The season is moving into its final month, and things are getting interesting in the promotion & relegation spots. Despite not playing this week, Cross Keys look a solid bet for Division 1 with a 20 point cushion at the top, but the battle for the second promotion place is much tighter. Spare Ribs are sitting pretty right now after their 8-2 win over Remnants this week, but Rollin’ Pins are just behind and have a game in hand after an 8- 2 win themselves. The Ribs got better & better in their game, with scores of 30, 36 and then three 39s and were only pegged back by Remnants 39 leg of their own in the second. Remnants were solid but couldn’t keep pace once Ribs put their foot on the gas in the beer leg. Chris Bennett & Rikki Latham hit new personal best scores of 37 & 32 respectively; Colin Wheeler had a PB of his own with his 32 for Remnants. Rollin’ Pins whacked a new highest score (194) in their win over Maclean Smilers - Smilers handed debuts to no less than 4 players so did well to nick 2 points from the Pins on this form. Ben Seymour opened the match with a 9 spare and his team followed his lead, hitting 43 in winning the first; Jon Copeland’s 11- spare in reply for Smilers was pretty good for his first go on the alley. Ben bettered that with a flopper in leg 2, though might have hoped for more than his 11 spare, and Pins were soon four points ahead. Legs of 37 & 38 pins followed until a shellshocked Maclean Smilers team pulled out all the stops in the last and snatched 2 points, 35-34. Ben finished with a mighty 39, and Jon a splendid 37 on debut, whilst Dexter Bell matched his hi-score with 33. Division Two’s other game saw Sianie’s Angels & Newcomers share the points - Angels have now put 7 points between themselves and the Wooden Spoon slot. They took control here after a drawn first leg, with winning scores of 33 & 35 putting them 5-1 up by the end of the beer. Newcomers got going after that, hitting their best legs of the night to square the match - 34 in leg 4, and a season’s best 43 in the last, thanks in part to an 11 spare from Su Longworth. Sianie’s Angels best work came from James Crosby (34) & George Andrews (33); Dave Collins toppled 31 for Newcomers. Up in Division 1, there are three teams battling to avoid the drop. Alsorts have been dragged back into the mire after their 9-1 reverse against Lads’ Night Out. LNO were firing on all cylinders, with club chairman Simon Newton smashing a 14 spare to open proceedings. Alsorts held their own despite this, just losing out in leg 1 by a single, 38-37, but thereafter it was Lads’ in charge with legs of 35, 41 & 42 bagging them 6 more points. The final leg saw another fightback from Sorts, and their best total of the night (39) saw the leg drawn. Simon finished with a massive 43, backed by 37 from Tom Morgan; Stephen ‘One-balll’ Rogers was the finest ‘Sort with 35. Splitz ‘n’ Giggles are still bottom despite a 4 point haul in their match against Young & Bald. Splitz got close in the 1st, 37-38, and won the 2nd, but YAB got their mojo working in the beer with a 36, followed by a brace of 41s - enough for all the points surely? Splitz had other ideas and walloped 43 in the final leg for a decent return. Rob Perry top scored with 37, whilst Karl Dawson & Kieran Scott made 34s for YAB. Best Sellers are a point ahead of S’n’G after their similar 6-4 loss to Absolutely Skittled. This game was another close affair, with the first & last legs drawn. AbSki smacked two 40s in the middle for the win, whilst Sellers had the better of leg 4 - all-in-all a fair result. Mike Norris fired in a 34 for AbSki, and only Rob Wadsworth made it to 30 for Sellers. Up the top, Gutter Nutters lost ground on LNO despite a cheeky 6-4 victory over BGS, who actually won the pins. Callum’s team looked on the money, winning the first two legs, but they just lost out by a single in the third and Quinn’s Nutters seized their chance. Legs of 42 & 41 meant the match was won - a real smash and grab. Dave Quinn ended with huge 39, while Callum Dickson pegged a 34 for BGS. Last up, Last Siz notched another win, taking out Living On A Spare 7-3. In a match of fine margins (isn’t it always), Six stole the first leg 37-36 and kept it going into the 2nd, 36 more pins securing the points. LOAS worked the beer leg, but a stumble in the 4th let Six back in, and both teams saved their best ‘til last, as the 5th was drawn 37 all. Ray Smiles was the pick of Six (35), though Jeremy Denton & Andy Ives performed too (34s); Matt Wright had the same (34) for Spares. Another 8 games coming thick & fast this week…

WEEK 28