Victory for the Cross Keys this week pushed them 20 points clear in Division 2, which all but confirms them as Division 2 champions. Lads’ Night Out rested on their laurels this week, and their closest rivals could only close the gap to the same 20-point margin in the top flight, so, barring two thrashings and a massive swing in average pins, the race for the Div 1 title is also done. Once again, our attention turns to promotion & relegation, and the Wooden Spoon.. Splitz ‘n’ Giggles hoiked themselves off the bottom of Division 1 for the first time in a while with an important 6-4 win over Absolutely Skittled. The Splitz went bananas early in this one, taking the first two legs by a combined 19 pins with Josh Hart whacking a 10-spare in the 2nd. AbSki gathered themselves in the beer round, snatching the points in a close run thing, 37-35, and followed up with a 38-pin leg in the 4th to square the contest. Both teams had had enough by the decider, but Splitz snuck the win in a low- ball leg, 27-24. Reece Collis top-scored with 33 in the match. Best Sellers came up against Living On A Spare in powerful form and lost out 8-2 to drop into the relegation spot. Matt Wright had a worldie, hitting a new personal best of 44, including a big 14-spare, so Sellers were always in trouble here. LOAS took 4 straight legs with scores of 32, 38, 43 & 39, with Wrighty’s spare breaking Wadsworth’s heart in the beer leg, where Sellers hit their best total of the night (39) but missed out. They did manage to steal 2 points at the death, nicking the last 38-37, and are now 2 points adrift of Splitz ‘n’ Giggles. Matt was backed by 35 from Kieran Parsley, whilst Rob was the Best Seller with 32. Rollin’ Pins whitewashed Remnants, putting 4 points between themselves and Spare Ribs in the hunt for the 2nd promotion spot in Div 2. Remnants can consider themselves unfortunate to lose so heavily, given they missed out by a single pin in 2 legs, and a couple of pins in the last, but the alley is cruel sometimes. Scores were solid on both sides, with Josh Barton the pick with 32 for Remnants. Cross Keys cemented their title bid with their 6-4 win over Sianie’s Angels, but Angels’ 4 points puts daylight between them and Late Knights in the Spoon fight. Keys came out swinging with a 41-pin opener, but took their foot off the gas after that. The Angels made scores in the 30s for all legs, winning 4 drinks and the beer leg, and smacking 36 in the last to top things off. Ray was by far the best Shergold in this one with 36, whilst Ralph Weldon was most Angelic with his third PB 32 of the season. At the top of Division 1, BGS fluffed their lines after AbSki’s loss had given them a chance of 2nd place. Their 6-4 defeat was powered by some vintage ‘Quiet Arm’ from Alsorts skipper Mark Grainger, who smacked an 11-spare in the 4th on his way to a massive 41. It was a quality match all round, with Sorts taking the first two with 36 & 40 and BGS striking back with 40s in the 3rd & 4th to draw level. The deciding final leg saw the new team stumble early on, and Alsorts held firm to win out 36-33. Mark was backed by Richard Greenaway’s 33, whilst BGS skip Callum Dickson toppled 37 with support from Mark Dodd (35) & Ray Park (34). Last Six beat Young & Bald 6-4 in the other Div 1 clash, which saw the very welcome return of captain Graeme Hemming to their ranks. YAB drew first blood, but were overtaken by the Six by the end of the beer leg, and the last two legs were both drawn, 36 & 35 all respectively. Jeremy Denton’s late assault on the averages continued with 37, whilst Graeme hit a welcome 34; Karl Dawson was the finest Young’un on show with 35. Spare Ribs still have hope of promotion after their 6-4 win over Big ‘Uns, but they are reliant on Rollin’ Pins blowing up in their last two games. This was a close contest with strong Ribs performances in the middle legs (37, 33, 35) sandwiched by the best of Big ‘Uns in the first & last (32 & 39). Big Un Jamie Purnell hit 9s in both on his way to a new PB of 37; Adam Mattison & Chris Bennett were prime Ribs with 31s. Last up, Newcomers beat Maclean Smilers 6-4 in a mid-table Div 2 game. Smilers rushed to a two-leg lead here with 38 & 36, before Newcomers woke up in the 3rd and 4th (34 & 38). The decider was nip and tuck before Sean Cooney smashed a 13-spare to put Newcomers in the box seats - it finished 43-35. Player of the match was Ellie with 34 for Smilers, Sean’s 32 was bettered by Newcomer teammate John Underhill with 33. Right then - 2 weeks left before the end of Winter and the shutdown.. Seven games coming up this week & 9 the next!

WEEK 31