leg to close. Matt Wright hit 34 for game shot, with 33s in support from Simon Clark & Kieran Parsley; both Hoss & Rob Wadsworth made 33 for Sellers. Absolutely Skittled leapfrogged their opponents into 8th after a 7-3 win over Spare Ribs. Ribs were somewhat off- colour, stumbling to 137 pins, a season low, and Skittled took full advantage. Ben Collis opened the match with an 11 spare to drive his team to a 40 pin leg, and AbSki followed up with the next two as Ribs failed to get going. Spare Ribs were behind again in the 4th but a zero from Gary Bridges allowed Ribs to steal a point and they followed up with victory in the last to snatch 3 points for the match. Nathan Gray & Dave Norris smacked 33 for Skittled, matched by Nye Bellis for Ribs. Cross Keys won the pub derby against Splitz ‘n’ Giggles 6-4 to secure bragging rights, but it’s Splitz who stay in the top half with Keys 7 points adrift. There was almost nothing between these two in fact, with Keys taking the first by a single pin, and draws in legs 4 & 5, the latter 40 all. Splitz took the spoils in a low-scoring beer leg, but their worst total (22) in the second was their downfall. Josh Hart whacked 34 for SNG, and Sugar Ray Shergold did the same for the Keys. Last up the first game of the week, where Remnants won out 7-3 against Maclean Smilers in a low-scoring match. Smilers were best in the opener, drawn 31 each, but a host of zeros undermined their efforts after that and Remnants took three legs on the spin for the win. Another blob in the last looked disastrous for the Howbery Park dwellers but they somehow clawed things back and won the leg by a pin. Top work from David Walters (33) in a week where captains across the piece put a shift in, with backing from Simon Barton (32); Nathan Rickards was the only one Smiling with his 30. Gutter Nutters rest again this week - who can take their chance this time round?